Wanderlust Circus is a theatrical

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicy ...

troupe based in

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, founded in 2006 by creative partners Noah Mickens and Nick "The Creature" Harbar. Since 2006, Wanderlust Circus has grown from a small band of creatives to a full-fledged circus troupe, and non-profit organization. The organization presently comprises a team of acrobats, a 10-piece swing band, a trick-roping cowboy clown; and several aerialists, contortionists, hand balancers, jugglers, and dancers. Their most popular recurring shows have been The White Album Christmas, A Circus Carol, and the dance party series MegaBounce.

History

Fictional background

Victorian English ringmaster William Batty and his spirit cousins, the members of the Wanderlust Circus, are blessed and cursed with conditional immortality: should they ever leave the circus life, their long years will catch up with them leaving them old or even dead. Batty and the Wanderlust Circus all come from different time periods – Victorian England, the Old West, swing-era New York and even the present day. Batty himself is over two hundred years old. Shows follow the troupe's adventures on the road with simple comic stories providing the through line between acts.

2006–2008: Formation, Batty's Hippodrome, Hippodrome Circus Arts Center

Mickens and Creature first teamed up in 2006
Prichard, James W.: "Clowns, Not Cupids at Cirque L'Amour", ''The Oregonian''. 2009 to form two separate but related circus shows: Wanderlust Circus headed by Creature, and Batty's Hippodrome, led by Mickens
Adams, Anne: "Wanderlust Ringmaster Speaks Volumes", www.portlandmonthlymag.com 2010 and founded during his residency as Creative Director of the now-defunct Someday Lounge. The pair founded the Hippodrome Circus Arts Center,
Hippodrome Circus Arts Opens, Willamette Week, November 2007. which opened on November 17, 2007 on the lower floor of the Rotture-Branx venue complex (which itself closed in 2015). Mickens and Creature fused circuses in 2008, under the Wanderlust name, after The Hippodrome's owner decided not to continue the venue.

2008–2011: Bossanova Ballroom, new shows, collaborations, MegaBounce

Wanderlust Circus eventually settled into the Bossanova Ballroom, and proceeded to put on a series of shows that lasted through 2010. Some of these shows were seasonally recurring, such as the White Album Christmas show (in collaboration with The Nowhere Band, aka the No Star All Star Band, featuring members of the MarchFourth Marching Band, Solovox, Stereovision, and others),
White Album Christmas. the Cirque L’Amour show for

Valentine's Day Valentine's Day, also called Saint Valentine's Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. It originated as a Christian feast day honoring a Christian martyrs, martyr named Saint Valentine, Valentine, and ...

, and Wonderland Circus, a circus adaptation of

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

Alice in Wonderland ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'' (also known as ''Alice in Wonderland'') is an 1865 English Children's literature, children's novel by Lewis Carroll, a mathematics university don, don at the University of Oxford. It details the story of a ...

with dialogue from the original story. Other shows told the legendary backstory of the Wanderlust Circus itself. In 2009, Wanderlust Circus performed at the inaugural celebration for then-mayor Sam Adams, alongside MarchFourth Marching Band and Trashcan Joe. In 2010, Wanderlust Circus performed a specially choreographed epic circus on and around the 60-foot steel fire sculptures of The Big Art Experience at American Steel Studios.
DJs, Music and Art: Sand By The Ton: July 31, 2010: Oakland, CA They performed similar choreography at Los Angelos, California, LA's Electric Daisy Carnival and

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

's Sand by the Ton. This series was the result of a collaboration with industrial sculptor Dan Das Mann. In 2010, Wanderlust Circus & Vagabond Opera co-produced the Queen of Knives theatrical opera.
McQuillen, James: "Queen of Knives". Written by Stern and directed by Mickens; Queen of Knives featured cast members from Vagabond Opera, such as then-cellist Ashia Grzesik; and Wanderlust Circus members like belly dancer NagaSita.
Nagasita Dance. Nagasita and Wanderlust Circus also co-produced the multi-episode Goth subculture, goth fantasy theatrical series Bogville. In 2011, Wanderlust introduced two new show formats. Megabounce
Megabounce. which premiered on March 12, 2011, is an annual themed audience participation rave format, featuring

acts set to live

electronic dance music Electronic dance music (EDM), also referred to as dance music or club music, is a broad range of percussive electronic music genres originally made for nightclubs, raves, and List of electronic dance music festivals, festivals. It is generally ...

sets from internationally renowned DJs, such as

DJ Assault Craig De Shan Adams (born October 19, 1977), better known as DJ Assault or Craig Diamonds, is an electronic musician and producer known for pioneering Detroit booty music and the ghettotech genre. Adams was born in Detroit and relocated to the su ...

, Bunny, Run DMT, Heyoka, and Butch Clancy. The other new format was The Wanderlust Circus Orchestra, an old-time

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

style circus, reminiscent of the

Spike Jones Lindley Armstrong "Spike" Jones (December 14, 1911 – May 1, 1965) was an American musician, bandleader and conductor specializing in spoof arrangements and satire of popular songs and classical music. Ballads receiving the Jones treatment wer ...

TV show. This format features circus performances scored by the swing big band of the same name.

2012–? : Alberta Rose Theatre, studio album, Umbrella Festival, and 10th anniversary

In 2012, Wanderlust Circus forged a new relationship with the Alberta Rose Theatre, making it their new Portland headquarters for local shows. At the Alberta Rose, Wanderlust Circus developed "A Circus Carol", a theatrical circus retelling of

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English novelist, journalist, short story writer and Social criticism, social critic. He created some of literature's best-known fictional characters, and is regarded by ...

A Christmas Carol ''A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas'', commonly known as ''A Christmas Carol'', is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall in 1843 and illustrated by John Leech. It recounts the ...

co-produced by Wanderlust Circus and 3 Leg Torso; as well as the annual Umbrella Festival of Circus & Comedy, a multi-day festival showcasing circus, vaudeville, and

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, casino, hotel, restaurant, or nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or drinking, ...

acts from across America. Coinciding with

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, Washington's Moisture Festival, the Umbrella Festival was designed to attract national circus performers to the West Coast vaudeville circuit,. Umbrella Festival has been well received by local critics. In 2012, Wanderlust Circus Orchestra released their first full-length album, "Joyous Panic," featuring original songs and jazz standards, like Everybody Loves My Baby and Sunny Side of the Street. In July 2015, Wanderlust Circus was featured on The

Travel Channel Travel Channel (stylized as Trvl Channel since 2018) is an American pay television television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, who previously owned the channel from 1997 to 2007. The channel is headquartered in Manhattan, with ...

's show Watt's World in an episode about

, alongside Voodoo Doughnut, Darcelle XV, and other Portland counter-cultural attractions.

Cultural context

Wanderlust Circus is part of a

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

revival of circus and cabaret artists in the Pacific NW, which began to show its face around the turn of the 21st century. Early examples of this movement include MarchFourth Marching Band (2003, Portland OR),
March Fourth Marching Band Circus Contraption (Seattle, WA) and the Yard Dogs Road Show (San Francisco, CA), all of whom have collaborated with Wanderlust Circus and some of its previous incarnations. The two founders and directors of the troupe, Noah Mickens and Nick "The Creature" Harbar, each have a long history of producing, directing, and performing in circus shows in the Northwest. Nick "The Creature" Harbar was born and raised on the road. His parents, Mary Ann Willis and Greg Harbar, were the center of a

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

musical ensemble called The Gypsies
The Gypsies starting in the 1960s; and played a large role in bringing traditional Romani people, Romani musicians to the United States and publishing many of their traditional songs for the first time through Mel Bay Music.
Mary-Ann Willis Creature himself first gained notoriety in San Francisco as a show producer and facilities manager at influential art collective CELLSpace.
CELLSpace While living and working there, he and partner Mike Templeton produced and directed a dinner show called Circo Romani,
Circo Romani with musical director Zhenya Kolykhanov of The Red Elvises. Their production company was called The Wanderlust Company. Creature moved to Portland in 2006 and contacted Noah Mickens about working together.
Clowns Not Cupids" Noah Mickens has created and performed in a great number of shows in Portland dating back to 1999, starting with his experimental music and performance series 36 Invisibles, and working on the board of directors for 2Gyrlz Performative Arts.
Cicuri Curajul. Prior to 1999, Mickens spent his youth singing in rock bands in L.A. and Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, and spent some of his early teen years as a

juggling Juggling is a physical skill, performed by a juggler, involving the manipulation of objects for recreation, entertainment, art or sport. The most recognizable form of juggling is toss juggling. Juggling can be the manipulation of one object o ...

and contorting street performer. Mickens' first circus venture was Cicuri Curajul, a "fake Romanian Circus" co-produced with Tony St Clair, which debuted on April 25, 2004 at the Crystal Ballroom. Upon the abrupt dissolution of Cicuri Curajul, Mickens and fire martial arts performer David "the Fireninja" founded a ritual performance troupe called Societas Insomnia
Societas Insomnia. which lasted from 2004 to 2007. Societas Insomnia featured a variety of performance types meant to evoke a world of nightmares, including fire dancing, suspension, and

butoh is a form of Japanese dance theatre that encompasses a diverse range of activities, techniques and motivations for dance, performance, or movement. Following World War II, butoh arose in 1959 through collaborations between its two key founder ...

, along with traditional circus acts and

Tuvan throat singing Tuvan throat singing, also known as Mongolian throat singing, is a style of singing practiced by people in Tuva and Mongolia, the main technique of which is known as ''khoomei'' ( or ). It is noted for including overtone singing. In 2009, it w ...

by Enrique Ugalde a.k.a. Soriah, who portrayed the sun. In 2005, Mickens also co-founded and toured with The 999 Eyes of Endless Dream Carnival, an underground

freak show A freak show is an exhibition of biological rarities, referred to in popular culture as "Freak, freaks of nature". Typical features would be physically unusual Human#Anatomy and physiology, humans, such as those uncommonly large or small, t ...

, now the 999 Eyes Freakshow, as ringmaster and Master of Ceremonies. While serving as Creative Director of an art bar called Someday Lounge, Mickens returned to a more traditional circus format with a show called Batty's Hippodrome in 2006. Just a few months later, along came Nick the Creature. Wanderlust Circus heavily tours festival circuits, performing as featured and ambient circus entertainment for Electric Daisy Carnival, Oregon Country Fair,

Sasquatch Bigfoot (), also commonly referred to as Sasquatch (), is a large, hairy Mythic humanoids, mythical creature said to inhabit forests in North America, particularly in the Pacific Northwest.Example definitions include: *"A large, hairy, manlike ...

, Paradiso, Tomorrow World, Symbiosis, Lightning in a Bottle, The SF Edwardian Ball, and others. Wanderlust Circus has also toured across the West, including California,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest and Mountain states, Mountain West subregions of the Western United States. It borders Montana and Wyoming to the east, Nevada and Utah to the south, and Washington (state), ...

Montana Montana ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota to the east, South Dakota to the southeast, Wyoming to the south, an ...

, Washington and more.

Wanderlust Circus South (2009–2014)

In 2009, Wanderlust Circus acrobat Alexander Dial returned to San Diego, California and established his own circus production company called Otherwise Entertainment. After a year spent establishing his new troupe, Dial took on Wanderlust Circus' name for both his existing and future San Diego projects, calling it Wanderlust Circus South. Wanderlust Circus and her sister company collaborated on shows all along the West Coast, stretching from northern Washington to southern California. Wanderlust Circus South entered a period of indefinite hiatus in 2014.

Discography

* "Joyous Panic" – 2012

External links

*http://www.wanderlustcircus.com Official website

References

{{Reflist, 33em 2006 establishments in Oregon American circuses Culture of Portland, Oregon Culture of San Diego Performing groups established in 2006 Theatrical organizations in the United States