Sayad Moudachirou brought his daughters to see Circus Smirkus last year, figuring it would be a fun family thing to do.

It was. But he also left the show with a couple aspiring circus performers on his hands.

“As soon as the show ended, they wanted to enroll in circus camp. They appreciated that all the performers are still kids, and that makes it so relatable,” said Moudachirou of Scarborough.

Circus Smirkus will be back in Maine for more than a dozen shows under the big top this summer. The Maine tour begins with four shows at Cumberland Fairgrounds on Aug. 5 and 6.  There will also be four shows at Rockin’ Horse Stables in in Kennebunkport on Aug. 8-9 and five shows at Fryeburg Fairgrounds on Aug. 11-13.

Moudachirou will be there with his daughters, Maya, 9 and Shoshana, 7. Both are interested in taking classes at their local neighborhood circus school, The Gym Dandies Circus School of Maine. Last year, when Moudachirou and his family saw Circus Smirkus, the show was at Payson Park in Portland. But this year, the presenter of the Portland-area shows, Portland Ovations, picked the Cumberland Fairgrounds to provide more parking and a better site for the giant tent, which holds 750 people.

Circus Smirkus features performers between 10 and 18 years old. Photo by Justin Miel

Circus Smirkus is a traveling advertisement for the new generation of circuses, focused on young, skilled performers who take classes and study things like juggling, acrobatics or unicycling. The days when circuses were known largely for lion tamers and elephant riders are gone.

Circus Smirkus was founded in 1987, as an arts and education organization, training performers, offering camps and classes, and putting on family shows. It’s based in Vermont.

The performers are between 10 and 18 years old, and this year’s tour theme is “The Imaginarium,” a magical toy shop that comes to life with performers taking the roles of tumbling teddy bears, high-flying marionettes or a jumpy Jack-in-the-Box.

One of the performers coming to Maine is Cora Williams, 18, of Ithaca, New York, in her third summer season with the circus. She took lessons at a circus school near her home, then studied at a circus school in Montreal.

Circus Smirkus, based in Vermont, is a circus for kids by kids. Photo by Justin Miel

She remembers seeing traditional circuses as a kid, including Ringling Bros. and Big Apple Circus. But when she first saw Circus Smirkus, she realized entertaining people under the big top was something she could do sooner, rather than later.

Williams said she loves the fact that when she does a show, she could be inspiring the next generation of circus performers.

“The nice thing is this is a show for kids by kids, but we don’t dumb it down. I love it when the kids (in the audience) come and talk to us,” said Williams. “We have lots of little kids who come up to us. That’s how I got into it. We teach them some tricks, and we get lots of hugs.”

Williams says it took her three or four months to learn unicycle tricks. She can do spins and pirouettes and “wheel walking,” where it seems as if the cycle’s one wheel is walking, one step at a time. She’s also an acrobat, standing on others’ shoulders and being flipped and tossed through the air.

Because she’s 18, Williams is “graduating” from Smirkus. She’s excited to be part of a “new generation reimagining what circus is” without animals and without limits. She says that young performers go on to careers using their circus skills in a variety of places and fields, including with touring circuses, as part of cruise ship shows, or in companies that put on shows for businesses.

Circus Smirkus is coming to Maine this month. Photo by Justin Miel

Moudachirou said his is one of about five Scarborough families he knows that are going to the show this year. Some went last year, and some heard from others about how engaging the performances are for kids.

He said that, as a parent, he’s glad to see groups like Circus Smirkus and The Gym Dandies offering a fun activity and a chance to learn a skill, besides the traditional offerings of sports or music lessons for kids. He also thinks that from what he’s seen so far at Circus Smirkus, the performers learn more than just juggling or acrobatics.

“For me, as a parent, it was great to see the performers taking ownership of what they were doing. It goes beyond performing; it’s almost about leadership,” Moudachirou said of the show he saw last year. “They were going into the crowd and talking to people, sharing their excitement.”

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SOUTH PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The Maine Department of Corrections is launching an investigation into the circumstances in which two young detainees escaped, stole a car and remained on the lam on Sunday, officials said.

The South Portland Police Department has issued temporary warrants for robbery, theft, and assault, as they sought the two males, who cannot be identified by law because of their age. The Department of Corrections is working with federal, state and local law enforcement to apprehend the pair, officials said.

The car was stolen Friday night near an apartment complex across the street from the Long Creek Youth Development Center. A motorist told News Center Maine that the two youths threatened her, pulled her out of the car and threw her to the ground.

The Long Creek Youth Center is the Maine Department of Corrections facility that houses minors convicted of crimes. They can be held there until they turn 21 in Maine.

A week since announcing her bid for president, Vice President Kamala Harris has raised more than $200 million dollars, according to her campaign.

To put that figure in perspective, it’s four times what the Biden re-election effort raised in the entire month of April. Former president and Republican nominee Donald Trump’s campaign said he raised nearly $112 million in the month of June, Politico reported.

The Harris campaign said 66% of the donations came from first-time donors. Along with fresh dollars, the campaign has signed up over 170,000 new volunteers since president Biden announced he would step down and endorsed her to be the Democratic nominee last Sunday.

That energy is much needed for the vice president who, as of Sunday, has just 100 days until voters hit the polls. This weekend alone, the Harris campaign has scheduled more than 2,000 events in swing states.

“The momentum and energy for Vice President Harris is real – and so are the fundamentals of this race: This election will be very close and decided by a small number of voters in just a few states,” the campaign’s communications director, Michael Tyler, wrote in a memo.

The vice president has already secured commitments from enough democratic national convention delegates to lock up the nomination, with elected Democrats and grassroots groups rallying around her.

On Saturday, during a fundraiser in the Berkshires, Harris told supporters that she was the underdog in the race, but was heartened by the overwhelming support she has received. Roughly half of the money raised in the first week came in the first 24 hours after Biden endorsed her. That was a record-breaking pace.

“And since then, in battleground states, people have been flooding our offices around the country to volunteer,” she said in Pittsfield, Ma. “This is good. We’ve got momentum.”

One key aspect her campaign remains to be seen: Who Harris will choose to be her running mate? The process for a VP pick would normally take months. But for Harris, her deliberation period can best be measured in days.

One source familiar with her thinking said Harris was looking for a vice president with executive experience and someone who could be a governing partner with her, among other considerations. That source declined to share names of people being vetted.

A second source said Harris’ team had not yet narrowed down the field and was vetting about a dozen potential candidates for the job, and also declined to give names of people being vetted.

The sources spoke on condition of anonymity to share information about the private process.

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