Author Archives: Circus Smirkus
Ivy Blake
Ivy Blake, Multi-tent Coach Sessions: Intermediate Camp, Advanced Camp Ivy Blake is human person from New England. Ivy hails from the greater Boston area and started attending Smirkus Camp at age 11. She was immediately drawn to the community she found there: fiercely joyful, accepting of everyone’s weird, tough as nails, and committed to making magic. The next six summers were the same. Ivy kept dance, circus, and theatre in her life through the end of high school. After giving college the good ol’ college try, she was accepted to the Professional Preparatory Program at SANCA in Seattle, and the…
Arrivals at The Circus Barn
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Tour Communications & PR Intern Emma Burke 1 Circus Road. The soothing voice of my GPS tells me to bear left as I approach a street sign that I have never had the pleasure of seeing before. As my Hyundai Sonata fights against the knobby dirt road, I start to have cold feet. What am I doing? What did I get myself into? It was only a number of months ago that I gingerly applied for the position of Tour Communications and PR Intern at Circus Smirkus, a traveling youth circus that I had only heard of…
Summer Starts with Smirkus
Editor’s Note: This post was written by Camp Communications Intern Magdalene McCaffrey Smirkus Camp sessions have officially begun! This season was kicked off by Adult Camp, a session open to those from age 21 and beyond for a weekend full of workshops, activities, and campfires. After a week of cleaning, tent raising, and loading in, the campus went from a quiet oasis to a circus paradise. Thursday, Summer Camp Director William Forchion and Assistant Camp Director Amira Silverman welcomed in campers with this session’s coaches to start off the weekend in the Balance Barn. Campers went to dinner and then had time to settle in….
Delaney Bayles
Delaney Bayles Delaney Bayles is a juggler from Salt Lake City, Utah. She was on tour with Circus Smirkus in 2016 and is a three-time medalist at the International Juggling Association’s stage competition.
Book Kennison
Book Kennison I’m Book, from Chicago, Illinois. I was a Smirkus trouper from 2004-2008. Since then I’ve performed with Midnight Circus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, and Celebrity Cruises. I’m currently the juggling teacher for the full-time program at Aloft Circus Arts.
Cameron Zweir
Cameron Zweir Cameron became a Circus Smirkus trouper in 2014 and performed in the Big Top Tour ring for 3 years. He got his first contract at 18 years of age when he was selected as a replacement for an acrobat in the 2017 National Touring Broadway Show Pippin, and he has been working ever since. Last summer he performed in CirqueUs’, Starstruck, and he just completed an 8-month contract with TUI Cruises’ aboard the Mein Schiff 3. Articles about Cameron: Down the Road with Former Smirko Cameron Zweir 2016 Trouper Close-Up 2015 Trouper Close-Up
Ari Slavin
Ari Slavin Juggling Coach All Levels Circus Camp, Sessions 1 & 2 Ari is a multidisplary circus and visual artist from Middlebury Vermont. She is a lover of the absurd and whimsical, and is thrilled to be home for the summer to share what she loves most. As a child, Ari grew up watching the Smirkus tour and would come home only to climb over the furniture and tumble across the lawn all year. After her first summer as camper at Smirkus she knew that in some shape or form, circus would be part of her life forever. Juggling came into Ari‘s life around the age of 16…
Claire Horner-Richardson
Claire Horner-Richardson, Senior Acro Coach Sessions: Smirkling Camp, Intro to Smirkus, Beginner Camp Coming from the woods of Vermont and New Hampshire, Claire is a dancer and circus artist who identifies as queer/non-binary, using they/them pronouns, and specializes in Chinese Pole. Claire‘s background is in Dance, having trained in Classical Ballet and Contemporary Dance from the age of six. That life-long training and performance experience was a great foundation for them to transition to circus several years ago as a new mode of creative expression and physical exploration. Claire completed the Intensive training program at New England Center for Circus Arts in the…
Sam Hollis
Sam Hollis, Big Top Tour trouper 2014-2016 Sam is thrilled to once again step into the Smirkus ring (this time virtually) to experience the magic and heart of it all. He was a trouper from 2014-2016 and then returned to Smirkus camp in 2019 to coach juggling. He most recently graduated from the National Circus School in Montreal where he specialized in juggling and hoop diving. He is currently tucked away in his Montreal apartment baking lots of banana bread and enjoying the warm weather. Articles about Sam: 2015 Trouper Close-Up 2014 Trouper Close-Up
Tara Quinn
Tara Quinn, Aerial Coach Sessions: Both All Around Circus Camps Tara draws her understanding of the mind and body from many sources and experiences. These include more then 20 years as an athlete, yogi gymnast and circus entertainer. She has previously competed as an NCAA gymnast, graced the stage of many cruise ships as an aerial and contortion specialty act, and even performed as an acrobat with the San Francisco Opera as well as many other international entertainment companies. Every being she greets is another chance to use the whole of her life experiences and personal presence to both challenge the body and…