Circus – initial reflection + first show!

Circus

initial reflections + UWC Day

Circus is an activity that I have been a part of since middle school. I started off by joining the Aerial Troupe group, where we learned how to do tricks on equipment such as the silks, the hoop, and different sized trapezes. I was absolutely in love with this activity, and although I was deeply upset when the aerial troupe programme was turned into a paid activity I still believed I could greatly benefit from continuing to learn other circus skills. I have had innumerable positive past experiences in the Circus Club, and I have always admired the fact that we were also a service group. I think Circus in general is really about being able to engage with others, and I’m grateful that we aren’t only performing shows but also sharing our skills with our school and the local community. I hope to take advantage of opportunities to practice our teaching skills, and to build on this, I am really looking forward to being able to take the time to hone in on my skills and work with my peers in learning duo tricks on the unicycle, diablo, and even juggling. 

It’s only been the first few weeks of school and we have already performed in an assembly for UWC day (Friday 20th September). Dressed in a traditional filipiniana top and snazzy hat, I did some poi and interactive juggling where I tried to teach kids in the audience to juggle with two balls. I was thankful that I was still able to use this equipment quite well. I was not yet comfortable enough to showcase my unicycling but during the rehearsals I practiced it a lot along with learning a few new poi tricks with another student. I think our group has a great work ethic where we are always open to learn or teach something new and help each other out. As with every show, we had to collaborate to make sure that we could offer a captivating performance while staying safe. One student performed on the german wheel, which was a piece of equipment we hadn’t used in a while. This meant we had to ensure we were aware and coordinating effectively to prevent and incidents. For this show, I feel we did a successful job as a team to pull it together with minimal preparation and provide a great taster for people to see what lies ahead for the Circus club!

LO1 – identify strengths and areas for growth

LO2 – undertake new challenges and developing new skills

LO5 – collaboration. working together to achieve outcome

(photo of 1st circus show – UWC Day)

other notes:
– have a good base on skills. Circus really great for me because within circus there are a lot of skills to learn, won’t get bored easily

– Structured similar to maths, simple skills are built on and on, and with circus as Mr Mollitt says, even the simplest skills can impress with the right attitude and stage presence etc. Fitting with my jack of all trades master of none habit…

– Lots to learn, will work on unicycle and poi, think made a good initial decision in what to invest my time in. Still really disappointed about changes for aerial stuff but must mean something for me to come back and stay for this long even tho honestly my fave part was gone. Commitment. Fam festival performance say something about things to work on? Good chance to work on skills bc no service partner for the first part of the year

First show of the year: UWC day
– always the excitement of putting a show together last minute. Not as much pressure on me compared to the teacher / chair because they have greater responsibility to organised everything, deal with logistics, communicate and coordinate with all the right people…just some fun. Was too nervous to ask if I could unicycle for the show bc my previous experiences we’re not the greatest and id decided to just work on the skill building a bit and find confidence by performing a simpler skill: the poi. Show went really well and got compliments on costume. Would have liked to do fancier tricks. Also juggled. Improved ability to interact with the audience? But could work on general stage presence. Kamila is really good at the especially with the poi should take notes on her. Challenge being aware, especially bc I think first time with herbal wheel as well? Would really like to try it someday…also incorporated gymnasts for this show! Maybe find a way to do something more combined?