Origins
Born and raised in Rockville, Maryland, Cole Bennington excelled in sports such as diving and volleyball before becoming a software engineer and aiding his family construction business. Discovering a passion for rock climbing and yoga led him to the partner acrobatics community, where he fell in love with handstands and collaborative training. While attending one of the more intensive trainings the community had to offer, he discovered that there were people trying to get into full-time professional circus training programs and was curious to find a way to do more himself.
Shortly after, he found himself applying to circus schools and quickly landed in the ProTrack program at the San Diego Circus Center (SDCC) in 2022, ready to drop everything and commit the next two years to training in the circus arts.
Shortly after, he found himself applying to circus schools and quickly landed in the ProTrack program at the San Diego Circus Center (SDCC) in 2022, ready to drop everything and commit the next two years to training in the circus arts.
New Beginnings
September 2022 marked the start of his first year at SDCC, where he trained upwards of 40 hours a week under renowned coach Jean-Luc Martin. Though primarily focusing on handstands and hand-to-hand, his training also immersed him in a diverse array of disciplines such as teeterboard, duo trapeze, clowning, dance, and juggling.
Upon discovering that Cole dabbled in rap as a creative outlet, Jean-Luc suggested that he utilize this skill to construct a storyline for the SDCC winter show – resulting in the creation of a rapping outlaw narrator to guide audience members through the show. In addition to training for and performing acts in handstands, hand to hand, duo trapeze, and teeterboard, Cole was responsible for writing and performing five hip-hop verses throughout the course of the show.
Contracts & Competitions
At the beginning of 2023, he landed his first paid contract as a handbalancer at SeaWorld San Diego’s Mardi Gras show, where he performed a total of 56 shows in a contortion-handstand duo act. These 20-minute pop-up shows took place four times a day and included opening and closing choreographic numbers.
By March, Cole had created his first solo handstand act to present at the Viva Festival in Las Vegas, where he later claimed 3rd place in the handbalancing category. This act combined handbalancing on a single chair with a performance of new original song lyrics – this time about a lover’s infatuation and his uncertainty with navigating these feelings. Oh, and that special someone is the chair.
In April, he started chair stacking and in May secured his next paid contract going on tour for 16 shows with Circus Bella to locations surrounding the San Francisco Bay area, LA, and Reno. Before going on tour, he created a five-chair act based on a drunken pirate character and performed it at the SDCC spring showcase, Jubilee.
Next Chapter
Cole embarked upon his second year of training full-time at SDCC and began preparing for his next gig for the Stuart Art Collection. This gig involved more than the simple performance of acts – a group of artists from SDCC came together to develop an immersive circus experience for this corporate gathering, settling on a cast of characters to “crash” the event and ultimately lead attendees throughout a night of entertainment. Cole played a clueless, masked clown character interacting with the guests and other clowns prior to performing chair-stacking.
Following this gig, Cole turned his focus to preparation for the 2023 winter show, which involved extensive collaboration among the class of artists. Although not having a character role as significant as the rapping outlaw, Cole took on greater leadership responsibilities in act building and show construction. He once again performed in the hand-to-hand and handstand acts, this year able to further highlight the technical skills he developed in his training.
As he finishes up his full-time training at SDCC, he is looking to continue performing and creating in a variety of contexts. He is most intrigued by ensemble and group acrobatic projects that utilize the wide variety of handstand and acrobatic skills that he has developed and is open to inquiries for his solo acts.