BRATTLEBORO — Access to circus arts is expanding this year in Brattleboro as the New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) takes on fiscal agency for the Parkinson's Disorder Pantomime Project, created and run by legendary mime and founder of Circus Smirkus, Rob Mermin.
When well-known mime, Rob Mermin, was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease (PD) in 2014, he decided to integrate this diagnosis into his movement career by founding the Parkinson's Pantomime Project. PD is a neurological disorder characterized by symptoms of movement impairment.
“I'm not unaware of the irony of being a movement professional who has a movement disorder,” said Mermin in a news release.
Over the last 15 years, Mermin and NECCA's founders have established a longstanding relationship. When Mermin and his funders approached Executive Director Jenna Struble last fall, she approached NECCA's board of directors, and they voted in favor of becoming fiscal agent for the project.
Struble said that “supporting one another comes naturally for us. We both believe in the circus for everybody.” As the leading circus nonprofit in the region, NECCA's mission of providing circus arts to a diverse group of individuals aligns with the Parkinson's Pantomime Project goals.
Mermin's extensive career spans more than five decades clowning with various European circuses, including England's Circus Hoffman, Sweden's Cirkus Scott, Denmark's Circus Benneweis, along with formal training under mime masters Marcel Marceau and Etienne Decroux.
He founded Circus Smirkus, toured Europe with Sandglass Puppet Theater, served as the Dean of Clown College for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and won countless awards including the Bessie Award and 2008 Vermont Governor's Award for Excellence.
This lifelong experience as a performer and creator gave Mermin the foundation to enable those living with PD the opportunity to develop skills through mime that can help them manage symptoms, while experiencing the joy of circus. For the past two years, Mermin has been teaching a weekly class for people with PD, adapting basic mime and circus techniques to explore new ways of coping with movement limitations affecting daily activities.
By applying the principles of pantomime, Mermin may discover ways of becoming more conscious of daily movement, with the intent of adapting this awareness to counteract the symptoms of movement disorder.
“For me, having Parkinson's is like doing mime all day.” Mermin observes. “While I can't say that I'm glad to have Parkinson's, it has given me a new focus, a motivation for helping others . . . I'm encouraged by the interest from neurologists and physical therapists, who are excited by the potential benefits for those living with PD - greater independence, reduced isolation, social interaction, and improved posture, balance, and general motor skills.”
NECCA and Mermin are searching for a Brattleboro location to give movement classes once per week for people in the area who have PD. The program requires a quiet private space for participants, away from any other traffic or programming, so that participants can focus on the class and each other.
To offer a location and to join classes, email Mermin at robmermin@gmail.com and visit www.RobMermin.com.