Every day for the past couple weeks, rehearsals for Circus Juventas’s upcoming summer show, “Lumiere,” have been intense.
The full cast and crew arrives around 4:30 and often doesn’t leave till after 10. Students in the youth circus school will perform a few-minute scene, flipping and juggling and dancing, then the adults spring into action.
After one scene, aerial coach Chimgee Haltarhuu shouts a few tips up to four performers suspended in the air on bungees, and choreographer Jarod Boltjes chats with dancers on the ground to help refine their movements. During another scene, as a trio of performers spin on German Wheel and Cyr Wheel, acrobatics coach PD Weisman gives “jazz hands” to remind them to maintain their theatricality.
A pair of Circus Juventas student aerialists hang from a massive chandelier during a rehearsal for the school’s Old Hollywood-themed summer show, “Lumiere,” on July 14, 2025. Alongside aerial acts — including the rare Wheel of Steel — the show also features a variety of juggling, dancing and acrobatics. (Jared Kaufman / Pioneer Press)
Meanwhile, along the sidelines, artistic director Rachel Butler-Norris and executive director Rob Dawson check in with the lighting and sound designers, prop masters and artistic staff. The rigging team huddles to discuss the flow of moving safety mats, hooking up aerial equipment to the rafters and preparing for the next scene.
“At this point, all the acts are set, all the choreography is set,” Butler-Norris said. “It’s really just those little details that connect it all together so we have that seamless flow. It’s sculpting it, making it cleaner and clearer every time we do it.”
The show’s plot sees five kids zapped first from 1985 back to 1935, to the fictional Hotel Lumiere during the Golden Age of Hollywood, then subsequently through a portal to a Twilight Zone-style world they have to escape to return to their own timeline.
“Lumiere” runs for 15 performances between Friday, July 25 and Sunday, Aug. 10. Tickets range from $25 to $55 and are available online at circusjuventas.showare.com or by phone at 651-309-8106. Shows take place at the Circus Juventas big top arena; 1270 Montreal Ave.
The show’s vibe is inspired by the classic Tower of Terror ride at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, Butler-Norris said.
“The first half (of the show) has all this glitz and glamor, and the second half is much darker and spookier,” she said. “I’ve always loved the Tower of Terror and was really inspired by old Hollywood, the Mission Inn and all that decor, the cobwebs in the lobby, these people in an old elevator that gets struck by lightning. Then we created our own narrative to the story.”
Performers rehearse on the Wheel of Steel for Circus Juventas’ annual summer show in 2021. (Courtesy of Dan Norman)
During the first half of the show, bellhop characters ride on luggage carts and toss suitcases. Aerialists swing from a massive chandelier. The climax involves the Wheel of Steel, a massive rotating apparatus that has not been featured in a Circus Juventas show since 2022.
“It’s a very technically high-skill-level act that no other youth circus does,” Butler-Norris said. “We haven’t had students that were at that level the last couple years, and now we have students who have been training really hard to perfect it. I’m really excited for people to see that act because it’s just mind-blowing.”
Everett Smith, 15, is one of six students performing on the Wheel of Steel during the show and has been training at Circus Juventas since he was 2 years old.
“I was skeptical at first, because I’d seen it and it was freaky, honestly,” he said. “It’s a little less freaky now. When you’re in the moment, you kind of forget how dangerous it is.”
The second half of the show features fire acts, which have become an impressive mainstay of Circus Juventas shows in recent years. In one scene, Jacy Johnson Becker, 17, spins a long staff that’s flaming on both ends, “like what Darth Maul has, if you’ve seen Star Wars,” he said. To learn to perform circus acts with fire, he said, coaches first guide students to feel comfortable extinguishing small flames, then larger ones, and meanwhile they learn to perform the acts without fire.
“Really, fire just makes it look cool,” Johnson Becker said. “But if you can do the trick without fire, you can do it with fire.”
Tilly Breimhorst, 17, who plays a main bellhop and performs in Russian Cradle, has been training with Circus Juventas for more than a decade. While her primary focuses are theatrics and dancing, she said, she appreciates that she’s constantly able to explore different acts and gain new skills.
“Our coaches here are so supportive of us,” she said, “and that makes it a lot easier to get skills down, because you know your coaches are there for you.”
Other performers agree.
“It’s just very rewarding, learning a new trick and having friends supporting you,” Smith said. “It’s fun to come out and do. You forget about a lot of things and just flip away.”
If you go
What: Circus Juventas’ summer show, “Lumiere”
Description: The St. Paul youth circus school, the largest in North America, is showcasing its top students’ skills in this show that blends Old Hollywood and the Twilight Zone.
When: 15 total performances, including matinee and evening shows, from Friday, July 25, through Sunday, August 10
Where: Circus Juventas Big Top, 1270 Montreal Ave., St. Paul
Tickets: $25-$55; circusjuventas.showare.com or by phone at 651-309-8106
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