Who We Are
We are a professional performance design and production company, specializing in audience-driven immersive and interactive theatrical events.
We borrow from global theater and circus traditions to craft experiences that invite guests to play, explore, engage, and imagine.
Our methods create environments that elevate and transform audiences, allowing them to leave with memories of a story they brought to life.
Our main bases are NYC and Philadelphia, yet we curate and perform work nationally, internationally, and digitally!
Our story
In July of 2016, Cirque du Nuit was born out of an experimental collaboration with the event production company You Are So Lucky. Theatre director, actor and circus performer Kaitlin Chin gathered a group of performers with various backgrounds in theatre, circus and dance to bring life to their event “Night of Fire”--held on a Manhattan pier. The troupe showcased their various barrier-breaking entertainment skills to engage with event guests and provide spectacle on both a grandiose and intimate level.
Then known as both "The Night Circus" and "Cirque du Nuit", the troupe continued to work with You Are So Lucky, performing at both large and small-scale events-- most notably their Halloween parties at the W.B Thompson Mansion in Yonkers, NY, and their mini-festival in July of 2017 (to which they received a write-up in Vogue magazine). Having created memorable performance pieces and improvisational moments at these events, Cirque du Nuit caught a reputation of being professional, organized and innovative.
As the company has grown over the years, CDN has independently created and curated performances for corporate events, private parties, theatrical shows, weddings, art festivals and more. Our client list includes 50 Cent, Kay Jewelers, King Richard's Rennaisance Faire, Tropicana NYC, TopGear Imports and many more. Equipped with a large roster of talented performers and creatives (over 90) and a skilled directorial & management team, Cirque du Nuit performances can range from Broadway-style dance routines, Masquerade Balls, immersive “Murder Mystery” nights to all out “Cirque du Soleil”- esque spectacles.
OUr company
Cirque du Nuit functions as both a standalone company producing independent work, as well as a network of artists available to be hired for nightlife, corporate, or personal events.
We intentionally bring on performers from all different experience levels, backgrounds, orientations, and colors, because to do otherwise would not make any sense.
Management Team
Kaitlin chin
Director
As the founder and director of Cirque du Nuit, Kaitlin is a jack of all trades. Event developer, performer, costume/makeup designer, and casting are just some of the many hats she wears to keep this well-oiled machine running.
Kaitlin began dance training at a young age. She attended the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point, graduating with a BFA in Theatre Performance and a Minor in Dance Performance. She went on to work professionally in shows ranging from Shakespeare to contemporary dramas to touring children’s shows; performing internationally in 5 different countries. In 2013, she worked as a resident performer in Malaysia at the Genting Highlands Hotel and Theme Park.
She is a proficient aerialist in multiple apparatuses. She has flown at a variety of events for high-profile clients such as Victoria’s Secret, Super Bowl XLIX, You Are So Lucky, House of Yes, Rainbow Mountain Resort, and at many masquerade balls, large-scale parties, outdoor festivals, concerts and fashion shows. Since 2014, Kaitlin has been touring with her self-produced aerial show “Draiku”.
Her passion grew into a specialty for directing both large-scale and intimate immersive circus work.
Amongst her creative work, Kaitlin specializes in the creation of non-verbal, high-spectacle fantasy characters; such as living statues, mechanical dolls, fairies and aerial fantasy creatures. Her work as both a director and movement teacher focuses on creating unique interaction with patrons utilizing a creature-based movement style.
Kaitlin also specializes in fitness instruction, having created Cirque du Nuit’s online fitness course “Staying Fit in The Apocalypse” in 2020.
Yannick Trapman-O'Brien
Assistant Director
As a performer and assistant director for Cirque du Nuit, Yannick has helped device, craft, and bring to life countless unique and intimate exchanges since 2016.
Outside of his work for Cirque du Nuit, Yannick’s practice centers on exploring the exchanges and spaces we are willing to make with strangers, and seeking unorthodox applications for performance. People pay him to act, which he has done in Shakespeare, devised work, performance actions and immersive works, as well as amphitheaters, basements, historical mansions, forests and one time on a bike.
Past credits include The Walnut Street Theater, Theater Mitu, Witness Relocation, the Interactive Playlab, The American Czech Theater, New Light Theater, and performances at the Franklin Institute, Morris Jumel and the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museums. He is an alumni of NYU Abu Dhabi (Theater, BA), Studio Manager and Engagement Strategist for Monument Lab, and an ongoing collaborator with, Al-Bustan, Guerilla Science and NYU Open Arts.
He is also the creator of The Telelibrary, a critically acclaimed telephone performance for audiences of one.
Occasionally, he sleeps.
rebecca hidalgo
Media & Marketing/ Social Media Coordinator
A former CDN performer and original company member since 2016, Rebecca now creates and oversees all the media, social media and web content for Cirque du Nuit. She currently is based in Reykjavík, Iceland.
Rebecca Hidalgo (artist name “Ondina”) is a multi-genre artist and performer originally from Brooklyn, New York. Her eclectic body of work includes dance & choreography, acting, music & songwriting, film, circus and more.
In 2015, she graduated from NYU Tisch School of the Arts’ Experimental Theatre Wing (B.F.A Drama, 2015). Past credits include LaMaMa Etc, House of Yes, The PIT NYC, Park Avenue Armory, Triskelion Arts, NYC Fringe, Brooklyn Arts Exchange, The Bitter End, Rockwood Music Hall and more. She has choreographed and co-created work for companies such as Refinery 29, The Advocate, Fireball Films, Gizmodo and Tactile Movement Collective. She also has created and produced three original full-length multimedia dance-theatre productions.
Since moving to Reykjavík, Iceland in 2018, she has worked on the Icelandic independent professional production of We Will Rock You (assistant choreographer & dance captain) and as a performer and dance captain at the National Theatre of Iceland.
Besides performance, Rebecca is a certified fitness instructor and freelance video editor & website designer.
Megumi Yamada
Aerial Director
As a both a performer and aerial director for Cirque du Nuit, Megumi develops acts, assists company aerialists in developing and heightening their performances and oversees safety and security for aerial rigging.
Megumi Yamada was born in Kyoto, Japan. With over 15 years of experience onstage in theater, festival, dance, and circus, her lifes’ work is in the integration of circus arts with other performances and movement disciplines. In her adult years, Megumi began training in yoga and belly dance. Having had training and work in both modern dance and budo (Japanese martial arts), in 2011, she stepped into the circus industry. In 2013 she won first prize in the Amateure Silks Division at Premier International Aerial Tournament in Hong Kong, and in 2014 she moved to New York City to perform. In 2015, less than 4 years after she began her aerial training in Tokyo, she was selected as a finalist in the Silks Division of the U.S. Aerial Championships in New York City. She continues to work as an aerialist and certified fitness instructor, and is currently teaching fitness and aerial fitness courses for “Staying Fit in The Apocalypse” (an online course hosted by Cirque du Nuit).