DSLR settings for circus?

I just bought a Nikon D3100 and am taking the kiddos to the circus tomorrow. I could shoot on manual but want to experiment. What settings are good for the event… Indoor stadium (basketball/hockey stadium), low light, 18 rows up from action and lots of movement. I only have a 18-55mm lens, it came with the camera.

You'll have to be at 55mm, so that means your widest aperture will be f/5.6. You will have to settle for 1/60 shutter speed and probably ISO 2000. You would LIKE to use 1/250 or faster to freeze the motion, but that's just not gonna happen.

All depends on the ambient light and where you are in the audience…

the likelihood is that you'll end up with very dark shots or lots of camera shake…

there are no magic settings, because we don't know what you want to achieve… Or what lenses you have available or your skill/knowledge level…

There's no way for anyone on here to know what specific settings you will be able to use.
It depends on the lighting conditions at the time (plus whether you want to freeze all movement etc).

IF you want to freeze the movement of the performers then you will need to shoot at 1/125 at a bare minimum (faster for faster movement).
To do that indoors would normally require a wide aperture and higher iso.

Open your lens up to the max and then play with the iso until you can get a shutter speed which will be enough for your requirements.