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
Merchandising and prop design; ”Stage Mom”; original cast member
Kelly has been involved with circus arts in Madison for about 5 years, during which she has enjoyed emceeing and acting in previous MCS shows, participating in aerial dance festivals, and trying out a variety circus disciplines, though working with specialized aerial apparatus is her passion. Collaborating this troupe has been an honor and a dream come true!
Amanda Gatewood
Amanda has devoted herself to circus arts since 2017. She teaches German wheel and handstands, and performs regionally as a living statue, clown, and acrobat. She is one of the originators of Kishka! and is a frequent volunteer at the Madison Circus Space. She is incredibly grateful to the community and leadership at the Madison Circus Space, whose enthusiastic support of Kishka! has been essential to its success.
Co-producer / acrobatics, costume and prop design, dramaturge, lyra, object manipulation, rola bola
Jocelyn Jackson
At three years old, Jocelyn had her first taste of the stage when she gave a rousing dance performance to the classic Christmas song “Feliz Navidad” in the middle of June. She has been chasing that high ever since, developing a special love of tap dancing when she was in grade school, then turning towards jazz and contemporary a few years later. She took a break from dancing for several years up until discovering Madison Circus Space, where she took her first silks class and fell in love immediately. She has now been a member at MCS since 2022 and loves being involved with all things silly, sparkly, and splits-y.
Acrobatics, dance choreography, lyra, tap dance
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 Raillard
Juggling. lyra & lyra choreography, promotion, voice-over
Sarah-Louise is an aerialist (lyra, rings, trapeze, rope) who loves combining aerial artistry with physical comedy. She is particularly interested in exploring how she can subvert the traditional expectations associated with lyra by incorporating new styles, disciplines, and points of contact with the audience. Sarah-Louise also serves on the Board of Directors of the Madison Circus Space, a circus arts non-profit, as secretary.
Although she has previously been typecast as a semi-professional banana, Sarah-Louise is thrilled to be a part of this ensemble production and discover the role she was born to play: A SAUSAGE!!!
William Rapisand
William's introduction to circus arts was an aerial silks class at the beginning of 2020. It started as trying something new that quickly turned into a new passion.
Since then, they've continued to dive into various aerial disciplines (hammock, trapeze, lyra) and want to share the joy of aerial by teaching introductory classes at MCS.
Dance choreography, silks
Nicole Lane Starr
Silks, object manipulation
Nicole started taking silks classes in 2018 at the Madison Circus Space, and has been trying new circus things ever since! She loves exploring non-standard apparatuses and combinations of disciplines.
Nicole is honored to be the newest member of the Kishka! cast, and would like to thank everyone for welcoming her and being such amazing and supportive performers! She's so excited for everyone to enjoy the show!
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
Alex Starr for rigging
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!