Circus Circle instructors have a wide range of performing and teaching experience, and are the most skilled circus practitioners in Atlantic Canada.

Mike Hirschbach

Mike Hirschbach (Director) performed with the Cirque du Soleil show, “Dralion“, across North America from 2001-2003. Since 2003 he has been a Master Trainer with the Cirque du Monde, the Cirque’s social outreach program, and has taught intensive workshops in Orlando, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Montreal, South Africa and Burkina Faso. He is the Director of Circus Circle, teaching circus skills to youth throughout Nova Scotia in programs that range from Youth Detention facilities to recreational programs to weekly venues for street youth.

Mike Hirschbach performed with the Cirque du Soleil show, “Dralion”.

Mike studied physical theatre and circus in California, New York, and Montreal and then studied for two years in Paris at the Ecole Internationale de Theatre with the legendary Jacques Lecoq.

Mike’s solo theatrical-circus shows which he conceives, writes and performs, have been seen across Canada, the continental U.S., Europe, Singapore, the Yukon and Alaska. He has performed thousands of shows, and taught uncountable workshops on 4 continents.

Mike was featured in an episode of David Suzuki’s The Nature of Things, which explored the nature of laughter.

Duncan Philpot

Duncan Philpot has been doing object manipulation since 2002. He has taught at Circus Circle and other social circus programs with Mike since 2007, and is recognized as one of the top 5 diaboloists in Canada. He has just returned from two years in the UK where he attended 15 juggling conventions, and performed at Aberdeen, Durham, Leeds, and the Scottish convention in Edinburgh. He has been the president of the Acadia Juggling Club for three years.

You can see a short clip of Duncan practicing variations with two diabolos here.

Sean Anderson

Sean Anderson has juggled and diaboloed for over 20 years. He was among the first in the world and the first in North America to master three diabolos at once on the string.

He was among the first in the world to master three diabolos at once on the string.

He started and has run the largest international diabolo forum, Diabolo.ca, for over five years with more than 3000 members and nearly 100,000 posts. In 2004, Sean was an invited judge at the first World Juggling Federation diabolo competition in Las Vegas. Sean has travelled the globe with his passion for juggling, learning from and teaching others to juggle and diabolo in Canada, France, the US, the UK, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.

Ailsa Keppie

Ailsa Keppie studied trampoline in Scotland, movement therapy and dance in England, and trained in circus and physical theatre at ‘Circomedia‘ in Bristol, UK.

Ailsa performed trapeze for Gandey at the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome in the UK, then lived and worked in Morocco before finally returning to Nova Scotia in 2008. Since then, she has taught movement and flexibility for the Circus Circle programs and other community classes.

Ian Gallant

Ian Gallant is recognized as the most proficient unicyclist and uni teacher in Nova Scotia.

Ian Gallant is recognized as the most proficient unicyclist and uni teacher in Nova Scotia. He is currently an instructor at Circus Circle, and in 2008 was a participant in the grueling Ride the Lobster Unicycle Marathon from Yarmouth to Baddeck; over 800 kilometers on one wheel.

Ian co-choreographed the unicycle number in “Circus Circle in Motion” (a role he will reprise in 2010’s “Voyage”), performed the solo tightrope number, and performed in the juggling ensemble.

Watch a short video of him practicing uni moves including the very difficult 360 degree spin.

Kristin Langille

Kristin Langille’s training in aerial arts includes trapeze, silks, lyra, cloud swing, hammock, triple trapeze, and corde-lisse. She studied at Circus Space in London UK, and performed her act on aerial hammock locally in Jeremy Webb’s “A Christmas Carol” at Neptune Theatre.

She has studied fire with Marissa Gough and continues to study and practice fire: poi spinning, torches and contact fire, fire fans, fire fingers and flaming devil sticks.

Kristin graduated from the Dalhousie Acting Program, and has 12 years of dance training. She has been a member of The Irondale Ensemble Theatre Company from 2000 – present, and worked with them for a month intensive at the Dell’Arte School in Blue Lake, California.

Our Guests

We regularly invite guests to give specialized workshops, or give presentations about different aspects of circus training. Here are some of the people who have shared their experience with us.

John Beale

John Beale is an actor, producer and creator who has been teaching internationally for over 20 years. His workshops inspire authentic presence by focusing on the pleasure of play and discovering the joy of failure. Students explore the pleasure to be in the spotlight, to be complicit with an audience and not shy away.

His workshops inspire authentic presence by focusing on the pleasure of play and discovering the joy of failure.

Beale is a graduate of the Philippe Gaulier International Theatre School in Paris, France. He also trained, performed and taught extensively with Shakespeare & Company in Massachusetts. His one-man clown show “The Peggy Show” boasts a five-year run and was applauded by hysterical international audiences at the Old Red Schoolhouse in Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia. The show has won popular and critical acclaim and was nominated in 2009 for a Merritt Award for Best New Play.

Said Debbach

Said Debbach has been performing with circuses for 30 years all over Europe, North America and in the Middle East. He performed as leader of the Aladdin Troupe of Moroccan acrobats in such circuses as Circus Mondial (Spain), Ringling Brothers (USA), Circus Offi (Italy), Robert Brothers (UK), Cirque Surreal, and the International Circus. He also performed acts on the rings, the cradle and flying trapeze. Over the last 10 years Said has trained performers to do a number of aerial and acrobatic acts, such as the web, the straps, static, swinging and flying trapeze. He also regularly brings new acrobats and performers from Africa and Eastern Europe to train up for Gandey’s yearly productions. He has been asked to coach pairs skating couples in the lifts for ice dancing, and hip hop dancers in acrobatics.

Said Debbach has been performing with circuses for 30 years.

In the last two years, Said has worked as master trainer on a reality TV show where celebrities are trained to perform different circus acts every week over a 10 week season, ‘Cirque de Celebrite‘. He also appeared in the James Bond film, ‘Octopussy‘ with the Moroccan troupe. He is now in demand as a guest teacher at circus schools in London and around the UK.

Nicole Kehrberger

Nicole Kehrberger studied circus at Scuola Teatro Dimitri in Switzerland, acting at the Ecole Philippe Gaullier in London, and dance at the Bewegunsart in Freiburg. She has participated in various productions in England, France, Italy, Spain, Israel, Palestine, Brazil, Switzerland and Germany. In 2005, she founded her own company Totales Theater International. The first production of Totales Theater International, “Studio su Medea” directed by Antonio Latella, in co-production with the Teatro Stabile dell ‘Umbria and the Festival delle Colline Torinesi, won the Premio Ubu award for best show. Nicole was awarded Premio della Critica in 2007 and the Adelaide Restori Award in 2009. She teaches regularly at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris and has been teaching acting, acrobatics and aerial disciplines internationally since 1993.

You can see her aerial video here.

Paul Bannerman

In December 2001, Paul joined Cirque Du Soleil to tour North America with their production, ‘Varekai‘. He performs over 400 shows a year to over one million spectators with this Emmy-award winning show.

He has performed in the pit orchestra for 49 musical/theatre productions worldwide, including numerous jazz/swing big bands (Glen Miller Orchestra), and is on the musical staff of five cruise lines including Princess Cruises

After 23 years of drumming professionally, Paul has recorded on 20 CDs (Cirque Du Soleil), one DVD (Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Varekai‘), performed in two motion pictures (‘The X-Men’), and ten live television shows (The Tonight Show Jay Leno, Live with Regis and Kelly). His touring/cruising experience has brought him to more than 79 countries on 6 continents.

Our Staff

Nellie Keating

Nellie Keating (Operations Manager) has been a two year veteran with Fools for Health, a therapeutic clown doctor program operating in hospitals and nursing homes in Windsor, Ontario. She was inspired to enter the field of humour therapy after performing as a clown for hurricane evacuees in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in the aftermath of Katrina.

Nellie teaches tightrope and stilt walking in the Circus Circle program, and recently completed a course of study in clown with John Beale, and acrobatics with Nicole Kehrberger, the renowned coach from Italy. Nellie was the producer of “Circus Circle in Motion” in 2009 and performed in it as a physical comedian.

She is currently the operations manager for Circus Circle, and is initiating a clown doctor program in Nova Scotia.

Louise Renault

Louise Renault (Production Manager) has worked in film, television, radio and theatre for over 25 years. She became a member of the Directors Guild of Canada (DGC) in 1987 and worked as an Assistant Director for 15 years across Canada, shooting feature films, television movies, series and short films. Louise has worked as a broadcaster, co-host and arts and culture reporter for the French Atlantic Regional Radio-Canada morning and afternoon radio programmes. Louise has also been cast in roles in films and in the Trudeau and FLQ mini-series. An accomplished teacher, she has taught courses related to film production at the NSCC.

Louise Renault has worked in film, television, radio and theatre for over 25 years.

She is also involved in community theatre at the Theatre Arts Guild, as director, producer, choreographer and actor, and directed “Dancing at Lughnasa” and will direct “Thirteen Hands” in February.