Dan Roberts and the students of the Hidung Merah Circus. Photo courtesy of Rangga Rinjani.

My Jakarta: Dan Roberts

The world could use more people like Dan Roberts. As a circus performer, Roberts has given thousands of children a distraction from the city’s hardships. The 25-year-old American, who grew up in Jakarta, is the driving force behind Hidung Merah [Red Nose] Circus, which travels around Jakarta, spreading the kind of joy and entertainment only the circus can provide. The kids get a taste of what it’s like to run away with the circus, but Roberts says that at the core of their interactive shows there is a less obvious message: The kids spin plates, they juggle, they clown around — and all the while they gain a little more self-confidence.

Where did the idea for Hidung Merah come from?

When I was living in Chicago I was involved in a lot of circus theater and I met Moshe Coen, the founder of Clowns Without Borders, and he encouraged me to write up a proposal and get the funding to come out here. I came out, did a 10-week stint, and then created Hindung Merah because I want to be out here for a while and those guys do a lot of secondary relief. I’m here to stay.

You perform in city slums, but you also teach circus skills. How does that work?

I have classes with a few groups of kids. I go in once every other week to perform and practice with one group of kids, and then I have two groups that I work with at least once a week and a group that I work with from Cilincing three times a week, and there is a performance troupe as well made up of kids from two different villages where I go at least two or three times a week. Then every Sunday the Jakarta International School, which has been incredibly supportive, opens their doors. They bus the kids in and we practice together for four and a half hours.

Do you get a lot of support from local foundations?

So far all my donations have come from American organizations in Indonesia. I get a lot of support. The local yayasans [foundations] are welcoming and very supportive. They juggle their schedules and set up the stages and that means a lot.

What kind of kids do you work with? Kids from homeless shelters. I contact yayasans and then book shows to go out into the villages. These kids get pulled out of school to help mom and dad work. Cilincing lost 44 houses in the floods this year. My goal is just to give them a chance to be a kid for two or three hours a week. Those kids work hard. But if there is something that they are trying to learn, and on the first try they cant do it, they quit. I want to teach perseverance. In the circus, juggling, acrobatics — these things teach kids that they have to keep trying.

So what’s next?

In July I’m going to start a literacy program, in Cilincing, east of Tanjung Proik. See, the circus teaches them self-esteem, but we have to use that self-esteem. We’ll sit down and use that confidence they gain to teach math and English reading and writing to the kids. The circus is great to teach them self-esteem so that they’ll even try to learn English, but I also have to give them the English to learn. If I can’t make them stay in school I want them to be educated.

What is the most popular act?

Well, it’s a 40 minute one-man clown show and the kids react the most to the knife act. I pretend to swallow the knives and then I juggle them while standing on a Rolla-Bolla [board balanced on a cylinder].

What do you hope to instill in the kids you work with?

I’m not just teaching kids circus. If in the end they want to be performers, that’s good, but if they want to go on and be doctors, that’s great. If you’re confident, you can do anything. I tell the kids that when you’re on stage, you have the power. It doesn’t matter if you “dropped,” just smile. If you look happy on stage, the audience will be happy. We had a show this year and all the kids performed, and when the kids go back to that village, people mention how much they loved that show. It’s cool to see the light bulb go off in their head.

What’s in it for you?

I wake up every morning excited to go to work. I absolutely love what I do. It makes my life complete to do what I do, to work with these kids. It’s a gift that I have to give. I can’t put the kids through school, I can’t teach them math, but I can teach them circus, and more importantly, I can help them gain skills that will enable them to grow as people. That’s enough for me — actually that’s a lot.

So, what’s the next step for you?

There’s about 10 next steps, but there’s the literacy program and apprenticeship. If the money doesn’t come then I’ll open up another credit card. I met someone in Bali who’s a fire dancer. I would love to have someone come teach the kids fire dancing. Obviously they won’t get close to the fire until they’re good. But the kids would love that.


Dan Roberts was talking to Zack Petersen.

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