For One Fleeting Moment

For the last four years I performed on a proscenium style stage. Now, for the first time since leaving circus school seven years ago, I'm performing in the round. It's nice to be in a ring. Maybe it's silly, but it feels more like a circus this way. But the best part is the proximity to the public.

The ring curb is probably about 50cm wide. That means the first row of the audience is probably about 60cm away. Sometimes, this closeness can be a real blow to the ego. You think you're doing a great act and you look out to the person just in front of you and... they're looking somewhere else. Or they look terribly bored. Or they're yawning...

Ouch.

But sometimes, oh sometimes...

Sometimes my wheel comes very, very close to the ring curb and I can look someone right in the eye while hanging upside down. It's wonderful to seem them lean back a bit in surprise and then, relieved to find themselves perfectly safe, they smile. Even more wonderful, though far more rare, is to have a dialogue with one person in particular over the course of my act.

Maybe it's a spectator who is particularly appreciative and claps far more than her peers. Those people stand out and you can't help but take that extra moment to smile right at them, as if to say thank you, and they just glow at the attention. Another look a little later really cements the exchange.

The most powerful and truly touching exchange I ever had was with a woman in the front row. I felt as though we spoke the exchange was so clear. There was more than one moment during the course of my act where we looked at each other, made eye contact, had a dialogue of head nods. Like with Amanda Palmer, I really felt as though in that moment, each let the other know "I see you. Thank you for this moment. Thank you for sharing this with me."

It was absolutely incredible. I have never had such a profound experience with a member of the audience while on stage. Who knows if I ever will again?

One thing is for certain. Even after seven years of working, this traditional tour and Swiss audience continues to teach me new things about my art and myself. And for that, I say thank you.