ABOUT THE SHOW
View the show order and learn all about this year’s performers.
Show Order
– Introductions By –
NECCA’s Board Chair & Executive Director
NECCA’s Founders Elsie Smith & Serenity Smith Forchion
– Act One –
Thom Wall
Guest Ringmaster
Chari Vari
TAYA Troupe
Dance Trapeze
Bailey Scherer
Hula Hoops
Maia Castro-Santos
German Wheel
Jeremy Cifonie
Juggling
Thom Wall
Aerial Rope
Rachel Rees
– Act Two –
Juggling
Thom Wall
Aerial Cube
The Cubelets
Aerial Hoop
Eliza Gaston
Comedy Juggling
Brian Koenig
Swinging Trapeze
Violet Defiant
About the Performers
Thom Wall
Thom Wall is an American juggler who specializes in juggling disciplines from the past. After completing a five-year tour juggling for Cirque du Soleil’s Totem (2014-2019), Wall now resides in Philadelphia where he researches circus history, consults for nonprofits, and coaches juggling and performance. When not at home, he’s performing his solo show On the Topic of Juggling on cruise ships and stages around the world. Thom holds a Masters’ of Science in Nonprofit Arts Administration from Drexel University (2015), and was awarded La Medalla Crotalus Scholaris by the Mesoamerican University in Puebla, Mexico for his work revitalizing forgotten juggling disciplines. Thom is the founder of Modern Vaudeville Press (2018), an independent publishing company which produces academic titles about the circus arts. In 2021, the International Jugglers’ Association honored him with the Excellence in Education Award. In 2024, the American Youth Circus Organization awarded him with the Innovation in Education award. Thom is a ProTrack graduate from NECCA.
TAYA Troupe
NECCA’s Teen & Young Adult (TAYA) Performance Troupe is an invitation-based troupe for young people who are passionate about and dedicated to circus arts. This program follows a professional training approach geared toward youth aged eleven to eighteen years. Troupe nurtures participants’ potential with skilled coaching, which includes attention to physical and emotional safety. They train twice a week in a wide breadth of circus skills including tumbling, partner acrobatics, aerials, and more. These students are delighted to present an act from their upcoming show on May 17th based on JRR Tolkien’s writing.
This years’ troupe: Amanda Moryadas, Arabella Frost, Esme Anthes, Eowyn Jakub, Genny Schneski, Leo Neeper, Lilian Newton, Maple Hassan, Narya Jakub, Kai Bossard-Kruger, Maya Jordan-Perry, Miriam Shaw, Robyn Carroll, Solen Rosenberg
Bailey Scherer
Bailey is a Los Angeles-based aerialist and baton twirler with a love for stories and a flare for the theatrical. Following her graduation from ProTrack in 2022, she relocated back to the LA area where she has been coaching, performing, training, and shenanigan-ing ever since. Some of her most favorite recent credits include Troupe Vertigo’s “Cirque Nutcracker” this past winter, and taking part in the historic “Luna Luna: Forgotten Fantasy” exhibit in Los Angeles as a roaming juggler character. (Also, just a little bit about the act if we want it) Though she’s an LA girl through and through, to Bailey, there is something about Brattleboro that feels like coming home. This act is inspired by the musical “Hadestown,” and the goddess Persephone bringing springtime back to the surface. The now massive broadway success is a piece of Vermont history, starting in a coffee shop in Montpelier in 2010. This is Bailey’s little nod to the Green Mountain State, bringing some California sunshine with her all the way here as we eagerly await the spring.
Brian Koenig
Brian Koenig is a juggler and circus performer based out of Columbus, Ohio.He balances a busy comedy juggling career with his passion for circus education.A former head coach of Circus Smirkus Camp, Brian has taught juggling, clowning, dance and equilibristics at schools and camps across the United States.When he’s not busy performing, you can find Brian posting unhinged videos on social media or making eggs and toast in his kitchen.
Web: briankoenig.com
Jeremy Cifonie
Jeremy Cifonie is an American circus artist who specializes in aerial rope, German wheel, and clown. His career began with the Gamma Phi Circus at Illinois State University, where he trained until graduating in 2020. Since then, Jeremy has spent 11 months out of each year traveling with a variety of circus productions. He is the VIVA Fest 2023 Aerial Rope Emerging Pro champion, and most recently has performed with Cirque Mechanics, Flynn Creek Circus, Cirque Dreams, Cirque Us, Westchester Circus Arts, All Wheel Sports, and The Vampire Circus. Outside of work, Jeremy enjoys making coffee, mailing out vintage postcards, and playing his gameboy.
Instagram: @jermichaelcircus
Rachel Rees
Originally from New Orleans, Rachel Rees is a dynamic circus artist specializing in Aerial Rope. Her work strives to combine technique & artistry to create imaginative & evocative performances across genres. The piece she’s performing in this year’s Circus Spectacular is a new work still in development, and was created in collaboration with Sarah Poole (outside eye) and Andy Schmitz (rigger). Rachel has recently performed with companies such as Cirque Mechanics, New York Circus Project, Virgin Voyages, Circus Evo, and Cirque Dreams.
Instagram: @rachel_rees
The Cubelets
The Cubelets formed in 2025 and consist of three generations of ProTrack graduates – Colleen Agozzino, Layton Hahs, Levi Helton, Rae Lawhorne, and Katie Russo. This group draws inspiration from sloths, childhood antics, and Chinese pole. These goobers are excited to debut their first collective cube creation for Circus Spectacular!
Maia Castro-Santos
Maia is a New England based circus artist and aerialist. She began her training at the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) when she was 9 years old and toured with the Circus Smirkus Big Top Tour from 2019-2021. After being named Valedictorian for Northfield Mount Hermon’s (NMH) class of 2020 and completing two years at Columbia University as a Cognitive Science major specializing in Human Computer Interaction, she realized that she would rather be professionally upside down. During Maia’s time at Columbia, she was President of the Columbia Circus Collective (CCC), and performed and directed for the Fall Cabaret (2021), Circus Hamlet (2021), Spring Cabaret (2022), and Phobias (2022). She has performed with the Gainesville Symphony Orchestra, New York Circus Project, Cirque Us, Catamount Arts, Muse ABCirque, and more! When she is not touring or performing, Maia coaches in Burlington, VT at Murmurations Aerial Dance and Lines VT Dance Studio where she started an aerial program in 2024. Maia specializes in hula hoops, aerial hoop, dance trapeze, invented bar apparatus and dance pole.
Eliza Gaston
Eliza is a captivating circus performer whose dream is to tell stories through circus that inspire, provoke, and entertain. They have traveled, teaching and performing, across the United States. Eliza recently competed a contract dazzling audiences on MSC’s Meraviglia. When not on tour they can be found coaching at the New England Center for Circus Arts, where they attended the professional program in 2017-2019. They are a dedicated and hard worker who can’t wait to bring their love of performing to your stage.