We’re Live in 3… 2… 1…
Wednesday was a very exciting day for Circus Smirkus! WCAX–TV 3 in Burlington, VT, did a five-minute live broadcast on “The :30” promoting the 2011 Big Top Tour. Two of our troupers — Sonya Gurwitt, Norwich, VT, and Noah Nielsen, Montpelier, VT — performed some of their circus skills and were interviewed about their experience with Smirkus. Noah performed a diabolo routine and Sonya stretched and contorted to delight the show’s audience. Host, Mike McCune, even showed off his juggling skills at the end of the interview. Our troupers did a fantastic job of representing our show and themselves with…
A Life Based in Tradition
As Marialisa explained yesterday, Circus Smirkus thrives on its traditions. This connection to the past; however, is not exclusive to Smirkus. In fact, circuses live off their brilliant backstories, rich traditions, and in some cases superstitions. Here’s a peek at some ongoing circus lore. Facing the Ring from the Curb Circus performers never sit on the ring curb facing outward. This tradition is a tribute to pay respect to the performance space by facing toward it when sitting and watching in the ring. Pie-in-your-Face Birthday Circus clowns celebrate birthdays by pie-ing the birthday boy or girl in the face. In…
The more things change…
Yesterday, the conversation at lunch (among some of us, anyway) was about changes at Smirkus through the years. From a two week “circus camp” we’ve grown into a year-round organization with a full-time staff of ten and a seasonal staff of at least 100. From a tiny production featuring a handful of Vermont kids we’ve morphed into a training ground for talented youth from around the nation and the world (the current troupe features kids from 14 states (including Vermont), plus New Zealand). Back in 1987, the year Rob Mermin founded Smirkus, the troupe was comprised of 15 Vermonters –…
Behind the Scenes Prep Work
We’re less than a week away, folks! Things at Smirkus are about to get extremely hectic…but, through all the hard work, sweat, and long days of rehearsing, our troupers and support staff will be performing a show they are proud of. It will be an amazing sight when the skeleton of the performance-to-be bursts into a full-blown production—right before our eyes this week. I caught a glimpse of the proscenium facade, which “Tex” Redinger, designed and is currently painting to be slick and streamlined in an industrial palette. This hard work is vital to the final aesthetic of the show…
We have a Beginning!
On Saturday I witnessed a watershed in rehearsal period: the choreography of the “charivari,” or opening act. The opening gives the audience a sampling of the entire performance and sets the mood of the production. This year’s charivari music, by (as is the entire show score) composer Tristan Moore, is inspired by the music of the 1920s. Choreographer Matt Williams, late of “Séance on a Wet Afternoon” at Lincoln Center in Manhattan, fills our charivari with the Charleston, partner dancing, Quickstep, acrobatics, and pyramids! [youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSFzLfgKKLI&w=480&h=390] The troupers were given the afternoon off so they would have ample time to…
A Walk in My Shoes
I’ve learned one thing in my time here as a Communications Intern at Circus Smirkus —every day is different. And busy. Clowns are trying out new gags, jugglers are polishing their latest routines, and aerialists are mastering flips two stories above the ground. Also, each day the people in Marketing and PR brainstorm new, creative ideas to spread the word of Smirkus. Since this year’s theme is based on journalism, I believe it is intriguing to reporters. On Friday, Smirkus got its fair share of media attention. In the morning, a reporter from the Caledonian Record in St. Johnsbury,…
A Smirkus Tech Byte
As I entered the Chapiteau, dimly lit with some work lights and LED fixtures, I looked around for our lighting technician, Desirae Brownlee, who told me to meet her there for a photo. I saw Josh Shack — the production manager — and Ben Scheff — technical director — hard at work positioning lights and using a clever pulley system to send lights and clamps to the cupola of the tent. That’s when I realized that there — harnessed thirty feet above the ring, adjusting and placing stage lights — hovered Desirae, appearing to defy gravity. These unsung heroes of…
The Circus Is Coming!
Years ago, the circus “advance” team would ride the rails in “advance cars” or “bill cars,” plastering towns along the way with hundreds of posters announcing that, in essence, “the circus is coming!” Here at Smirkus we routinely corral a group of loyal volunteers to do this job. Our “advance team” for our first shows in Greensboro, on July 3, includes two sets of Smirkus parents, our development assistant, our communications intern, our marketing director, assorted “friends of Smirkus,” and me. We ride the back roads of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, leaving no general store, public bulletin board, post office or…
Early Morning at the Circus Barn
At 5:30 AM I woke up to the sound of an arc welder. Our back lot manager Jesse needed stanchions for the midway and the sun was up. No sense wasting daylight. At 6:00 I was at my desk in “the nest,” the renovated farmhouse attic space that overlooks the entire Circus Smirkus lot site. From my window I watch a tractor cutting hay in the field around the Big Top. The driver is careful to avoid the tent stakes, but cuts it close harvesting his hay. Vermont farmers don’t like to waste anything. Downstairs I can smell pancakes and…
What long legs you have…
Hey everyone! I was thinking that even though I have only been at Smirkus for over a week, it feels that I have been here for much longer. The familial atmosphere has created a warm and welcoming environment for me and I feel that Smirkus is home. I just want to thank everyone here for being so inviting and accepting of my presence. Since Katrin Leblond’s arrival on Monday, there has been an incredible jolt of energy on the Smirkus campus. Though, Katrin left that evening, her partner in crime — Tour Wardrobe Supervisor Siobhan Martel — will travel with…