Warren Bacon Memorial Fund to support the training and paying of student teachers
In August 2025, Warren Bacon, my first circus teacher and mentor left the planet. January, 2026, when I made my acceptance speech as the newly named Circus Ambassador for the World Circus Federation in Monte Carle, I ended by talking about Warren, who started me on my circus path over 50 years ago. He came to the State University of New York, Purchase, to teach circus. I got my first circus job and went on tour with a youth circus called The Circus Kingdom the summer of my freshman year. When I came back, I went to Warren and said,"This is what I want to do with my life! How can I repay you?" Warren responded, "I'll tell you what my teacher told me: “'Pass it on!'” And that is what I have been doing ever since.
I cannot say often enough that this circus, Circus Harmony, the students you see here today, the ones who are out in the world performing or teaching or working as engineers... are there thanks to Warren Adams Bacon IV and the time and care he spent teaching me and then so many of them.Tonight, I am thrilled to announce the establishment of the Warren Bacon Memorial Fund which will be used to support paying our student teachers as they join the chain of passing it on!
Jessica Hentoff
Artistic Director and Founder of Circus Harmony
"At Circus Harmony, we really try to foster a mentor-mentee mentality, and we like to have our students become teachers. We think it's important for skills. It's easier for you to understand a skill if you can teach it. And then, more deeply than that, to be able to be a role model is really important to the program. And so, when we mentor our kids and our students, I call them my kids because I'm with them all the time, I should say students. When we mentor our students we really want to focus on making sure they feel supported and heard. It's such a crazy world that they're growing up in with social media and the expectations that they have academically. We have these really amazing students that do so much and then they're also practicing five days a week so to be able to be kind of a landing pad for them and to help them balance those responsibilities is really important."
Elliana Grace
General Manager and Lead Coach