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Chenoa Albertson
Instructor
Specialization: Trapeze
Chenoa began her circus career in a youth circus in Californian at the age of 9. In 2012 she attended the Academy of Circus Arts in the UK where she specialized in swinging trapeze and double lyra. After graduation she was hired by Zippos Circus and performed swinging trapeze in their London Christmas Circus and toured with them around the UK during their 2013 season. -
Hayley Brown
Hayley Brown discovered aerials during her career as an actor with Double Edge Theatre, an ensemble theatre company based in Ashfield, MA, with whom she toured around the US and overseas for thirteen years. Hayley began training fabric in 2007, took up dance trapeze in 2016, and is a graduate of NECCA’s Professional Training Programs. She has taught vertical and bar apparatuses at The Sellam Circus School, SHOW Circus Studio, and NECCA, where she also serves as an Artistic Advisor to Professional Track students. She is most interested in the theatrical possibilities of circus; using the strength, power, and grace of the body as an instrument of expression, story-telling, and flight. www.hayleylbrown.com
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Margaret Butterfield
Instructor
Specialization: Trapeze, Youth Circus, Conditioning
Margaret fell in love with circus through the flying trapeze. Margaret began flying in 2009 when she went in search of something to relieve the stress of her academic life, and she was immediately hooked. She has a doctorate in Ancient Christian History from Harvard and has taught at Smith and Mount Holyoke, but left her academic career behind because she finds circus to be much more fun. She's been coaching flying trapeze since 2011 at various schools in New England, and has been bringing her love of trapeze, tumbling, and other circus arts to SHOW as a coach since 2017. She lives with her husband Henry Wheaton (coach and Owner/Executive Director of SHOW), three cats, too many houseplants, and the occasional foster kitten and (human) houseguest. -
Deborah Chesser
Instructor
Specialization: Fabric, Youth Circus
Deb started circusing in 2011 when she tagged along with a friend to Detroit's Fly House and hasn't looked back since. She has moved and traveled around the US taking classes at NECCA, TSNY DC, Arachne Aerial Arts, and on Hawaii, before finding her home at SHOW. Pre-circus Deb was a rower/coach, and participated in Head of the Charles and Youth National Regatta with Albany Rowing Center, as well as Dad Vail and the Big East Regatta with UConn Crew. She was also a competitive Ballroom and Latin dancer and mentor at UConn, and grew up doing ballet. Deb specializes in fabric, but can often be found around the studio practicing trapeze, juggling, handstands, and acro, and dreaming about German Wheel. She is excited to be training and teaching at SHOW. -
Jenna Ciotta
Born and raised in Phoenix, Arizona, Jenna’s early years were spent developing a love of dance, theatre, and dry heat. She found circus arts after completing a BA in Gender Studies and an MA in Human Rights. Circus offered a new and exciting creative outlet for personal expression. Her mixed background in academia, activism, and movement draws her into spaces where performance arts and politics intersect.
She graduated in 2019 from the New England Center for Circus Arts as part of the inaugural graduate class of the 3-year Pro-Track Program. She performs throughout New England and across the United States, but is always coming home to SHOW Circus Studio! -
Aethena Enzer-Mahler
Instructor
Specialization: Youth Classes, Group Therapy
Aethena first ran away and joined the circus when she was 13, spending three summers at Circus Smirkus camp focusing on tightwire and juggling. Following a 15 year hiatus, she returned to study wire in hopes of returning some (literal) balance to her life. Since 2010 she’s trained on tightwire, tried acrobatics, various aerials and now focuses on aerial fabric.
When not at circus, Aethena is an LICSW and has been practicing as a Child Therapist for over 10 years. She specializes in play and expressive arts therapy as well as utilizing mindfulness, and CBT-inspired techniques. She is particularly interested in the neurobiology of play and the ways in which play can be healing and transformative for people of all ages. Aethena also works with local schools as a mental health consultant. Aethena is excited to be part of the SHOW Circus team and looks forward to bridging her love of circus with her therapeutic work. -
Ryan Freeze
Instructor
Specialization: Slackline, Partner Acrobatics
Growing up Ryan enjoyed making costumes, keeping fit, and contriving to be the center of attention. He found all these things rolled up into one career: circus.
Ryan trained partner acrobatics for five years as a serious hobby before getting accepted accepted into the Pro Track program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. While in the program he specialized in partner acrobatics and slackrope. Following his graduation from Necca, Ryan went onto perform with Speakeasy Circus and was regularly on Princess Cruise lines as a Specialty Guest Act. He also has performed at countless festivals and corporate events.
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Jess Hill
Instructor
Specialization: Rope, Trapeze
Jess Hill comes from the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, where she discovered her love for climbing on things. She grew up immersed in dance and gymnastics, and then began her aerial training at Aerial Space in Asheville, NC. In 2014, she moved to Vermont to attend the NECCA Professional Training Programs. She enjoys teaching people of all ages and abilities, and especially loves Corde Lisse and static Trapeze. Besides circus, she enjoys baking, farming and porch sitting. -
Tara Jacob
Operations Support/InstructorSpecialization: Acrobatics, Object Manipulation, Introductory Aerials
Tara loves being upside-down! Though she did gymnastics as a child, she got her first taste of contemporary circus as a teenager at The Circus Space in London, England and fell in love with the fun, creativity, and community she found in the circus. Since then, Tara has founded a college circus collective, traveled the USA in two summer street circus tours, and taught flying trapeze and acrobatics at several summer camps. Tara was thrilled to find a training space and circus community at SHOW in spring of 2010. She quickly became an AcroJam enthusiast and was the front desk intern during spring 2011. After completing the 2012-2013 Professional Track program at the New England Center for the Circus Arts, Tara is delighted to be teaching youth classes, juggling, AcroJam, and introductory aerials at SHOW! She is also SHOW's Operations Support. -
Hallisey Lawton
Instructor Specialization: Youth Programming, Aerial ArtsHallisey adores children and has been working with children for several years. She has worked at countless summer camps and interned at a private preschool throughout college. Her degree was in criminal justice/psychology with the specific background in youth studies. She has worked in home and group facilities with children ranging from 0-17. For the past seven years, she has been a nanny of four and everything that entails.
In 2018 Hallisey completed the Nimble Arts teacher training program. She started her dive into the world of circus performing about 4 years ago. While her strongest apparatus is Lyra without question she has also trained in partner acrobatics, contortion, aerial cube and duo trapeze. She has also enjoyed an occasional dabble in fabric, cloud swing, tippy lyra, trap top lyra, chains, and bungee hammock.
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D. Lightman
D is delighted to be involved with circus arts after years of encouragement from friends.
They developed a love for creative and playful movement through eighteen years as a dancer, dabbling in gymnastics, choreography, and four years of playing and coaching roller derby. They are proud to be the first genderqueer captain of the first all-gender/no-gender roller derby team (that they are aware of).
D is a communications professional with expertise in violence prevention, technical support, and program coordination. They value community and enjoy being part of a team. When they find a project they care about, they are eager to jump in and work behind-the-scenes to keep things running smoothly. D is excited to be providing administrative support at SHOW! -
Allison McDermott
Instructor
Specialization: Events and Workshop Coordinator
Allison is a circus director and performer based in Brattleboro, VT. She serves as the director of Circophony, a youth circus troupe at Oddfellows Playhouse in Middletown, CT. She recently co-wrote and toured Big Teeth Collective's Goodbye Party-The Show, a circus-theater hybrid about climate catastrophe. Allison currently serves as the event and workshop coordinator for SHOW Circus Studio. -
Victoria Quine
Victoria grew up as a competitive dancer and fell in love with the community and playfulness of circus in college. Since then, she has trained at the National Institute of Circus Arts in Australia and NECCA’s ProTrack program, where she studied static trapeze and partner acro. Victoria has completed numerous teacher trainings with Nimble Arts in aerials and acrobatics and has used that extensive knowledge as Youth Program Director of Wise Fool New Mexico, Head Aerial Coach at Acrosports in San Francisco, lead coach at Prescott Circus Theater, Trapeze Arts, Kinetic Arts Center, and the Youth Troupe Coordinator at NECCA. She has performed across the country in solo, duo, and trio aerials, partner acrobatics, juggling, and stilting, and enjoys teaching all of those things and more!
As a coach, Victoria shares her love of play and community with her youth and adult students. Her classes feature humor, encouragement, and celebration. She especially delights in act and show development. Victoria is also a registered dance/movement therapist and a couples & family therapist, and she values building trust and encouraging authenticity with her students and clients. When she’s not circusing, she can be found reading, gardening, swimming, and laughing at horrible puns. -
Jennifer Thornquest
Part social engineer, part emcee, and part educator, Jen Thornquest’s commitment to entertaining audiences and empowering performers spans two decades. Her resume includes organizing and emceeing a wide variety of events including the International Day of Peace at the United Nations, TEDxBoise, Mount Holyoke College’s Monologue Night, countless circus variety shows, and her own company - New Sound Mobile Music. She is the co-founder of the Boise Circus Guild. Jen has been working with youth in non-traditional educational settings for 20+ years including running camp programs at the Discovery Center of Idaho, facilitating Rural Outreach Education, and mentoring youth across the globe through the NGO, Children of the Earth. She enjoys teaching circus and gymnastics to children and is passionate about nurturing creativity. Adding sparkle and silliness to her classes, she looks forward to her time at SHOW Circus studio. -
Naomi Ullian
Instructor
Specialization: Fabric
Naomi Ullian trained in ballet and modern dance for 20 years before crossing paths with a trapeze. She began her aerial training in static trapeze and silks with Aerial Space in Asheville, NC, and went on to study aerial dance and acrobatics with Frequent Flyers. Naomi has completed Residency and Intensive Training Programs at NECCA and is currently enrolled in the Professional Track Training Program. As an instructor, she is fond of scrutinizing body mechanics, exploring conceptual movement, and squealing with excitement when students achieve their goals. When not doing pull-ups or handstands, Naomi practices clinical herbal medicine, writes, and goes foraging at every opportunity.
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Caitlin Wallace
Caitlin is a former college athlete, a professionally trained dance trapeze artist, and a pre-Doctor of Physical Therapy student. She completed two years of the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) Pro-Track training program from 2016-2018, where she specialized in dance trapeze. She has also trained fabric, corde lisse (aerial rope), handbalancing, cyr wheel, and injury-prevention-based flexibility. Her aerial work focuses on moving with authenticity, is often guided by improvisation, and seeks to travel around all planes on the trapeze. She has completed Paper Doll Militia's Aerial Teacher Training for Fabric and Trapeze Level 1. As an instructor she seeks to incorporate her growing knowledge of anatomy and biomechanics to provide students a greater understanding of their own bodies and movement, while also cultivating a safe creative space where students feel supported and encouraged to explore.
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Mykelle Walton
Mykelle Walton is a multidisciplinary performing artist and researcher that strives to combine her intellectual and physical curiosity. In her primary discipline of aerial acrobatics, Mykelle has performed internationally through varieté shows, artistic festivals, and cruise ships in aerial hoop, hair suspension, and aerial straps. She will often venture out of the circus tent and explore other areas of performance including modern dance, durational performance, and devised theatre. As a researcher, Mykelle deeply informs her practice making connections between philosophy, critical theory, and aerodynamics. Using a foundation in metaphysics to help discover what the world is like, she transforms the critical thinking of philosophy into a movement based practice to create complex, layered work.
Originally from rural Idaho, she has worked with companies such as Animate Objects, AIDA Cruises, Virgin Voyages and been supported by the Idaho Arts Commision, Alexa Rose Foundation, and the Frequent Flyers Aerial Dance program. She is currently matriculated at Mount Holyoke College on full scholarship to study philosophy and dance. She lives with her wife and loves to hike in the mountains.
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Henry Wheaton
Executive Director/Owner/Instructor
Specialization: Solo and Duo Trapeze, Partner Acrobatics, Cube
Henry first became involved with the theater in high school in 1987 as a tech, doing set construction and lighting. Starting in 1988, Henry was hired as a lighting tech by his college theatre. After getting his undergraduate degree, he went briefly to graduate school and taught for several years in elementary and middle school for a variety of public schools in the Boston area. He also ran a rock climbing program and high ropes course for summer camp, which introduced him to the principles behind anchors and proper use of climbing equipment. Henry kept active by participating in ultra distance bike racing, specializing in 24 hour races. In 2007 Henry started taking circus classes and then applied to the Professional Track program at the New England Center for Circus Arts. Henry majored in duo trapeze and minored in partner acro. He went on to perform professionally after graduation in 2008. Henry is currently the owner and executive director at SHOW Circus Studio in Easthampton, Mass, where he is responsible for rigging and maintaining the aerial equipment, teaching classes, and producing circus shows.
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Joanna Wright
Joanna Wright is thrilled to be a part of the SHOW community! Her circus journey started when she began a backyard circus on the swing-set at her house, and her mother, afraid that she might break her neck, sent her to Smirkus Camp to learn some real circus skills. Over the next ten years she honed her juggling skills and learned as much aerial fabric as she could, while earning a BA in Dance and Theater from Swarthmore College, and then an MFA in Lecoq-based Actor-created Theatre from the London International School of Performing Arts in conjunction with Naropa University. In 2010, she moved to Austin, TX, and started studying the aerial and circus arts more seriously at the Sky Candy Aerial and Circus Studio. After undergoing several of the Nimble Arts Aerial Teacher Trainings, she began to teach as well, and found that she enjoyed teaching even more than she did performing. She completed NECCA's Intensive Program in 2015/2016, with a major in trapeze and a minor in handstands, and decided not long thereafter that she wanted to return to New England. Now living in Easthampton, Joanna coaches fabric, trapeze, sling, aerial performance, and clowning, among other things. She looks forward to seeing you at the studio! -
Cailin Young
Cailin found circus arts at Show Circus in the Fall of 2013 after many years of dance, lacrosse, and climbing just about everything around her. Ground and aerial skills proved to be the perfect blend of artistry, strength training, and invigorating challenges, and soon after practicing she knew this art form would be integral to their life. They are expected to graduate from Smith College with a B.A. in Psychology, a concentration in Community Engagement and Social Change in May of 2024, and a lesser-known minor in Russian, Eastern European, and Eurasian Studies. Cailin deeply appreciates the relationships she forms with students of all ages and ability levels, and hopes to see you in class or around the studio!