Learning to Fly: Students Find Community Through Circus

Learning to Fly: Students Find Community Through Circus By: Mark Ficken Ten feet off the ground with aerial straps wrapped around his hands, wrists and forearms, 18-year-old Justin Durham takes a deep breath. He hesitates ever so slightly and lets go. Flipping three times, he stops only a foot from the ground, his wrists freed from the straps. The crowd bursts into applause. It looks like something out of Cirque du Soleil. But it isn’t. It’s youth circus. “It’s tremendous. It’s incredible for all the kids. It’s a tremendous community service that the Actors Gymnasium has,” parent Bill French said. According to the American Youth Circus Organization, the number of youth circuses increased dramatically the past 10 years. Of their 200 member circuses, 25 percent were founded in the past decade, and they provide 3.3 million hours of youth programming a year. Ficken 2 Weissman Circus Youth circus exploded during the past 30 years. The American Youth Circus Organization has followed suit. AYCO helps ensure safety standards are met and instructors are trained and qualified. After three months of rigorous practice, seven separate performers, ages ranging from 10 to 18, dangle calmly from thick ropes, their wrists in leather safety harnesses. Their partners, lying on the ground, whip the rope around in circles. Each performer lets one wrist free leaving them swinging sideways from one arm, trusting in the harness and their partner. Ficken 3 Weissman Circus Tricks like this lead to special bonds according to Jessica Hentoff, a former circus performer and executive director of Circus Harmony in St. Louis. “You’re doing stuff that requires a tremendous amount of trust and responsibility. Very rarely someone else’s life will be in your hands or you are putting you life in someone else’s hands,” Hentoff said. At Circus Harmony, these connections help bring together students of different socioeconomic backgrounds. As a social circus, part of their mission involves the breaking down of stereotypes and cultural differences. “What the kids find out is…they have much more in common than they have in different,” Hentoff explained “In a lot of cases, this is the first time some of our students has met somebody Jewish or had a friend who was white, or can talk to someone who’s Chinese.” While not all circuses incorporate a social mission, all follow a communal success mentality. Former Actors Gymnasium participant Emily Fishkin explained that, even if a performer nails a trick, if it’s out of sync with everyone else, the performer fails. But individual achievement is still celebrated Fishkin said. “The first time I was able to do a back walkover,” she said, “Hearing everyone in my whole class, all of the teen ensemble, start clapping and freaking out it really reinforced that I can succeed, but if I succeed then we’re all succeeding.” In her eight years at the Actors Gymnasium, Fishkin spent countless hours with the other performers. These friendships carry over to their everyday lives. Fishkin babysits for former members, and they in turn wrote her college recommendation letters. Ficken 4 Weissman Circus This deep connection also means that when one member of the community hurts, they all hurt. On Oct. 25, 21- year-old performer Reggie Moore died due to injuries sustained in a car accident in St. Louis. Immediately, donations to help pay for services poured in and organizations across the country posted messages of condolences online. “He was such a presence, such a bright light. Instantly the amount of love around the country from meeting him at one event…[led to] thousands and thousands of notes,” AYCO Executive Director Amy Cohen said “It was amazing. It was such an amazing affirmation of the strength of the community.” Moore’s passion for circus started after he followed his friends to practice. Immediately he signed up and never looked back. At the time of the accident Moore was going to speak to Hentoff and hoped to audition for circus school in Canada. At six-foot-five and 250 pounds, Reggie’s artistry and dedication astounded Hentoff. Moore’s passion was infectious and in four years he was juggling five objects, perfecting back handsprings, doing somersaults and standing on a ball while juggling knives. Ficken 5 Weissman Circus Beyond just learning circus skills, however, youth circus has a substantial effect on participants. Kiana Simon, director of marketing at the Actors Gymnasium, explained they teach kids to learn to fly “physically, emotionally, creatively.” “We’ve heard stories from parents whose students or children were struggling in school, or having trouble adjusting socially,” Simon said “People really do see that [circus] effects their lives outside of the gym.” While participants leave the circus, the circus never leaves the participants. Fishkin pointed to her unusually emotional last performance. She and the seniors received a box of pictures and letters from other performers and teachers. But just because she no longer performs for the circus, she’s drawn back. “[It] was like a really nice button on what my time there was,” Fishkin said “It was a reminder of like, yes here’s a picture of all the time you’ve already spent here, but that doesn’t mean that the button is on and the box is closed. You can always come back. They love it when you come back.” .

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