Author Archives: Circus Smirkus
5 Lessons I Learned at Smirkus Camp
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in Circus Talk online on January 6, 2020 and was written by Ivy Blake 5 Lessons I Learned Growing Up – and Then Working at– A Circus Camp It’s rare that we get the chance to interact with the same institution from many positions. Circus Smirkus camp, the sleep-away summer camp run by the youth circus of Vermont Circus Smirkus, is one of those rare establishments that actively hires former campers to be on staff as coaches and counselors. I have now had the privilege of inhabiting all three of these roles: a camper from 2006-2012, a counselor in 2014…
The 2019 Tour Video is Now Available!
Just in time for the holidays! You can relive the 2019 Big Top Tour: Carnival with Andy Bell’s video of the show. The 2019 Big Top Tour video is now available as either a physical DVD from our webstore or to stream for rent or purchase on Vimeo On Demand. For those you with a smart TV, a Roku or an Apple TV, you can also stream the videos using the Vimeo app. Past videos are also available! Order now to get them in time for your holiday gift giving – the DVDs make great stocking stuffers, and the streaming versions are keepsakes you’ll enjoy long into the future! 2019…
The Power of Persistence
by Jennifer Carlo, Executive Director At the Winooski school district in Vermont, the circus has taken over the sixth grade! Visit one of the classrooms, and you’re bound to hear sixth graders discussing exactly how many steps it takes to build a circus tent. (It takes six steps to build one circus tent, by the way, but if every sixth grader completes a tent they will have done 132 tasks.) You’ll see them designing and creating posters for their upcoming circus performance, or practicing juggling or diabolo. Click here for a fabulous gallery of the posters! All of this helps kids learn the Power…
Head Coach Josh Shack Explains It All For You
Director of Programming Josh Shack has held many positions at Circus Smirkus. He was a camper, and then performed in the Big Top Tour, he’s been the tour production manager, as well as a residency artist. Last summer he added a new title to the mix: Advanced Camp Head Coach at Circus Smirkus Camp. This year, he’s working on developing new curriculum for the Advanced Performance Camp Programs for campers who are training at the highest level. “Smirkus is known for its performance,” Josh says, “and so I want to make sure our campers are getting the chance to really…
Green Mountain Knitting Guild Retreat
Smirkus Camp can be the perfect place for your retreat! Just ask the Green Mountain Knitting Guild! This group rented the Smirkus Camp facilities to run their weekend workshop; the common area was set up for their knitting circle, the dining hall and kitchen perfect for crafting their custom dyes (and the all important meal times!) and everyone had cost-friendly sleeping quarters. All set as the fall foliage was beginning to turn into a vibrant riot of color.
Star Drops in the Tents
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Camp Communications Intern Magdalene McCaffrey Under the blue and white stripes of Mamma Mia’s copula, the red, green, and pink silks are attached to the rigging hooks. In billowing lines, they’re pulled and secured as campers file into the tent. The campers take off their shoes and step onto the trocellen mat to sit on the ring curb. Coaches lead the kids in stretches as the rigging is finished, then they step into the center of the ring and pull themselves onto the silk. “We’ll be working on our star drops today! So let’s go over how to set…
Aaron’s Farewell Tour
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Anne-Marie Wood and Eric Schondorf, parents of 5th year trouper Aaron Schondorf Watch this video looking back on Aaron’s years with Circus Smirkus, created by Andy Bell. As we look forward to Aaron’s fifth and final season with The Big Top Tour, we can’t help recall driving up I-91 to Lyndon, Vermont in 2010 to take Aaron and his brother, Ethan, to the one-week summer Smirkus Camp session. Even though it was Aaron’s first time away from home, from the minute we walked onto campus, the Smirkus counselors and staff could not have been more welcoming…
Having a Ball at Camp
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Camp Communications Intern Magdalene McCaffrey “All right! Everybody grab a second ball and we can work on the next combination,” the class rushes to the front of the tent to the waiting carton of various juggling balls. A warm wind blows under the lifted walls of Lottie as the campers reassemble on the mats in varied lines. Grinning some begin to toss their balls, feeling the weight before coach Book Kennison has a chance to example the new combination. Some fall to the mat with light slaps and giggles fill the tent. “Okay,…
Local Talent Coming Back To Waltham
Editor’s note: This story first appeared in the Waltham Patch in Waltham, MA on July 23, 2019 and was written by Scott Souza WALTHAM, MA — Arlington High School rising sophomore Glenn Doyle has been told there could be quite a crowd of familiar faces from the Spy Ponder wrestling team for his homecoming this weekend. Only the 15-year-old won’t be showing off his skills on the mat — where he placed third at 106 pounds in Division 2 Metro States as a freshman this past winter — he will be showing off his skills as a clown and acrobat for Circus Smirkus…
Charles Keidel
Charles Keidel, Lead Balance Coach Sessions: Intermediate Camp, Advanced Camp Charles Keidel is a multi-talented circus artist who’s dedication to developing expressive character bodies has pushed his technical movement past the traditional boundaries of tightwire into a distant realm of magic and disbelief. Growing up in a community centered around and steeped deeply in circus, his internal desire to create and develop circus became almost insatiable. Charles attended the Aloft Circus Arts Two-Year Full Time Training Program class of 2018 in Chicago, Illinois specializing in tightwire, but never abandoning his polymath tendencies. Even while fully immersed in 40 hours of circus training a week, he still found opportunities…