This weekend, I had the pleasure of taking my kids and some friends to one of the greatest circuses I’d ever been to. The one thing that made it different than any other–the performers were all kids.

Before you roll your eyes and imagine some tedious high school production of Barnum, let me assure you, Circus Smirkus is just amazing. If you are anywhere near New England or upstate New York this summer, run and grab tickets for their traveling show.

Now in its 24th year, Circus Smirkus is a single-ring circus show
that’s just the right size and length for families with young kids. In
fact, children are encouraged to sit on the floor right against the ring,
for the perfect view of clowning and juggling,
acrobatics, balancing, tightrope walking, and aerial stunts that had our
hearts in our mouths. It’s hard to believe the performers are as young
as 7 and no older than 19.

While there are a lot of local kids in
the troop, the performers come from as far as New Zealand, many
having devoted summers to the Circus Smirkus summer camp. Let me tell you, these kids are good.
From the clowns with remarkable comedy chops to a second-grader holding
perfect handstands on other performers’ shoulders, I won’t be surprised
when I see some of their names in future Cirque de Soleil Playbills.

The
other part I loved about Circus Smirkus: no animals. So for those of you on the fence about
things like elephants in circuses, this is a show that’s all about
performance.

“Very, very worthwhile,” one friend of ours beamed after the show. And if 4 pairs of
jaded Brooklyn parents thought so, I imagine you’ll love it too. –Liz

Find out about Circus Smirkus on their website, and see if there’s a show near you this summer