Circus Mojo will be performing at Rising Star Resort in Rising Sun Indiana during the month of March
By Shelly Whitehead
Contributor
When most of us think of big riverfront destinations around these parts, our minds likely shift to cities like Cincinnati, Covington or Newport. But as many old-timers know, that list included one more name about a century ago: Ludlow.
Back in the first part of the 20th century, little ol’ Ludlow used to be the place for just about everyone who was anyone in the Tristate region because that’s where Ludlow Lagoon Amusement Park was. In fact, adding Ludlow to the Cincinnati streetcar route back then essentially saved the line from financial ruin because so any people across the area found it one of the best ways to travel to the once-famed park.
But in 1915, that came to an abrupt halt when a tornado leveled the amusement center. Ludlow sank into comparative obscurity.
Until that is, about five years ago, when little ol’ Ludlow quite literally got its Mojo back.
Circus Mojo
That would be Circus Mojo — one of this region’s hottest and perhaps, most unique new businesses.
Five years ago, Paul Miller — a former Barnum and Bailey circus clown — came home to launch this now sprawling enterprise, and well, things in Ludlow have never quite been the same.
Paul Miller — life is a circus
Circus Mojo has brought people from around the world to the river town, for everything from corporate team-building and kids programs to circus skills vocational training. And all those people have to eat and drink, so a flurry of new businesses have followed, including Mayor Ken Wynn’s Wynner’s Cup Café.
“We’re trying to attract some unique businesses so we can promote some of our ideas as far as riverfront development.” said Mayor Wynn. “And I think with the businesses we’re attracting now, it’s going to bring people down here to see what Ludlow has to offer.”
It’s particularly fitting that Circus Mojo’s success has been so instrumental to Ludlow’s success because the whole idea behind the circus’ programs is to show the world how struggle not only strengthens, but can also delight and change life for the better.
Circus Wellness
Now, lest you doubt that merely learning to juggle or walk a wire can do all that, we direct your attention to a 14-year-old Ft. Thomas fellow named Joey Holt. Four years ago, a rare cancer-like illness left him in a wheelchair. Fortunately though, about that time, he ran into Circus Mojo’s Circus Wellness program at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center.
“I was in a wheelchair when I met them, so I could barely walk when I got to Children’s hospital,” recalls Holt. And they said they were actually surprised that I could walk again.”
In fact, his mom, Gina Stegner said, “When he started to the (Circus Mojo) summer camp, he came in using the wheelchair and crutches. And it was such a great physical therapy and mental therapy for Joey that in a week he was walking completely on his own.”
Indeed, Circus Wellness has been so successful at Children’s that the renowned hospital recently presented their Highest Orthopaedic Patient Experience, or HOPE award to Circus Mojo.
But the Mojo doesn’t stop at sick kids.
The Mojo mission
Today, there has developed something of a Circus Mojo “mission” here to spread the spirit of the circus everywhere from the toddlers who flock to Circus Silly Willy, or the older folks entertained by the organization’s nursing home wellness programs, as well as gym and after-school programs for all kinds of kids, including those with mental health issues.
But always, the overall idea behind all these efforts is essentially the same: Tap your own strength by taking to the trapeze or learning to juggle. That is a lesson that Paul Miller, himself, knows quite well. In fact, the energetic, 30-something business owner admits that he has, at times, been “a bit of a troublemaker.”
So, rather than squelch his true nature, Miller says, he went with it, and soon discovered there’s all kinds of personal power to be had in a little well-channeled mischief.
“It’s finding an element of risk which truly focuses people because I think that consequences aren’t things people really understand these days, okay,” says Miller with a knowing laugh. “But, with the circus there are consequences.
“There’s only one way to walk a tight-walk. There’s only one way to juggle. And you can’t cheat at this – it’s something that you just have to put your mind and your muscles behind. You can’t think about it. You have to just think and do it. And that’s every day, all day — this is what we work on.”
It’s kind of like Paul Miller has become something of a circus evangelist – making it even more appropriate that his business is now located partly in an old church gymnasium. And that’s where — since 2010, Miller has drawn circus performers from at least 25 different countries to Ludlow to learn how to spread wellness through their dexterous talents.
A different perspective of the high wire
For some — like the two young German performers we spoke with — their time with Circus Mojo has changed the course of their careers.
“The hospital work is new for us,” said 20-year-old trapeze artist, Rosa Groll.
Then, 19-year-old Kira Haid adds, “You get so much from the kids—they have a really hard time and you come and make them smile and that’s such an incredible feeling to see this kid smiling.”
Spreading the mojo
Circus Mojo is well on its way to spreading those smiles even further as it grows in Ludlow and beyond. Miller’s restoring the old Ludlow Theater, where there will soon be a circus-centered brewery. And he’s continuing development of other programs here and elsewhere, like his popular Cirque Destress in Minnesota.
But perhaps most interesting is his plan to spread the mojo to other proverbial “Ludlows” across the country.
“We’re going to franchise Circus Mojo, because if you can make it work in Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky — a very conservative market, okay — there are many places that are a lot easier.
“So, every city has a Ludlow and every Ludlow has an empty church or theater no one knows what to do with. We know what to do with it. . . And I really believe – and I don’t want to get all hokey — but it is spiritual work.”
Joey Holt
So stay tuned. But don’t be surprised if one of those first Circus Mojo franchises isn’t run by somebody like Ft. Thomas’s very own, Joey Holt in a few years. After all, the soon-to-be high school freshman said he was thinking of being a rocket scientist. But, well, things have changed.
“The other day we were actually scheduling my high school classes,” Holt recalls with a devilish grin. “And I put several engineering classes on my plan, and she (high school counselor) said, ‘So I see you want to go into engineering?’
“And I say, ‘No, actually, I want to be a clown — in the circus.”
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See Circus Mojo featured in the Trib’s INSIDE NORTHERN KENTUCKY show for KET scheduled for:
KETKY: Wednesday March 16 at 11:30 p.m.
KETKY: Thursday, March 17 at 8:30 p.m.
KETKY: Saturday, March 19 at 2:30 p.m.
KETKY: Sunday, March 20 at 12:30 a.m.
KET: Thursday, March 24 at 1:30 a.m.
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Rising Sun performances
Circus Mojo will be part of “March Mojo” at Rising Start Resort where performers from around the globe will bring the best of the circus world to Rising Star. The shows will feature the grace of the acrobat, the skill of the juggler and the humor of the clown.
Performances will be held at the top of the hour on weekends in the Casino’s Pavilion in March at 6 p.m., 7 p.m., 8 p.m., 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m., 3 p.m., 4 p.m., 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Sundays. The performances, which will change each weekend, are free and open to the public.
“After the success of the Christmas Casino during the holidays, we decided to bring the circus to town in March,” said Steve Jimenez, General Manager, Rising Star Casino Resort. “These shows will be an entertainment attraction and will appeal to a broad audience that will especially enjoy the antics of the clowns and thrill of aerial and trapeze acts.”
Circus Mojo March performances will feature a variety of acts, including aerial silks, gym wheel, juggling, acrobatics, clowns, tight wire acts and trapeze, with plenty of audience participation to keep visitors engaged. Performers from exotic locations Argentina, Germany, Mexico, Venezuela, New York City and Ludlow will be part of the production.
The shows will be directed by Roberto Arego Bedevia, who has served as artistic director for numerous international circus acts. He has directed acts in France, Korea, Cuba, Italy, Russia, Mexico and Venezuela and is also the artistic creator and coach of “Los Aregos,” a renowned acrobatic trio featured with Circo Atayde in Mexico, the Royal Hanneford Circus and the Big Apple Circus. In 2001, “Los Aregos” won a bronze medal at the World Circus Festival in Brazil.
The shows will be produced by Circus Mojo’s Paul Hallinan Miller.
