Northampton, MA-– The New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA), the leading circus arts school in the United States, brought its Youth Performance Troupe to Northampton, Massachusetts, for a special appearance at the Academy of Music Theatre on April 26. Based in Brattleboro, Vermont, the troupe of young acrobats who train in aerial and ground skills was invited to open for the national tour of Cirque Us’ “One Man’s Trash” at their show in Northampton. They presented a group act, and then the Advanced Youth Troupe teased pieces of their solos from their upcoming end-of-school-year show “CircusNEXT: Underforest,” premiering on May 14, 2023.

The Youth Performance Troupe trains with some of the leading circus coaches in the world at NECCA, which also has a full-time professional circus education program for aspiring professionals. But NECCA’s Youth Troupe does more than just perform physical tricks; the program also places significant focus on the empowering capacity of physical and creative experiences through using circus skills to build life skills such as conflict resolution and self-advocacy. Said Youth Troupe Coordinator Victoria Quine, “NECCA’s Intermediate and Advanced Youth Troupes are so excited to be joining Cirque Us at the Academy of Music! Although many of our troupers are first-years, they have been working hard to build skills and are excited to perform in their third show this year. It is an honor to get to share the stage with professionals, one of whom was a youth trouper back in the day!” This collaborative effort, between NECCA and Cirque Us, grew out of Cirque Us’ histor...