BRATTLEBORO — This year, the New England Center For Circus Arts' “Circus Spectacular” annual fundraiser is both a community celebration and a homecoming.
For the first time, guest artists include several of the school's graduates who now perform in prestigious circus venues worldwide.
For two remarkable shows - on Saturday, March 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 3, at 1 p.m. - the Latchis Theatre in Brattleboro will offer a cornucopia of world-class performers in high flying trapeze, aerial silks, partner balancing, juggling, mime, dancing, and comedy.
Circus Spectacular features special guests from Cirque du Soleil, Ringling Bros., Cirque Éloize, and Cirque Le Masque, as well as the talented performers who work at the school.
“The Circus Spectacular is a unique, fun night out for a great cause right in our hometown,” says Serenity Smith Forchion, who founded NECCA with her twin sister Elsie Smith.
“The show consists of 13 acts, and will begin with a short informational video to tell the audience about NECCA. This a high-end show. All of our performers are professionals,” she says.
All proceeds for the benefit shows support NECCA's outreach programming.
NECCA, founded in 2007, is a nonprofit circus school based in Brattleboro that trains many of the professionals appearing in the world's top circus troupes. NECCA also offers people of all ages and abilities a unique opportunity to try their hand at the circus arts.
Children benefit from these opportunities through organizations such as Inspire for Autism, Northeastern Family Institute, Brattleboro Housing Authority, Forest Moon, and Boys & Girls Club of Brattleboro.
The school also provides scholarships for at least 25 percent of the 2,000 students who have taken classes, ranging in age from younger than 19 months to older than 80 years.
“This will be our third year doing the Circus Spectacular at the Latchis,” says Smith-Forchion. “What is especially exciting about this year is that by now NECCA has been around long enough that many of our graduates who have become top-level performers will be our guest artists. All of them are donating their services to NECCA, and they seem excited to come back to their old stomping ground.”
NECCA graduate Marshall Jarreau graduated from the school's professional program in 2011 with a contract for Cirque du Soleil's Las Vegas show LOVE. Originally from Colorado and most recently seen in Orchid, Miami, Fla.,'s most exotic theatrical experience, he has performed around the world.
Jarreau began his career as a dancer - he was a top finalist on the first season of Fox's “So You Think You Can Dance” - but after undertaking a professional track program at NECCA, he added an acrobatic component to his performances. He said he is eager to support NECCA though Circus Spectacular.
“I love Vermont, and I am excited to visit with old instructors and friends,” he says. “Hopefully, I will be able to teach a dance class when I am there.”
Another returning NECCA graduate, Morgan Oldham, began performing at 12, and for the next decade continued training, initially to become a professional dancer.
Her goal changed when she discovered her affinity for standing on her hands. That gift brought her to the circus world, and eventually New England Center for Circus Arts.
Upon graduating from NECCA's pro-track program in 2011, Oldham has performed internationally as a hand balancer, aerialist, and dancer with such companies as Cirque Polynesia in Hawaii and at the World Expo in Korea. She'll be bringing her contortion act to this year's Circus Spectacular.
Oldham says he's grateful to support her former coaches at NECCA “because of everything they do.” She feels that by performing at this Circus Spectacular she is able to help NECCA and give something back to a school and community that had helped her so much in the past.
A third returning NECCA graduate, Kevin Beverley, attended the Brattleboro school and then Montreal's prestigious École nationale de cirque (National Circus School), where he perfected his craft by combining his three passions: dance, acrobatics, and trapeze technique.
He has performed for Minutes Complètement Cirque, the opening act for the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain Special Edition in Montreal, the International Jazz Festival of Montreal, and Chicago's Midnight Circus.
Beverley will be arriving from Europe where he has been performing with the show “PSY” by Les 7 Doigts de la Main (the seven fingers of the hand) in more than 10 cities.
“I'm volunteering my time at the Circus Spectacular because it's important to me to stay connected to people that have helped me along my journey,” he says. “Even though I spent just one year at NECCA, it helped me out so much, and all the friends I gained from it will last forever. I'm very excited to come back to Brattleboro and perform for everyone.”
According to Smith-Forchion, audience members hoping for the return of old favorites at Circus Spectacular will not be disappointed.
These include NECCA instructors, Smith-Forchion and her sister, and emcee personalities Bill Forchion (formerly with Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Bros.) and Forever Marzipan comedy aerialists Elise “Teddy” Sipos and Gwynne Flanagan, who graduated in 2012.
But perhaps the most eagerly anticipated person returning is Mario Diamond, Smith-Forchion says.
A veteran mime artist, Diamond has performed worldwide in more than 9,000 shows, and on television and in motion pictures.