Meet Cirque du Biere owner, Mel Fox
Hey all — Mel here with Cirque du Biere. If you’ve been to a show, you’ve seen me running around, dropping, spinning, and soaking in every memory.
I thought I’d do a quick intro here on the Cirque du Biere blog to give you some background around how and why I started Cirque du Biere, a bit about my aerial journey, and why I love this aerial troupe so damn much.
Pretend like someone else is interviewing me — I think a Q&A format is the best way to talk through everything.
Photo by @nadiaimages
Background
How long have you been practicing aerial?
I started aerial back in March of 2018, just over 6 years! It feels longer and shorter at the same time, ha!
How did you get into aerial?
I run a small business called Work For Your Beer, and at the time, we were doing a series around 'weird workouts around Charlotte.’ One of my other Work For Your Beer members, Danielle, found a local aerial studio, and we took a lyra class together. I immediately loved it. It was challenging and fun and so much better than the workout classes I was doing at the time.
So, I started going once a week. Then twice a week. Then I canceled my other gym membership, and I started going 4 - 5 times per week.
What aerial apparatuses do you enjoy training or performing on?
My first love was lyra, but I have also become partial to sling (sometimes referred to as "aerial hammock'“). I’m not a silks girlie, but I’ve been cross-training more on silks lately, so who knows, maybe I’ll perform on silks at some point in my life.
Photo by @freerange_photos
Cirque du Biere
Why did you decide to start Cirque du Biere?
As someone who owns a small business in the craft beer industry, as well as an aerialist, I saw an opportunity to merge both of my passions together when Hi-Wire Brewing (a circus-themed brewery) opened up a taproom in Charlotte, NC.
It started with hosting regular productions at Hi-Wire, but it soon expanded outside of just Hi-Wire. It turns out, people love having aerialists at their events — they just didn’t know that was an option.
Where does Cirque du Biere perform?
Currently, we host regular productions at Hi-Wire Brewing (CLT), as well as perform regularly at Monday Night Garden Co. (in South End, Charlotte).
We are available for hire! We’ve performed all around town, and we’d love to continue popping up at private events, corporate events, weddings, grand openings, anniversary parties — you name it, we’d love to help make your event special!
What’s your favorite Cirque du Biere performance (to date)?
This has to be my Scream-themed performance for our 2023 spooky/Halloween show. It went viral on TikTok, and it was just so much damn fun to put together.
I did learn that performing in a mask presents its own set of challenges, but it was very well worth the effort.
Do you have any funny or interesting behind-the-scenes stories from Cirque du Biere rehearsals or performances?
One of my favorite things that we’ve incorporated into our pre-show routine is quacking like they do in The Mighty Ducks. For whatever reason, we all put our hands into the center before our first show, and the extremely talented and hilarious Daniel went, “Quack” and we just all quacked. And now we do this before every show, and I don’t know why I love it so much, but I do.
How does Cirque du Biere differ from other aerial troupes in the area?
Unlike other circus troupes, Cirque du Biere hosts themed shows that are meant to entertain the masses. The aerial scene in Charlotte is growing, but oftentimes, the shows that are put on are viewed by mostly other aerialists or artists. And while that is a completely valid way to perform — I wanted to create a troupe that catered to folks who have never seen an aerial show before. My goal was to wow people and give them a level of entertainment they’ve never had before at a brewery (or similar location) — all for an affordable ticket price.
I also do focus quite a bit on event marketing, and I think we’ve created some really fun, highly-viewed marketing campaigns for our events!
Oh, and every single show, a percentage of our profits goes to a local non-profit. Giving back is extremely important to me, and I love being able to do that through Cirque du Biere.
Tell us about your troupe members.
Our troupe consists of 18 local aerialists who are absolutely incredible at what they do. A portion of our troupe either owns or teaches at Bloom Movement Artistry, while the other members train regularly at Bloom.
Each member brings a different style and flair to the troupe, and everyone collaborates extremely well with one another. It’s been so fun working with all of this talent in one space. You’ll often catch me at a show watching from a table in the back going, “Aren’t my friends the coolest, most talented people?!”
Are you hiring any troupe members?
Unfortunately, we are fully staffed right now. If we open up any spots in our troupe, we’ll announce it on our Instagram (@cirquedubiere).
How can we see a show?
You’re in the right place! Either head to cirquedubiere.com, follow us on Instagram, or check out our Eventbrite page.
Well, that’s it! Hope y’all learned a little bit more about my journey with Cirque du Biere.
We will be introducing our aerialists one by one on the blog, so make sure you pop by to meet the other folks who are creating some serious aerial magic.
Hope to see you at a show soon!