"Elbows In My Ears" with Trailblazing Clown DANISE PAYNE- Live Like An Acrobat Podcast Ep.56

Circus News

“Elbows In My Ears” with Trailblazing Clown DANISE PAYNE- Live Like An Acrobat Podcast Ep.56

On this whimsical episode of the Live Like An Acrobat Podcast, host Shenea Stiletto interviews Danise Payne, a circus clown with twenty-five years’ experience. She graduated from Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Clown College in 1978 and toured with the Red and Blue Units of The Greatest Show on Earth. She has performed with five circuses and became the first Black woman clown in a circus in Europe. Ms. Payne was featured in Ebony magazine, and on Entertainment Tonight and NBC’s Today Show. Danise is also a member of The Circus Fans Association of America, the Circus Historical Society, and the Screen Actors Guild. She was also featured in the Uncle Junior Project by Veronica Blair, and her own memoir, entitled Elbows in My Ears: My Life with Little People, Tigers, and Wardrobe Trunks, uncovers a never-before-told tale of a Black woman with a career among little people, tigers, and wardrobe trunks.

Shenea Stiletto
Acrobat, Podcaster, Circus Artist, Handstand Instructor -United States
Shenea Stiletto (Shenea Booth) is a two-time World Champion Gold Medalist in Acrobatic gymnastics, a USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Member, and World Acrobatic Society Inductee. Her career includes a decade of collaborations with Cirque Du Soleil including the coveted hand balancing role as "The Promise" in Varekai, becoming the first-ever African American female soloist to play a lead character in a Cirque Du Soleil production.
Shenea was also a finalist on America’s Got Talent and has continued to be a featured artist with prominent circus entertainment companies worldwide.

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Shenea Stiletto

Shenea Stiletto (Shenea Booth) is a two-time World Champion Gold Medalist in Acrobatic gymnastics, a USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame Member, and World Acrobatic Society Inductee. Her career includes a decade of collaborations with Cirque Du Soleil including the coveted hand balancing role as "The Promise" in Varekai, becoming the first-ever African American female soloist to play a lead character in a Cirque Du Soleil production. Shenea was also a finalist on America’s Got Talent and has continued to be a featured artist with prominent circus entertainment companies worldwide.