Ivan Jermyn
Ivan Jermyn is a Physical Theater Artist, Clown and Acrobat from the hills of Vermont. He started his performing journey with Circus Smirkus before touring with Cirque Us for their ’17 and’ 18 seasons. He has performed for the Smithsonian museums, the Italian embassy, and countless passers by. In addition to performing, Ivan has helped devise PUTT PUTT, a main stage stage show for Coastal Carolina University, Unearthed, a creation with Accademia Dell’Arte, as well as Search For Sumatra’s debut show Manxome Foes. He holds a BFA in Physical Theater performance, and is a graduate of Accademia Dell’Arte. Ivan is excited to hit the road with Cirque Us again and repurpose lost things.
Maeve Beck
Maeve Beck is from Turners Falls, Massachusetts where she began her circus journey at nine years old at the New England Center for Circus Arts. Maeve has trained full time in NECCA’s ProTrack program and at The Sellam Circus School in the professional training program. She has been working with her hand to hand partner, Todd Degnan, for the past four years and she also specializes in contortion and hand balancing. She has traveled and performed throughout the country with companies including Live305 Entertainment, Santa’s Circus at SeaWorld San Diego, and this will be her third tour with Cirque Us!
Jeremy Cifonie
After first connecting with Cirque Us as a tech hand this past Spring, Jeremy Cifonie is thrilled to be up on stage for the One Man’s Trash tour this Fall! His circus career started while attending university to become an English teacher. He spent years juggling the classroom each day and circus each night until eventually making the jump to full time circus work in 2022– and he hasn’t looked back. Jeremy has since found work in and around his home in Chicago, and is excited for this first opportunity to perform outside of the midwest. He is infinitely grateful to work with this talented cast of acrobats and dear friends. To each of them, to all the faces in the audience, to his supportive family, and to his loving partner– thank you truly!
Mariah Fraker
Mariah Fraker is thrilled to be on her third tour with Cirque Us, and excited to share it with audiences in so many states! Mariah attended Bont’s International Clown School in Spain, and she has performed in shows in Chicago, Boston, DC, Quebec, and Menorca. When Mariah is not away with the circus, she can be found making coffee for politicians, travelling the world, or working at Smirkus Camp. Mariah is also known for her s’mores and over-the-campfire grilled cheeses.
Charles Keidel
Carina Kivela
Carina Kivela is a multidisciplinary circus artist that has a diverse musical and movement
based background. Thus one of the driving elements of Carina’s work in the circus and art world
revolves around collaboration between different artistic disciplines. This drive is one of the
elements that drew Carina to Cirque Us, which incorporates the multiverse (multitude?) of
talents presented by a closely working, small cast to bring a show to life. Carina also believes
strongly in the ability of art to be a powerful form of activism. She is collaborating with her
musical sister to spread awareness about the environmental impact of the drying up of the
Great Salt Lake in Utah through circus, music, film, and live performance. Aside from being a
performer and aspiring maker of change, she also loves to motivate people to be their best and
is a coach and personal trainer. Carina looks forward to many more years of learning and
inspiring through circus arts.
Justin Durham – Production Manager & Co-Director
Justin Durham is a handbalancer based out of Chicago. After graduating the National Centre for Circus Arts in London in 2017, he has been jumping between a variety of contracts as close to home as Midnight Circus in Chicago, and as far fetched as Circus Aotearoa in New Zealand, AirOtic Soiree in the Caribbean, and corporate performances in Europe and the Middle East. Justin’s favorite part of circus arts is creatively developing a show with an ensemble and being able to present his wide array of talents with the audience. Justin was a cast member in the 2018 production of StarStruck and the 2020, 2021 & 2022 productions of RagTag. Justin is excited to be making his directing debut with One Man’s Trash!
Doug Stewart – Artistic Producer & Co-Director
Doug Stewart graduated from the New England Center for Circus Arts in 2015. As a performer he has worked for Circus Smirkus, Chicago’s Midnight Circus, Diamond Family Circus, AIDA Cruises, Live305 Entertainment, Cirque Dreams and was a cast member in 5 Cirque Us tours. Doug holds a Bachelor of Arts in Business of Live and Performing Arts from Columbia College Chicago and working on his Masters in Business Administration. At age 20, Doug founded Cirque Us. Doug currently sits as the Assistant Director at Circus Smirkus Camp and the Artistic Producer of Cirque Us.
