Curiosity, exploration and discovery: three themes that encompassed the first of five weeks of circus training at FLIC Scuola di Circo.

Our schedule for the first week consists of 3 classes: acrobatics, dance class, and a circus skills class.

Acrobatics examines how the body moves through space – whether that is doing a somersault, a handstand or pushups, as well as partner acrobatics. Traning here consists of cardio as well as strength building to prepare us to perform the physical work. The spongy floor offers a great support while attempting to do a cartwheel, but when extra cushion is necessary there are ample amounts of crash pads in carious degrees of thickness that can be set up to assist in the work we are asked to do in class.

There are two dance classes that we attend: either modern or classical. For 2 hours, we work on or demonstrate choreographies and continue to build on the sequence throughout the week. This is great to refresh our memories about the work we did previously, as well as to introduce new elements of dance.

DISCOVERY characterizes the circus skills class – which changed every day to expose us to different types of skills that we could focus on developing later in the course. Different instructors walked us through the basics of equilibrium (tightrope, ball walking, ladder), aerials (silks, lyra, trapeze), juggling, object manipulation, and the German Cyr Wheel.

While we had a taste for what is in store for us from the first week we spent here last December, having prepared for circus school during the winter semester has given us the advantage of arriving ready to tackle the obstacles we are faced with.

– Cassandra Moselle