TROY — In a development that feels like it would happen only in the hip and funky place that is today's Collar City, a new circus-arts company is launching itself in a park with a free show featuring a fox on a trapeze.

Called "Roadkill" — more on that title choice at the end of the story — the show, running Sept. 27 and 28 in Prospect Park, is the first public production of the Contemporary Circus & Immersive Arts Center, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to presenting, promoting and producing work related to the contemporary circus. (Think Cirque du Soleil, not Ringling Bros.)

It was founded by Aaron Marquise, a 28-year-old Capital Region native who trained at the world-renowned National Circus School in Montreal and moved to Troy three years ago to develop circus works. While doing day jobs, including now in the education department at Proctors in Schenectady, he presented several shows under the company name Marquise Productions, then evolved it into CCIAC.

Among its programs is Artist First, under which CCIAC brings performers to Troy to develop new works. A residency-style program that gives one or two individual performers or companies per year artistic support as well as rehearsal and performance space, Artist First further provides assistance with the business side of the arts, including marketing, promotion, logistics, budgets, fundraising and more. A residency also comes with a stipend, albeit a small one at the moment.

"I'm so happy and fortunate to have this opportunity. It's very hard to find this kind of support for circus work in America," said Cooper Stanton, the circus artist who created and will perform "Roadkill." A New York City-based classmate of Marquise's from the National Circus School, Stanton makes his living as a performer, dividing time between acting gigs and circus-related work. He said he's long had an inchoate idea for a show about the life of fox told through movement, dance, music and circus skills including acrobatics, juggling and aerial work on trapeze and hanging fabric, but there was never time or funding to develop it.

CCIAC's Artist First provided both. Stanton came to Troy three times earlier this year for a few days each visit, returning this week to hone the show until its public performances. He and Marquise have worked closely on every element, from broad story outlines to specific moments and movements.

"When he first got here, there was no show. There was nothing but a concept," said Marquise. Together they built a general narrative for a 45-minute performance that starts with Stanton in the air for fabric work, moves to the ground for the middle portion and ends with him on a trapeze hanging from a 30-foot-high rig.

Rehearsals have been held in the Gasholder House, a round, brick structure built in 1873 with a cavernous, open interior that is 100 feet in diameter and has a ceiling height of more than 40 feet. Originally used to store coal gas burned in gas lighting in Troy, the building was decommissioned in the 1920s. In private hands, in recent years it has been mostly storage space, though the owners have been receptive to occasional use for artistic endeavors including band rehearsals, theater and dance performances, a recording studio and several of Marquise's projects. He envisions the dramatic building someday being the CCIAC headquarters, but that would be years and millions of dollars in the future. For now, he said, it's an excellent rehearsal space for a show featuring a high trapeze that will ultimately be performed in a city park.

City officials welcomed having CCIAC's first show to Prospect Park, said Marquise, citing particular help from Councilman Anasha Cummings and Deputy Mayor Monica Kurzejeski.

"It's an underused park, and we want to experiment with programming to see what we can do to expand the offerings in such a beautiful setting," said Kurzejeski. She added, "There's great community support for (CCIAC). We want to be able to build on that and help them move forward."

Although audiences for "Roadkill" will be encouraged to make a donation of $15 per adult, the all-ages show is officially free.

"Because contemporary circus is so new to most American audiences, I really felt like we should show people what it is before we ask them to spend money on it," said Marquise. The approximately $13,000 budget for the show and Stanton's residency was paid for by fundraising, part of which was an invite-only series of dinners over the summer at private homes that featured food by Marquise's wife and him, in his clown persona, as the waiter for the evening. Other funds came from grants from sources such as the state Council on the Arts, the Arts Center of the Capital Region, the Mount Ida Micro Grant Program and sponsors including Stewart's Shops.

After a show launches through the Artist First program, Marquise would like CCIAC to continue to be involved in its development, perhaps with a financial connection to future productions.

"There really isn't a good model for what we're trying to do," said Marquise. "We're building the plane as we fly."

Among the things he's figuring out is the balancing act he must play as creative collaborator and show director who is also executive director of the company. In the latter role, he fields questions from CCIAC's board of directors — i.e., people who have donated money and, he hopes, will again — about why the company's first show has what likely will be perceived as an off-putting title. As the director and creative collaborator, Marquise's job is to stand up for his artist; the executive director's job is to make that message palatable to board members.

"It's the name Cooper came up with, the one he wanted," said Marquise. "We tried a couple of other names, but that really is the right one. So 'Roadkill' it is."

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