VPR/Steve Zind

(Host) When the 26 young people in this year's Circus Smirkus troop hit the road this summer, they'll be showcasing more than their juggling, tumbling and high wire skills.

They've also been learning that what happened between tricks is an important part of a good circus performance.

VPR's Steve Zind reports.

(Zind)  Everyone comes to the circus for thrills and laughs.  No one comes for the choreography. 

But if you pay attention to what goes on between the moments of slapstick and derring-do of a circus show, you'll see it's all very planned out:  each step, each bow, each entrance and exit.  That's where choreography comes in.   

(Matt Williams) "It's the emulsifier.  It's the egg in a cake mix."

(Zind)  For the past four years, Broadway choreographer Matt Williams has been in charge of showing the young Circus Performers what to do with themselves when they're not juggling, tumbling or clowning.   

(Williams)  "Princesses, when you go around, it's right foot and its airplane arms tilted to the left..."

(Zind) Instead of the professional dancers in New York Williams has spent the past week working with Circus Smirkus kids ages 10 to 18.  

(Williams) "These guys have just as much of a professional attitude and often time much more of a professional attitude than a lot of the professionals I work with." 

(Zind)  In a well choreographed show, the performers are doing something entertaining between their routines, 17-year-old trapeze artist Fiona Lowry of Sunderland, Massachusetts says even though the crowds don't come for the choreography; it adds a lot to the show.

(Lowry) "A lot of people, they want to see the tricks, but they also want it to be aesthetically pleasing.  They want to see us having fun, they want to see us moving and all sorts of stuff and being graceful.

(Zind) 18-year-old Ben Bond of Williston juggles for the circus.  But he's just as enthusiastic about the dance steps and other moves he's learned. 

(Bond) "Learning the steps isn't really what choreography is.  You really have to really put energy into it to make it interesting.

(Zind)  So the next time you're at Circus Smirkus, keep an eye on what's going on between tricks and stunts. 

It's an important part of what's kept crowds coming for the past 22 years.   

For VPR news, I'm Steve Zind in Greensboro.

Note:  Circus Smirkus opens its summer tour of New England this Saturday in Greensboro.  For details on their schedule, click on the link below.