Did you know a lot of people in local circuses before trying out aerial classes?
I was working a completely different job, in a spa field, when I saw a Cirque du Soleil show in Vegas. It was called The Beatles Love show and it was super inspiring. I came back, started taking classes, and found a Groupon poll class with my sister. I found the circus equipment in a room next door and something just pulled me in. The aerial training was the only thing I was spending my money on and I was attending up to four classes a week. That took over my life quickly.
What type of aerial styles are there?
I’m an instructor now, so that’s very easily answered for me at this moment. When you go to an aerial fitness studio, usually they’re going to offer things like static trapeze, aerial silks, aerial hoop, and aerial hammock. Those are your main classes that you can apply for. You can then get your specialty apparatus, which are welded apparatus, such as cubes or hearts. You could think of anything from a chair to an anchor, it can be an apparatus literally. And so, there are endless things you can take lessons on.
Are there any specific qualities or athletic abilities that you need to handle aerial performances?
I teach beginners, I teach them about three different levels- beginner to advanced. When my beginners come in, the first question they ask is “Whew, that was very intense. What do I need to do to make myself better so I’m not struggling every time I come in?” And honestly, when I started, I couldn’t do a single pull up. So, what gave me the strength, the grip strength, the muscles, and the body awareness, was going to class and training. It’s like the only way to get better is to go more and if you’re really that dedicated, you can go to the gym. It’s hard for us average joe’s who don’t have a gymnastics background to just go to the gym and suddenly start engaging these muscles you’ve never had to engage before. I say come to class and get started. I have a very extensive line of mobility for stretching and getting strength at the same time. That’s my job now, to help you become capable in the world of aerial performances, or if just to get you fit and have fun. You don’t have to have any specific background or training. That’s kind of the cool thing with aerials or that I get to offer is that I can change that for you if that’s what you’re really dedicated to do, and I was very dedicated. So thankfully I can do 10 pull ups instead of not even one anymore.
Do people attend classes for recruiting purposes or how do you make connections in the business?
A lot of people that you’re going to see in performances usually have an extreme circus background where they were either trained through a gymnastics company or they were circus born. They could be third or fourth generation circus talent, so most of these performers that you’re seeing in Cirque du Soleil have had an extensive amount of training since they were young. The aerial fitness community is something that has become offered to people to be able to do that, to break that cycle completely. I know people who are born in the circus who don’t want to be in the circus. A lot of them end up jumping out of it and getting some other job, becoming a doctor or something. They won’t attend the classes because usually they were born into it, and a lot of times they’re just forced into doing it. When taking these classes, this is something that will be able to get you the training to be able to get noticed. There is no other way to get noticed because the niche or the community is small.
Is starting young important for anyone trying to have a career in the circus?
It is. Some of my top students were previously trained as ballerinas or gymnasts that went through an injury and didn’t end up making it to the Olympics, but they have the utmost mobility and strength required for challenging moves. They come to me and I just show them the fundamentals and they just go on with it and become great. It’s crazy to see because they have all that training, but also the niche for becoming a ballerina. I feel like as an athlete, it’s so hard. What do you do with your body after all that training? You find a fun place like me, and then you end up becoming a performer because you can instill that strength and all of that into a performance art that also I’ve seen really create different types of personalities, like bringing out the utmost personality out of them. It helps to have a pre-background of training, but not everybody has that. I didn’t have that and I’m still making it a full-time job. You just really must be dedicated. It just must be because those kids have been training since they were nine. They are automatically amazing by your age. It’s rough out there for a lot of athletes, so I’m happy to be able to have an athlete come to me and be able to put all that work they’ve done for years to use.
Are there any procedures to avoid getting hurt or any common mistakes that lead to injuries?
Your biggest thing with aerial arts is warming your body up as much as possible and using a mat. You also must make sure that where you’re hanging from is from a structural beam and not a tree. Because your biggest ways of getting hurt with aerials are falling, not warming up, and rigging from something that was not safe and then falling to your death. The risk of injury is extremely high with aerials and you cannot be reckless. Besides that, I’ve never had anyone get hurt in my classes before. I still use mats and make them warm up extensively. Our facility is top notch for any type of structural beams to hang from. That’s biggest ways of getting injuries. You can’t rush things or try to show off. I went to a circus in Mexico and had a wonderful time with this family. They took such good care of me, but unfortunately, I was practicing a trick and I fell 10 feet and I was not using a mat. That’s your biggest thing, don’t be reckless and don’t train alone. It’s simple when you really think about it, but a lot of people do get hurt because we feel like we’re so strong.
Were most circuses safe or offering quality equipment?
Circuses live on reputation, that’s how they’ve been able to get through generations of families of circuses that have still been running to this day. Those businesses are very safe, up to date, have insurance statements in place, and get contracts signed. Club venues are what you must be worried about. Club owners are not professional riggers and they’re not from the circus. They just have an idea of what they want, and they come and ask you to hang from a tree, hanger, or beam. You must be very careful with your rigging and always do it yourself or hire someone to come with you when you go to club venues. Because they’re not made to have people hang on the ceilings, they must either have it installed or have the right beams that are shown and structural for us to hang from.
Can someone well-trained in aerial performances transition well into other circus activities?
A lot of the time that happens. I am on my own and don’t really work for any companies. I’ve been networking with a music venue that I used to work for since I was about 18. I’ve been networking for a very long time, so when the aerial part came in, I already had the people to be able to start telling them about it. I ran into issues where I came into a club where they wanted to hire me and then I couldn’t rig from the spot they showed me. It made me realize that I needed a ground act. As a performer, it’s always more beneficial for you to be a jack of all trades. I’ve added in anywhere from go-go dancing, to fire eating, to fire dancing fans, to LED props. Because as a performer, you want to be able to offer various packages to satisfy all club venues. A lot of the times when I get booked for shows, they want a whole ambiance of performers. All my friends will also attend. I’ve got jugglers, fire breathers, hand balancers, and many others.
What’s the difference between fire breathing and fire eating?
With fire eating, you are playing more with your vapors and basically just taking the oxygen away from the flame. If you were to take a flame and put your hand over and take the oxygen away, it would go out. Well it’s the same thought process with your mouth. It’s even safer with your mouth because the saliva creates a small layer of safety for a few seconds compared to dry skin. I play with vapor, and I never have to put a liquid into my mouth for eating. For breathing, you must physically put a different kind of gas into your mouth, a liquid, and make sure that you are at a correct level. As you blow and light, you must remove yourself away. If not, it will follow you. You must continuously either move or move in an opposite direction or shoot completely up. Fire breathing is a little bit more intimidating, especially because the vapor collects on your chest and mouth. I have a friend that had to have a skin graft, because he was a professional and it followed him back. He wasn’t wiping down enough, and it burned a good portion of his mid ribcage. Even for a professional, you can see why it’s a little bit more intimidating compared to playing with the liquids as of vapors.
Were venues spending less money during the covid-19 pandemic?
All the venues were scared that they weren’t even going to be around anymore. I think I was out of a job for like nine months because I had just taken on full-time performing and teaching. All the gyms were closed, even my regular gym was closed, so nobody was coming to me for aerial. That was a rough time for me and the clubs, none of us were making money. But I won’t lie, as soon as they opened, they gave us a call again. They tried to pay us less money of course, but things have come back around. Back to normal pricing, back to normal hours, things like that, and it was rough for a while.
With your travels to Mexico, do they have bigger circus budgets or a larger culture for circus performances?
There two different types of performance or shows. You’ve got your circus touring shows, those move around all the states and Canada full year, all year long every year. The club performances are more popular in cities like Dallas, Vegas, New York, and Miami. When I went to Mexico, there weren’t club performances. It was more just touring shows, families doing tours, conservative, and family fun. There wasn’t really a whole lot of city type club performances. But from my experience, it’s been very different working for clubs in the city compared to working on the tour with the circuses. Completely different situations, with circuses you’re working with families and with clubs you’re working with a club owner and security guards that weren’t worried about you as much.
Any upcoming projects you wanted to mention?
My next biggest showcase that I have coming up is going to be for myself, my coworkers, and my students at Dallas Circus Center. We’re going to have a showcasing of flying trapeze, from students to professionals as well as some aerial performances from myself. We like to give them a chance to perform about twice a year, spring, and fall. Our fall showcase went well this year because we’re a new facility, we’ve only been open for about a year now. We’re excited just to get this more as a regular thing. Dallas Circus Center is a free event. If anybody wants to come, free admission, you can see a bunch of aerialist and cool flying trapeze performances. It’s going to be March 11th at the Dallas Circus Center at seven o’clock. It’s Dallas Circus Center. It’s going to be near the Northwest highway, but it’s a free event. It’s an open facility. We have doors open and things like that. We don’t have to worry too much about keeping fresh air coming through with COVID and having to wear masks and things like that.
