Kicking off the school year in style with music and circus

By Shawn Cunningham
© 2024 Telegraph Publishing LLC

On a picture perfect Thursday evening, the Two Rivers Supervisory Union kicked off the school year in style with the West Philadelphia Orchestra and the Cirque Kikasse troupe performing on the playing field of Chester-Andover Elementary School with everyone in the SU’s communities invited.

Playing Fields is an initiative of the Flynn Center in Burlington that brings imaginative shows to schools in Vermont. This edition combined Balkan and Klezmer music with the circus skills of juggling and acrobatics and a big helping of shtick.

Cirque Kikasse uses a large food truck as both a stage and a side gig serving grilled cheese, popcorn and other treats while the band marches around through the audience and gets the kids dancing. As the sun goes down, performers come out to do daring feats of balance, flying from a trampoline with intricate multi-performer juggling. And all the while troupe members ham it up with side stories about things like not drinking cider on the job.

The faces of the crowd tell the story. Click the two videos to the right to view some of the antics and click any image to launch the photo gallery.