Author Archives: Circus Smirkus
And So It Begins…
From the minute I stepped outside of my trailer at 7:20 a.m., yesterday felt different. People were moving with a greater sense of purpose and direction and the troupers were all sleepy smiles. Even at breakfast there was a definite tension. Troy walked into the “pie car” (circus-ese for “cook trailer”) with his breakfast and hollered “GOOD MORNING! SHOW DAY!” The pie car erupted into cheers. I took another gulp of my coffee, feeling myself begin to hurry. It’s opening day I watched a quick re-blocking of a scene at the Big Top and then I walked back up to…
Ready, Set, Go!
Yesterday was the last day of preparations for today’s opening. Down the driveway from where the troupers tumbled and sprang through a full dress rehearsal under the chapiteau (French for “Big Top” and a word adopted by circuses worldwide), I busied myself at the computer keyboard sitting at a long wooden table in what is the upstairs bedroom of a farmhouse now converted into an office. This is the nerve center of Circus Smirkus. It is important to clarify that this is not where the magic happens – that’s in the ring, under the tent – but the red farmhouse…
Sunset over Smirkus
The weather finally cleared in the afternoon and the view at sunset was beautiful. The troupers made tie-dyed t-shirts out on the grass in the new sunshine while the rain clouds blew apart overhead. The sky was clear blue and as the sun dropped, the horizon turned pink, then purple. After dinner during troupe and coach meetings, I walked into the field behind the tents to where the fields rolled away to the edge of the woods and the sun’s final rays softly stretched towards Smirkus’ farmhouse office. The shadows lengthened over the tops of the big striped tents and…
Keeping The Beat While Keeping Dry
“Five six seven eight… five six seven eight AND TURN four five six seven eight… and BREAK five six seven eight… MOVE. Five six seven eight…” Circus Smirkus Creative Director Jesse Dryden’s voice resounds in the high ceilings of the chapiteau (Big Top) and claps his hands to the beat while the entire troupe of 30 performers swirls across and around the ring in the opening movements of the “chari-vari” – the opening choreography which presents this year’s theme, time travel. (“Topsy Turvy Time Travel”) The rainy and cold weather from yesterday has not departed our valley and the rain…
ARRIVAL
To look at the town of Greensboro on a topical map or road atlas would prove unremarkable. In the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont, distance on Route 16 is measured between country stores and gas stations on a great black strip of pavement pointing north. As I drove, the temperature dropped and the mist wrapped thickly around the trees. The road names weren’t matching the Google Maps directions I had scribbled on a legal pad. I admitted I was lost and pulled off of VT 16 towards Greensboro to ask for directions. There is, after all, only one circus there. At…
Weather or not . . . the show DID go on
We ended our 2011 season yesterday with a bang: thunder, lightning and hail the size of . . . grapes? . . . marbles? . . . pummeling the Big Top for a short but impressive burst. But performers and audience alike weathered the mid-day and evening storms with aplomb, and the Circus Smirkus 2011 Big Top Tour took its final, joyful bow. We want to extend a huge thank you to the tens of thousands of people who came to our shows this summer, to the businesses and organizations that supported us and helped us spread the word about…
This Isn’t Goodbye…
As the Smirkus troupe and crew get ready for their TWO FINAL SHOWS today in Greensboro, I am on a plane headed home to return to the University of Iowa. Classes start tomorrow. I wish I could have stayed. I am so glad I have been able to document the daily happenings here because I am having a very difficult time being able to summarize my experience in a single post. I have seen fifteen towns in five states, experienced almost every weather condition imaginable, made lifelong friendships, and went on the adventure of a lifetime! It was only two…
A wonderful weekend in the Northeast Kingdom
This is THE weekend to be in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom. Kingdom Food and Farm Days celebrates sustainable agriculture, with farm tours and tastings, while the LAST THREE SHOWS OF THE 2011 BIG TOP TOUR celebrate sustainable joy and laughter, with clowning, aerials, acrobatics, wire-walking, juggling, live music, dance and more! FINAL SMIRKUS SHOWS: WHERE: Under the Big Top, on the grounds of Smirkus HQ, 1 Circus Road, Greensboro WHEN: Today, Saturday, Aug 20th @ 7 pm and tomorrow, Sunday, August 21st @ 1 & 6 pm TIckets here and by calling 1-877-SMIRKUS (1-877-764-7587) ***NOTE: We are currently out of online tickets for the August 21st…
Homeward bound
It’s goodbye, Montpelier, hello Greensboro, as we head back to Smirkus HQ for our – we can’t believe it! – final shows! Three shows! Saturday, August 21 @ 7 pm Sunday, August 22 @ 1 & 6 pm Tix here or by calling 1-877-SMIRKUS (1-877-764-7587) Our four Montpelier shows sold out, so don’t take a chance! Buy in advance! We’d like to take a moment to thank the businesses and organizations in the NEK that have helped promote the show! Parker Pie Co., Pete’s Greens. Fairbanks Museum & Planetarium, the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce, and Moo92! Thanks for helping…
A Capital Crowd
Hey ladies and gentlemen, it’s coming to that time of the year when Smirkus returns to its home in the Northeast Kingdom and packs up for the season. We’ve traveled approximately 1,500 miles and soaked in as much of New England as we could. But now we’re back to perform to a home-town crowd once again. Montpelier, Vermont, welcomed us yesterday with beautiful weather and two sold-out shows. It is remarkable that our cast of troupers has turned what was an idea on paper two months ago into a work of art. The performers have tightened up their acts, refined…