Rachel Schiffer is no stranger to the circus. Her grandmother trained as a clown, and her grandfather took her to her first Circus Smirkus show when she was just 7 years old. During the show, Smirkus founder Rob Mermin stepped into the circus ring to ask who else wanted to join.
“I kind of latched on to that idea … If Grandma can do it and I’m a gymnast, why can’t this be me, too?” Schiffer said. “That was my hook into Smirkus.”
Schiffer spent the next two summers at the Greensboro organization’s campus in Bolton, first as a camper and then as a trouper for its Big Top Tour, in which she performed for a decade. She went on to tour internationally as a professional circus artist before returning to Vermont to take on a variety of roles at Smirkus, including house manager, head counselor and interim co-executive director.
Earlier this month, the 39-year-old took the helm as executive artistic director, a role that incorporates strategic and artistic oversight of the organization’s education programs and performances. Seven Days spoke with Schiffer about what’s special about the organization, her vision as Smirkus rebuilds after the pandemic and whether she’d make the cut as a trouper today.
How does your past experience with Smirkus inform your approach to running the circus today?
Smirkus is a company that is built on tradition and story that has developed over time. Being able to know what the past is and know what the stories are, and being able to build on those stories to continue them and develop them, is really important for me and how Smirkus carries its values forward.
For example, campers come in for a week or two- or three-week session, and on the last night we all gather and have a circle of happiness. And the message is that everyone that’s sitting here is Smirkus. We bring our stories; we fill these tents. It’s all of us here in this moment that create the Smirkus story, so take the stories that you have, bring them out into your lives and then come back next summer. Bring your new experiences with you. Let’s build on what we have.
So it’s that constant: What is Smirkus now, and what new elements come into play so that we can continue to evolve the story in a way that is still very rooted in the original nugget?
How did the organization fare during the pandemic, and what do you plan to do moving forward?
Smirkus took a tour break during the pandemic, and we were working with a smaller staff. This was before I came back. The past two years have been regrowth years where we’re building back up the camp programs. Last summer the Big Top Tour was back to 14 venues as opposed to a reduced number in 2022. The plan is to continue maintaining and building the programs so that they are as powerful and meaningful as they were before but to take them in new directions.
Arts organizations were hit hard. When you’ve pared down your programs, which are the heart of the organization, you’ve got to rebuild that heart before you can really push forward to have everything at full capacity. And we’ve got our heart back.
What do performers get from Circus Smirkus that they can’t get from another type of performance art?
There’s a huge amount of collaboration that goes into the whole process. That includes training for a show and all the preparations that go into planning the season. For youth, Smirkus is a place where they can grow and learn from their peers and older colleagues.
There is, of course, a team of professional creatives that comes in to work with the troupers on the Big Top Tour in the summer — and there’s a lot of collaboration and back-and-forth during the creative process. So there’s input from all aspects of the company, with the director having a final say. But the input is also coming from the kids who are participating, which allows them to perform with an authenticity and truth in the ring that’s exaggerated by performance or a character they’ve become.
I think what’s attractive about Smirkus as a program is how it allows for uninhibited growth in a place that is safe for risk-taking. It’s been fun for me to watch over time. I look at the kids at Smirkus now, and the joke is, if I auditioned now with my audition tape from then, there’s no way I would have gotten in. And that’s part of the fun, too, that we’re looking at character and personality as much as we’re looking at skill sets.
The circus life is unique, and it’s a character builder. It’s finding that spark that we can see and then cultivate and bring together into a community setting.
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity and length.
Learn more at smirkus.org.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Big Love for Big Top | Three questions for new Circus Smirkus director Rachel Schiffer”
This article appears in Dec 13-19, 2023.
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