So You Want to Join the Circus: Clowning around in Chicago

After sports, the circus has probably provided more of life's metaphors than any other activity. How many of us juggle the day's events, walk a tightrope, or like to clown around? These things do not have to be metaphors, and you don't have to run away to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey's to learn how!

Chicago offers a variety of opportunities to learn the circus arts. Perhaps most prominent among them is The Actors Gymnasium. Based in Evanston, the circus and performing arts school has classes for people of all ages. Classes include mime, pilates, stage combat, and gymnastics, in addition to circus skills.

Actors Gymnasium circus classes are taught both at the Noyes Cultural Arts Center in Evanston, and in cooperation with The Lookingglass Theatre, at the Athenaeum Building in Chicago. A recent eight-week introductory class for adults included stretching, tumbling and cartwheels, juggling (balls, rings, and pins), trapeze (no catching a partner in midair, but plenty of neat tricks), Spanish web (another gravity-defying exercise), stilt-walking, and unicycling. Small in size, the class included a handful of twenty-somethings plus a few approaching middle age.

Instructor Angelia Pfeifer brings a childlike enthusiasm to her adult class, and with good reason. Many have not attempted a somersault, let alone a cartwheel, since they were children. She has the class tumbling and hopping, forward and back, just minutes into the class. "Cirque du Soleil has created a new enthusiasm among adults for the circus," she says. "Many want to see just how hard it is to do some of the stunts." She also cites fitness and fun as the primary reasons for adults to take her introductory course.

Students come to the class for a variety of reasons. A couple young actors took the class to improve their on-stage physical skills. For Chicagoan Paul Samuels, the class was an attempts to improve on his juggling skills. "I learned how to juggle three balls about twenty-five years ago after a performance of the Amazing Karamazov Brothers. They did a brief workshop following the show and taught me. I've been trying to add a fourth ball ever since."

While no one in the class was apparently planning to run away with the circus, Chicago can be a launching pad for a professional career. According the Pfeifer, who makes her living teaching and performing, "Actors Gymnasium classes are a great starting point for working in the circus. You actually get to use the equipment from day one, rather than spending a year doing handstands." She adds that "while ultimately a student would need to move on to other circus academies around the country and abroad, Chicago is a wonderful place to start."

Of course, circus classes are not just for adults. Actors Gymnasium offers a variety of courses for kids, as do Circus Factory and CircEsteem. Founded by former Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey clown Paul Miller, CircEsteem teaches kids clowning, juggling, acrobatics, and the rolling globe, a big ball that can be walked on. Miller offers his program to schools and youth organizations. Current clients include the Francis W. Parker School, the Latin School of Chicago, Chiaravalle Montessori, and Lycee Fran?ais de Chicago. The program is offered as an after-school activity, an in-school residency, or in coordination with physical education classes. According to Miller "CircEsteem is an incredible way for kids to build self-esteem through non-competitive, non-gender specific, active learning including balance, timing, flexibility, strength building, and creative movement."

Children are fearless. They love to climb and tumble and scare their parents with a total disregard for gravity. At the Circus Factory - a creation of the eclectic and critically acclaimed Midnight Circus - children are provided a safe and fun environment for learning trapeze, tumbling, juggling, human pyramids, and more. Their "Circus 101" class is for 7-14 year olds.



To learn more about the Circus Arts contact:

The Actors Gymnasium
927 Noyes Street, Evanston, IL 60201
(874) 328-2795
Learn more about The Actors Gymnasium

CircEsteem
312-593-HAHA
www.circesteem.com

Circus Factory
4430 N. Western Avenue, Chicago
773 463.4574
www.circusfactory.net This article originally appeared in the Summer 2002 issue of Chicago Learning Guide Magazine. The article has been modified since its initial publication.