Mesmerizing performance

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Circus performers with Mesmerie Entertainment LLC entertained CSC students and Chadron community members Saturday in a free show at the Kline Amphitheater.

Syerra Wycoff Bagshaw, 20, junior of Falcon, Colorado, arranged the event and received funds from Student Senate to sponsor it. She found the Denver group online when searching for a fun and affordable performance to bring to campus.

“I originally thought to bring the performers because as a student senator I had heard from my constituents that Senate tends to bring in informative speakers, which is both constructive and helpful, but the students that I spoke to also wanted fun events brought in,” Wycoff Bagshaw said.

The troupe, consisting of four female performers, go by the name of “Kaleidoscope Klimax.” Their opening act was a fire dance to Beyonce’s “Run the World (Girls).” The wind was a hindrance to keeping their flames lit.

They did two more fire dances as a group, and each woman did a solo aerial performance as well. During the aerial acts, the girls who were not performing walked through the crowd on stilts or did a flag dance.

The emcee hosted cartwheel and handstand competitions for the children in the audience to show off their skills during the breaks between performances.

“It was a nice treat,” Shea Johnson, 22, sophomore of Carpenter, Wyoming, said. “It was great to get a break from studying and homework.”

Phi Beta Lambda, CSC’s business club, was also doing free face-painting for the kids, and taking free-will donations for their upcoming trip to nationals.

RLA provided free hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy, and soda for the audience.

For this year’s circus, Wycoff Bagshaw said she was trying to keep it family friendly to interest the whole community, but if CSC brings the circus back next year, she would alter the event a little.

“I would plan it later at night and make the performances more adult,” Wycoff Bagshaw said. “The company has belly dancers, burlesque performances, and the fire performances are far more captivating at night.”

For the next day, the performers met with students and faculty for lunch in the Student Center Scottsbluff Room. Dining Services provided pizza for the lunch.

There was a question-and-answer session that allowed attendees to ask questions about the performance company’s eventual expansion and how the company operates through the use of networking and notoriety for performances.

The performers described how they tend to fit the acts to suit the audience, specifically how interacting with children versus with adults is different. They emphasized that the best way to market yourself, particularly in entertainment, is by having numerous selling points and talents.

Each of the performers has an array of skills from stilt walking, to fire eating, belly dancing, aerial stunts, and even unicycling. They were appreciative for the opportunity to come perform for such a different crowd and enjoyed themselves.

They also talked about how to organize as a business by limiting yourself to small projects before investing in such large ones that you become overwhelmed and incur unnecessary debt.

Each of the performers said the most problematic thing to deal with as a business is all the precautions and insurance, especially with contemporary acts like theirs.

The circus performers work with Mesmerie Entertainment LLC, which is founded by Kate “Mesmerie” Brunner, one of the performers. Brunner is professional aerialist, fire performer, circus entertainer, and aerial instructor, according to her website mesmerie.com.

“I fell in love with this style of work when I lived in Florida and did my schooling out there,” Brunner said.  “I moved to Colorado in 2012 and did solo perormances. It wasn’t until 2014 when my company became an LLC.”

Brunner also said she has been hiring expanding since 2014 and Mesmerie Entertainment has been doing larger events over the years.

“Our performances and some of my solo performances have been in Colorado, Montana, Oklahoma, and now Nebraska,” Brunner said. “It’s been a great experience for myself and the others.”

Other performers for Mesmerie Entertainment LLC are Staza Stone, Meri Burgess, and Ilsa Greatorex-Duncan. Brunner’s specialties are in fire and aerial performance, Stone’s in stilt walking and aerial performance; Burgess’ in contortion and aerial performance; and Greatorex-Duncan’s in aerial performance and all other areas where needed.

“Every performer has a unique skill which is great and Ilsa is really our jack-of-all-trades performer,” Brunner said.

Brunner also mentioned the non-performers, David Hanan and Derek Larson, help with on stage performances, handle equipment, and drive.