Running away with the Circus – KARLYN SIMS & ELLY MEYERS

Karlyn Sims and Elly Meyers – Dancers for Ringling Brothers Circus


Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey is the longest running production in show business! Spanning three centuries, Ringling Brothers is tightly woven into the culture of the USA. It’s no wonder that millions of American families come to see Ringling Brothers every year as it has the eminent title “America’s Living National Treasure”. At the end of last year two Australian dancers, Karlyn Sims and Elly Meyers auditioned for the circus and were successfully offered 12-month contracts with the company’s RED tour!
After the hiring of these two fantastic dancers, Michael Schwandt and David Kiser (Talent Director of The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus) could not resist returning to Australia to hire more dancers. Michael will be heading up a fantastic team as Creative Director for the much larger 3-Ringed RED TOUR Circus. We are pleased to report that 16 new AUSTRALIAN dancers have been offered 12-month contracts for 2015 traveling and performing with the circus – what an amazing opportunity!!
David Kiser was thrilled with the number of talented dancers that auditioned across Wednesday & Thursday of this week.
“How exciting it was to see so many talented and well-trained dancers show up for our auditions. I know that our American audiences are going to love these Australian dancers and that they will make an incredible impactful part of our 145th edition of the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus. I know that we are a relatively unknown brand in Australia, but in the US we are the longest running and largest family entertainment enterprise playing 42 major cities each year to audiences of over a million people each year!”
Michael Schwandt is so excited to be able to Ringling Bros & Feld Entertainment to the Australian dance community and conversely is excited to offer this life-changing opportunity to a select group of Australian dancers.
To travel the US is a dream of many which this contract offers the opportunity to do while working and getting paid to do what each dancer loves. Additionally, the creative team are all A-list Los Angeles Choreographers that any discerning young dancer would be crazy not to want on their CV’s! The Creative Team includes: Michael Schwandt, Preston Mui, Meisha Lee, Oskar Rodriguez, Rhapsody Violetti. Each of these creatives have worked extensively with A-List Celebrities and are considered to be at the top of their game. Dancers have the bonus of being able to train in the US and explore the many tourist destinations including all the major cities on their days off.
Last year, Ringling Bros took the word of Michael Schwandt and hired two vivacious Australian Dancers – Karlyn Sims and Elly Meyers as part of the Gold Unit one-ring circus. Karlyn & Elly are loving the contract so much they have decided to re-sign for another 12-month contract on the Gold Unit.
Here, Karlyn and Elly chat with DanceLife about their experiences thus far with Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus:


It looks like you are having a lot of fun working on this contract for the circus… what’s it like?
Karlyn: Yeah its great, I’m loving it… it’s a lot of fun!
Elly: The travel, it has been the best!
Karlyn: Its been a little cold at the moment in the place we are in… a few times we have been snowed in.
What is the choreography and shows like?
Elly: The great thing is that Michael Schwandt choreographed the show so the choreography is really good. We do the same show every night we work, so you have to stay inspired to keep it good and keep it entertaining for the audience.
Where have you travelled so far in the first 3 months?
Elly: We’ve been to Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi, Massachusetts and so many more places that I can’t remember right now!
What else do you enjoy about the opportunity to work with the circus?
Karlyn: All of the PR, it’s really good to do. We really have such great opportunities with doing PR. We do lots of phone, radio and television interviews, it’s really amazing to see how a news station works and everything like that! It’s so cool!
Also this company is very well recognised and having this job is a big deal in America, it is a great experience and fantastic for your resume!
What are the live shows like?
Elly: For the Gold Tour, we are a smaller sized show but we always perform for crowds of 1000-2000 people. We always perform in arenas at places such as conventions, stadiums and ice skating rinks. The audience is varies but we always get a good response from them.
Is your show a very traditional style circus?
Karlyn: It is a modernized adaption of a traditional circus, we have great animal acts but we don’t have rodeos and things. What we do have is very, very talented acrobats and specialty acts! They are all amazing!!!
Elly: Michael Schwandt is the new choreographer for this tour, working with him has been incredible and everyone has said how much he has really brought this show new life!

We wish all the dancers on the new RED TOUR for 2015 all the best for this new adventure and also Karlyn & Elly on their renewed contract for 2015!