It's Official

I am officially an aerialist. While this event is probably what sealed the deal, for me, the moment I truly became an aerialist was the night of my first performance in front of a paying audience.

I should mention that I was a wreck. I was so incredibly nervous it's not even funny. I was literally in tears backstage before I had to go on. I just wanted to get through my act without looking like an idiot. There were one or two moves that I was a little worried about messing up and really, as long as I managed to get through them successfully, I would be happy.

Did I mention that there were casting agents from Cirque du Soleil, as well folks from Cirque Eloize and les 7 doigts de la main? Not to mention a bunch of folks from my alma mater who told me I couldn't be an aerialist. So yeah, nervous.

And then something marvelous happened...

I went on stage, got on my trapeze, and felt amazing. I was shocked when people started clapping after my first technical sequence. I mean, I've been on tour for the last four years. I know that the audience claps. But I'm used to it happening with German wheel. I guess I thought trapeze would be different somehow.

Every trick worked, and artistically, I felt super connected to what I was doing. But best of all, I loved it up there.

I don't know that I can really articulate that feeling. Not how good it felt to be up there, but the fact that it felt good to be up there. Ever since starting trapeze, I've always felt that I would still rather work with wheel. I couldn't imagine not working with my wheel and doing trapeze somewhere instead. It just seemed impossible. I just love doing German wheel so much! And yet here I was, on a trapeze in front of an audience and just having the most wonderful time.

I'm still not too sure what to make of it.

I also did a wheel act in that show and I'm sorry to say that it was a bit of a gong show. I'm not used to doing two high level acts in one show. Usually I do my main act, and a bunch of other stuff. This was two main acts and a bunch of other stuff. Whew! And I'm not going to lie, my mind was on trapeze that night. That was the most important thing for me. I couldn't adapt to the floor where we performed (it is WAY faster than where we rehearsed) and my timing was just all over the damn place. Fortunately, that act was a duo and my partner and I are both super charming and have great presence, so the audience loved us anyway. Seriously, when someone tells you they just wanted to see the two of us make out at the end of our act, you know we did our job.

While I may not have had any of all those casting people come up to me, I did have a lot of people tell me that my act was their favourite, be it wheel or trapeze. And I had a great many Russian artists from Soleil make a point of shaking my hand and telling me that I did a good job. And if anyone knows what the hell they're talking about, it's them. So that meant a lot.

So watch out, world of circus! There's a new aerialist in town!