Who we are
This ensemble show is the result of over a year's worth of clowning & collaboration among nine members of the Madison Circus Space (MCS). Read on to learn more about each performer.
Nick Aikens
Nick is a juggler, an MCS member, and a bicycle enthusiast. He does not purchase bananas for environmental reasons.
Juggling
Kelly Ballard
Kelly has been involved with circus arts in Madison for about 5 years and has loved every moment of it! She's had the pleasure of emceeing and acting in previous MCS shows, participating in aerial dance festivals, and trying all kinds of amazing new circus disciplines, from German wheel to flying trapeze.
MCS is her home, and many of these people are like family. Working with this troupe specifically has been an honor and a dream come true for Kelly. She thanks her castmates, and you the audience, for helping make the ensemble's dreams a reality!
Aerial frame, lyra, merchandising, prop design
Amanda Gatewood
Amanda has been an MCS member since 2019. She teaches German wheel and handstands, and performs clown and miscellaneous circus skills. This is her first Cyr wheel performance! She began dreaming about an ensemble clown show in 2022 and is one of the originators of Kishka!.
Amanda wants to thank:
1) The incredible cast of show co-creators
2) The MCS Board and membership community for supporting this show
3) All the crew and volunteers who made the show run smoothly
Co-Director / acrobatics, costume and prop design, Cyr wheel, lyra, object manipulation
Jocelyn Jackson
Acrobatics, dance choreography, lyra, tap dance
Jocelyn has been an MCS member since 2022.
Caitlin Loughran
Caitlin has been doing partner acrobatics for 5 years and duo trapeze for just over 2 years. Caitlin brings a touch of whimsy and a whole lot of laughter to her high-flying adventures. Whether she’s flipping, tumbling, or swinging, Caitlin proves that the sky isn't the limit — it's her playground.
Acrobatics, costume and prop design, duo trapeze
Jack Racca
Jack has been doing partner acrobatics for about 5 years. Some of his favorite styles include hand to hand, swing toss, and columns.
He loves the simplicity of acro; all you need is your body and some friends. When he is not training partner acro, he is often upside-down on his hands. His approach to both acro and handstands combines joyfulness and playfulness with disciplined training.
He currently teaches handstand classes and private lessons at MCS and plans to offer acro classes in the future.
Acrobatics
Sarah-Louise is a professional translator by day and a devoted circus enthusiast by night. She started her circus journey in 2015, working behind the desk at an aerial yoga studio in New York City. She has a penchant for all the circular props (lyra, aerial and juggling rings, hoops) and loves combining aerial with clowning.
She moved to Madison in 2018 and has since joined the board of the Madison Circus Space, operating as its secretary, merchandising director, and PR liaison & events coordinator. Though she has previously been typecast as a semi-professional banana, Sarah-Louise is so excited to be a part of this ensemble production and to discover the role she was born to play: A SAUSAGE!
Sarah-Louise Raillard
Lyra, lyra choreography, promotion, voice-over
William Rapisand
William's introduction to circus arts was aerial silks at the beginning of 2020.
Since then, they've continued to dive into various aerial disciplines and want to share the joy of aerial by teaching introductory classes at MCS.
Dance choreography, silks
Travis Volmer
Co-Director / acrobatics, duo trapeze, lighting and set design
Travis may claim to defy gravity, but mostly he’s just defying the odds of staying upright. Whether he’s twisting, tumbling, or swinging through the air with his trusty trapeze partner, there’s bound to be a dash of chaos and a whole lot of fun.
With a knack for acrobatics and a flair for foolery, Travis brings a big smile and plenty of antics to every performance. Hang on tight — he certainly will try to!
Crew
Although this was an ensemble effort, we could not have done it without support from our larger community at the Madison Circus Space. Thank you to the following additional people who helped our wild dreams come true!
G Wallner for photos and video
Chelsea Lu for photos
Jim Vogel for A/V and carpentry
Bert Chee for A/V and stage management
Josh Casey for clowning consultation
And a huge shoutout to the participants in our early feedback session, who helped us to improve the show in so many ways with their perspicacious notes!
Contact us
Interested in working together? Fill out some info and we will be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!