Saffi Watson
Saffi Watson Acro Coach Session: Intermediate & Advanced Camp Saffi was raised in a family of artists and performers. They grew up in Seattle Washington, training in rhythmic gymnastics and performing in youth circus with the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts. Currently, she is studying at the National Circus School in Montreal, specializing in contortion-handstand and cerceau. Saffi loves circus because it allows him to further connect with himself, as well as with other people!
Jenna Lamb
Jenna Lamb Aerial Coach All Sessions Jenna ran away with Circus Smirkus Advanced Camp in 2001 and nothing has ever been the same. For many years she performed a solo variety show called “Jenna’s Crazy Rockin’ Circus Show” at children’s hospitals and nursing homes near Delaware where she grew up. Eventually, settling in Palm Springs, California Jenna created and directed a performance troupe by the name of Flowbox. Jenna has explored every circus act she could including juggling, stilt walking, clowning, fire dancing, hoop dance. Her absolute favorites are rolling globe and Aerials. When she’s not having a ball or hanging up-side-down, she loves to sew…
Jason Span
Jason Span Acro Coach All Around Circus Camp, Sessions 1 & 2 Jason Span is a former gymnast of eleven years and a former US Navy Hospital Corpsman based out of Jacksonville, Florida. He was honorably discharged from active duty in the United States Navy after serving for ten years to pursue his dream of becoming an aerial artist. Jason quickly developed his artistry on aerial silks in June 2015 in Honolulu, Hawaii. He relocated back to his home town in Jacksonville, Florida on October 2015 when he joined Bittersweet Studios. Always seeking to improve his skills, Jason began to…
Pher Gleason
Pher Gleason Juggling Coach All Sessions Pher Gleason is a juggler and filmmaker based in New York City. As a juggler she has worked with Circus Smirkus Camp, Cirque Us, and Brooklyn’s The Muse, specializing in balancing her technical knowledge with experimental style and decisive panache. She is the only openly transgender, world-record-holding juggler. In 2021 she directed the circus film Dead + Alive featuring Richard Saudek and Dana Dailey.
Eric Allen
Eric Allen, Big Top Tour trouper 2006-2008 2020 Smirkus Camp coach Eric Allen started performing in the circus when he was 15 years old for Nimble Arts in Brattleboro VT. Since then he has toured with Circus Smirkus, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey, Circus Sarasota, The Midnight Circus, and Big Apple Circus. A lifelong love of silent movies and slapstick has motivated him to combine theater and circus in an equal and balanced way. He appeared in the Theater in the Open productions A Peter Pan Panto. and Adventures in Zoomland.
Chase Culp
Chase Culp, Big Top Tour trouper 2011-2013 Clown Coach All Sessions Chase Culp grew up in the bland suburbs of Houston, Texas and started performing at a young age. He toured for three summers as a clown with Circus Smirkus and then joined Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey straight out of high school. He has gone on to perform in over 10 countries, including a festival in India, a theme park in Abu Dhabi, a family-owned circus in Switzerland, and on stage in the internationally acclaimed production Slava’s Snowshow. He was most recently on tour with Venardos Circus. …
Theo LeBlanc
Theo LeBlanc, Big Top Tour trouper 2010-2020 Smirkus@Home Instructor Theo is a 17 year old from Portland Maine. He first went on the road with Circus Smirkus as a clown, acrobat, and juggler in 2018. In his free time he likes to do crosswords and play with his dogs.
Rebecca Starr
Rebecca Starr Rebecca Starr got her start in gymnastics at the age of 3 and has been moving ever since! After years of competing she found her true love, performance and the Circus Arts. In the early 2000s Rebecca studied dance and movement at San Diego State University, while performing with the Fern Street Circus and Cirque de la Mer. Rebecca is the co-founder of Lyralicious, a duo specializing in aerial hoop. She performed worldwide as part of Lyralicious for many years. She has been featured on MTV’s MADE, NY Ink, and CBS This Morning; and performed with Cirque Dreams, “The Girlie Show”, L.A Circus, Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance Festival, San…
Willem McGowan
Willem McGowan, Big Top Tour trouper 2011-2012 2020 Smirkus Camp Coach Willem McGowan began training juggling at the age of 12 in Chicago, USA. After training with different youth circus organizations around the United States Willem later moved to Quebec City, Canada, where he attended l’école de Cirque de Québec, and graduated in 2017 with a speciality in Diabolo. Since finishing school, Willem has performed around the world with various companies including the Midnight Circus in Chicago, Strut & Fret in Australia, and Circus Monti in Switzerland.
Sam Gurwitt
Sam Gurwitt, Big Top Tour trouper 2011-2014 Sam has seen or performed in every Smirkus show since 1998, when he was 2, and he couldn’t let a pandemic break the streak. He toured with the Big Top Tour from 2011 to 2014, and coached clown at Smirkus Camp. He’s now a reporter for a newspaper in New Haven, Connecticut, where he has learned that circuses are much better organized than local governments, and that clowns tend to be more competent than politicians.