CIRCUS ART SPOTLIGHT

Today we shine the light on Henry Barragan. Henry is a founding member of Circus Sarasota now The CAC. He began working with Pedro and Dolly in 1998 to help launch and support the very first performances of Circus Sarasota under the Big Top. Henry comes from a circus family and spent many years working with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus.

Marcia loves all things Circus Arts Conservatory and has been volunteering with us for many years – even recruiting her daughters to work with us too! Every February when the Big Top goes up Marcia takes over, running the volunteer ushers as a well-oiled machine. The performers depend on her local knowledge and our guest Ringmasters depend on her for guidance.

A star of Bauer’s Circus Maximus and a 15th generation member of one of Switzerland's oldest circus families, Joseph Bauer has circus in his blood and is used to being in the spotlight. He will once again grace the Circus Sarasota stage as Ringmaster for the 2020 shows presenting artists from across the globe.

We shine the light on CAC Co-Founder and Vice President Dolly Jacobs. Dolly was born into circus royalty – her father was Lou Jacobs, the legendary clown for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus® and her mother was a model in New York, who quickly transformed her career to become a circus artist as well. She is the first circus artist to ever receive the National Endowment for the Arts National Heritage Fellowship and is known world-wide as the “Queen of the Air.”

We turn the spotlight on Tegan Allen, a Sailor Circus Senior who has been with the program 7 years. Tegan specializes in being a Ringmistress and walks the high wire among other acts and is getting ready to graduate in the spring. She’ll be telling us of her journey through the Sailor Circus Academy and what she hopes to accomplish in the future

With a name like SaSa, you know she comes from a family of performers – circus performers that is! Listen as SaSa recounts her family history of travelling the world performing in different acts and shows and how her experience led her to finally settle in Sarasota FL where she found her niche with The Circus Arts Conservatory.

Rikki Hettig-Rolfe Meaux wears many hats at the CAC and is a professional aerialist in her free time – if she can find any! We’ll shine the spotlight on her many talents as well as hearing about what drew her to the circus arts and how they’ve led her down the many paths she has followed in life.

Andres Leon Miller is a man of many talents. As a graduate of The Sailor Circus Academy, performance is in his blood. Andres has a passion for and understanding of the circus and shares his enthusiasm with the students he coaches. Hear him talk about how circus has affected his life and how you, too, can fly through the air with the greatest of ease.

Before joining the Circus Arts Conservatory to manage the Circus Arts in Healthcare program, Aaron Watkins was the Dean of Students at Ringling’s famed Clown College and served as the Resident Clown Doctor at the Hole in the Wall Gang Camp. Join us as we shine the spotlight on this thoughtful and interesting funny man.

This week the spotlight shines on CAC Education Manager and Teaching Artist Karen Bell. Karen started her career as a clown with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and is the only female clown in the history of the show to have had a solo ring gag. Now she uses her talents to teach children science, physics and language arts in local elementary and middle schools.