TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2013 BY ALAINA MABASO On the ground: circus arts thrive in Germantown

Through an unassuming door near the corner of Greene and West Rittenhouse Streets in Germantown, there is a sunny gymnasium that resembles a giant birdcage. A variety of ropes, perches and a large dangling ring hang from the ceiling -- a great big parrot might be in heaven, but at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts, the gear is for those who fly without the benefit of wings. The school is open to all, offering classes for beginners and experts, young and old alike. And, since 2009, some of the locals taking advantage of the school include sophomores from Germantown's Mastery Charter School Pickett Campus , just a few blocks away. Every year, two lucky interns get first-hand experience not only in the administration of the school and its performances, but also on-the-ground -- and in-the-air -- practice with aerial silks, juggling and other circus arts. According to the school's General Manager Kitsie O'Neill, circus arts have gotten a bit of a make-over in recent years, with major pop artists like Pink and Britney Spears incorporating elements of aerial silks into their shows. O'Neill, a former full-time graphic designer who now teaches and occasionally performs in the company's staff shows, began with aerial silks about ten years ago. She tried them first in the backyard of Founding Director Shana Kennedy, a juggler and RONALD NICHOLS, JEAN SHEPARD AND KITSIE LUNDELL - MICHAEL PERSICO aerialist who had a vision for a professional-grade Philadelphia-based circus school and performance company. While work in the air is fun, O'Neill was quick to note to that the internship program "Circus has been really evolving not as a fringe art, but as an art that can be funded has challenges and benefits besides physical skills. In the program -- developed after in the U.S.," she explains. While circus arts are considered a mainstream performance Mastery first approached the school in 2008 -- interns get valuable office skills as well. genre in Europe and Canada, in America, when it comes to scoring supportive grants, "Usually with the interns we get, it's something that has attracted them to this type of circus performers fall under a kind of artistic no-man's-land. Potential funders' internship," says O'Neill. As the interns' supervisor, O'Neill tries customize the reaction to jugglers, trapeze artists or aerial silk experts is often confusion. internship. For example, Gilliland is hoping to gain administrative experience. "Usually we're just filed under miscellaneous, or 'what?'" says O'Neill with a chuckle. O'Neill is glad to help them achieve this, in part by including the students in the curating and planning of the company's annual student showcase. The shifting perception of the art form is one reason why O'Neill welcomes two Mastery 15-year-olds into the school's classes and operations from early February Interns also learn how to answer the phones and deal with queries from the company's through May each year. She wants to demonstrate that circus is not a members-only customers and students. In a world where we're increasingly glued to text messages club. and e-mails, professional telephone skills are no longer a given for those entering the workforce. "For Americans, there has long been a feeling that if you want to learn circus arts, you have to be born into it, and have the circus in your blood," says O'Neill, who goes on Back on the floor, Sheared laughed as she noticed that in buckling down for a juggling to emphasize that, like any career, from medicine to public relations, having family in lesson, her body automatically crouched into a basketballer's defensive pose. the business might help, but anyone who wants to can learn the skills. O'Neill and the juggling teacher, Jonathan Perry, started the girls with a pair of This year's Mastery interns are Jean Sheared and Marquita Gilliland. When Flying juggling balls. "It's like we're scooping ice cream and making that 'X' in the air," Kite visited the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts on a Wednesday afternoon in O'Neill explained. April, O'Neill led the teens right onto the gymnasium floor to continue their Perry, who has been juggling since age twelve, took a slightly different tack. introduction to aerial silks. "Picture yourself in a phone booth. The walls are covered with nitroglycerine, so if you "I like doing weird stuff," says Sheared, adding that she's always enjoyed the circus. A touch them, you explode," he quipped, reminding the girls to keep their arms close basketball player, she also hopes that lessons in juggling will translate into increased to their bodies. hand-eye coordination on the court. Juggling is full of unexpected challenges -- catching those balls, tossing them high as Acrobats at the Philadelphia School of Circus Arts can train on what look like long, your arms get tired pass after pass, and remembering to breathe through it all. thick ropes dangling from the ceiling. They're called corde lisse, and they are actually braided ropes with a softer canvas overlay -- easy on hands grasping them in mid-air. As Sheared tried to keep three balls in the air, Perry explained the professional juggler's term for mastery of a particular toss: a "qualifying" catch. The formula is simple: the The aerial silks that Sheared and Gilliland practice on hang from stout carabiners and number of objects you're juggling times the number of hands you have. swivels secured to the rafters. The four silks – or tissu in the French tradition – aren't actually silk: they're a strong and stretchy blend of fibers that, on Greene Street, come So when Sheared, juggling three balls, joyfully managed to achieve six catches in a row in a glorious quartet of magenta, red, purple and turquoise. after about fifteen minutes of practice, she had made a qualifying catch. With thick mats underneath them, Sheared and Gilliland stretched the fabric with According to O'Neill, there's another obvious benefit of a high school internship at a their hands and feet, practicing three basic poses, just a few feet off the ground. circus arts school. "Put that on your resume," she says, "and in any kind of job or college interview, it will make for a good conversation starter." Aerial artists contort their bodies in graceful movements and poses through knots in the silk that are tied and untied with the help of their own body parts. BY N. ROBINSON AND T. WITHERSPOON, INTERNS FROM MASTERY HIGH SCHOOL Internship Experience At Mastery Charter school all 10th graders have to complete a 16-week Despite all of our computer work we began to branch out of the internship. Our internship coordinator set up three interviews for us to office and start our interviews. We interviewed Mary Ellen Bradley go on and Drexel was one of them. The interview went well for both of and Dr. Zarro first; the objective of these interviews was to learn us and Drexel became our top placement choice. In February we were about the history of community service at Drexel University told that we were placed at Drexel University College of Medicine for College of Medicine. From these interviews we learned that our internship site for the rest of the school year. community service wasn’t always a part of the curriculum. We also received insight on the first community service projects that we set up. Weeks later we interviewed two medical students, Blake Bowden and Lola Adekunle, who are currently enrolled at Drexel University College of Medicine. The students gave us advice about our future careers as doctors by telling us the college courses they were required to take audio clip.

MASTERY INTERNS WITH AMPUTATION KIT The time gap between the interview and being notified of our placement was very long and we forgot what our goal was. When we came to Drexel the first day of the internship we didn’t know what to expect. But when we arrived we were told that we would be working in the archives department and would soon be interviewing medical students as well as faculty members during the MASTERY INTERNS WITH 19TH CENTURY BOX OF BONES course of this internship. Overall, this internship was a learning experience. We came into this not knowing what to expect but now we are leaving with new As the weeks progressed we focused on our main project, which was skills that we have acquired over these past week that can be applied to create a Google map of all the community service sites from later in life. For instance, we learned new computer skills, and 1996-2002. Through this project we learned new computer skills. added to our communication skills all because of this internship. We also found out information involving college that will be applied later in life. Before this experience we viewed an internship as something that had little to no meaning, but all of the things that we are leaving with proves that it actually has some significance.

MASTERY INTERNS WITH INTERVIEWEE MARY ELLEN BRADLEY