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Photo credit: John Spicer |
A Different Spin
This month, A Different Spin—a Boston-based “circus and fire arts entertainment” troupe—hits the road with performances in Cambridge, MA and Utica, NY. Their action-packed act includes juggling, sword fighting, staff and poi spinning, and of course, attention-grabbing fire. (Who doesn’t love an element of danger?)
Comprised exclusively of Vassar College alumni, the group traces its origins to the fall of 2005. Then members of the Barefoot Monkeys, the on-campus circus group, four young men—Dave “Elias” Repka ’04, Jordan Campbell ’06, Alex Corby ’06, and Michael “Mooch” Mucciolo ’06—contemplated what to do with their lives post-Vassar. The circus life called, and they soon found themselves in the San Francisco Bay area, performing with the Dreamtime Circus.
Mucciolo, a native of New York’s Westchester County, returned to the Hudson Valley to recruit a new generation of Vassar Barefoot Monkeys-turned-professional performers who would be based out of the Northeast. Jeremy Warren ’07, Ricky Hawkins ’07, and Tim Ellis ’07 signed on, and A Different Spin was born.
To date, the Northeastern foursome has performed for some 30 colleges and universities and at least as many festivals, state fairs and other events, not to mention youth workshops, private events, and countless informal street performances. On January 6 they’ll perform as part of the Boston Circus Guild’s “Bohemian Bacchanalia” at Club Oberon, the second stage of the American Repertory Theater on Harvard Square in Cambridge. Two weeks later, on January 19, they’ll be at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica. – PB