Career 2.0

After a summer of training, secrets, and a post or two out of left field, it's time I share the news I've been keeping under my hat and launch this next phase of my career! For those who have followed this blog for a while, or who have at least rummaged through the archives, you'll know that as a circus artist I specialize in German wheel. And while wheel will always be my first love, there's a new apparatus in town. Ladies and gentleman, this acrobat has gone aerial and is now ready to kick some ass on trapeze!

Like I said in this post, that may not be exciting news for some. But you need to understand that when I started circus school, it was as an aerialist. Only after two months, it was clear that tissu was not for me. By some very gracious act on the part of the circus gods, German wheel rolled into my life. But from that point on, the circus school made it pretty clear that I would never find my way onto an aerial apparatus again.

Seriously.

As such, I developed quite a complex about the whole thing. Which is doubly sad if you take into account that my dream when beginning circus was to be an aerialist. And so, close to a decade after being told that I would never achieve this and best stick to the floor like a good little acrobat, I've taken hold of my dream once more and spent the summer transforming myself into a bad ass trapezist.

And if I may say so, things have gotten off to a pretty good start!

I should probably clarify what I meant by trapeze, considering there are so many different variations. Seeing as wheel takes up so much space, I wanted a discipline that takes up as little space as possible so that I can work in as wide a variety of places as possible. As such, I chose static (or fixed) trapeze.

Whatever preconceptions you may have about static trapeze, you can leave at the door. I'm not a bendy girl, and dainty was never my thing. My goal is transform this discipline that is so often about acts of flexibility, pretty poses, and a soft touch into something dynamic, acrobatic and with a little more guts.

I'm quite pleased with the level of technical skills I managed to master in two and a half months, and even more pleased that I no longer look like a mountain troll when trying to move on the damn thing. I still have a long way to go before my act is ready to show to an audience, but I think it's impressive that I even have an act after two and a half months!

Amazingly, the one thing I've had the most difficulty with is considering myself an aerialist. I still can't seem to refer to myself as such. I guess I still feel a little bit like a fraud. But this summer, I had the privilege of training at the best trapeze studio in Montreal (and possibly the world). I was even added to their secret Facebook group! If that doesn't qualify my as a real deal aerialist and genuine trapezist, I don't know what does!

My identity as an artist is changing, and quite soon the contract with the company I have been working with for almost four years will be coming to an end. In a nutshell, it feels like the little circus tent I've been building in my heart these past few years is about to come tumbling down. But you know what? Writing this post and announcing this change has lifted a lot of the panic I've been feeling. And for the first time, I actually feel a little excited about the new things to come.