Ten years of circus arts
Cameron Mayhew was on her way to take a nutrition exam when she saw a hoop hanging from the sky.
The exercise science major’s path to class took her right through the College of Arts + Architecture’s annual “CoAApalooza” spring festival, where members of the Queen City Circus student organization were demonstrating their prowess.
“I came back after the exam and met Jessye [Phillips, president of Queen City Circus],” Mayhew said. “She let me sit on the hoop and spin. That was so cool.”
Soon after that spin, when registering for a summer session online physics class, Mayhew discovered that she could add circus arts to her schedule.
“I keep saying that it was the best decision of my life.”
A unique course
CarlosAlexis Cruz, professor of theatre, began teaching the summer circus intensive in 2016, shortly after joining the faculty, and has offered it every summer since (except during the 2020 COVID-19 shutdown). UNC Charlotte is the only university in North Carolina that offers curricular circus arts training.
“I didn’t hesitate to sign up for Carlos’s circus class when it was offered at the University for the first time,” said Jess Pennachio ’16. “Joining a cohort of dedicated students from different disciplines was incredibly special, as we discovered new skills and grew together. It was an intense summer, with long mornings spent training in the sun, that taught me a lot about myself.”
The class is open to any major, and while most students are dance or theatre majors, it always attracts students from other programs. Finance, communications, art history and Mayhew’s exercise science are just a few examples of represented majors.
The physical skills are real.
“I learned tumbling, partner acrobatics, straps and dance trapeze,” said Lex Baesen ’16, who is now a member of San Francisco’s People’s Circus Theatre and chair of the acrobatics department at the San Francisco Circus Center.
As an exercise science major, Mayhew said she knows the value of building strength: “Bone density is really important.”
But above all, it is the life lessons she’s learned that most impress Mayhew.
Human intelligence
Each summer circus class ends with a showcase, where students perform for an audience. This June, as he welcomed guests to the Storrs Salon for the 10th anniversary showcase, Cruz described some of the core values of circus – attributes like courage and authenticity (“There is no fake in circus. You can either do a flip or you can’t.”), care and cooperation (“We keep each other safe.”) and stretching yourself beyond what you think you can do.
Mayhew said that trying something so new in a class setting was at first daunting: “I am used to failing on my own, but now I had to fail in front of people.” But “people were really kind and encouraging,” she said, and since they were all “being embarrassing together, there was no reason to be embarrassed.”
Mayhew appreciated how Cruz helped students move through their mistakes and make steady improvement.
“It has made me strive to be better. It also showed me that putting in time and effort really does pay off. That’s really applicable to a lot of things.”
About three weeks into the summer session, Mayhew discovered the diabolo, a variation on the Chinese yo-yo that is manipulated with two sticks and a string.
“I became obsessed with it,” she said, practicing her new skill for hours a day.
At the final showcase, the audience cheered as Mayhew spun the diabolo left and right, around and around, tossing it higher and higher until it flew some 20 feet in the air. She caught it every time. She has since bought her own equipment and hopes to someday juggle three at once.
Mayhew will graduate in 2028 and plans to attend graduate school for physical therapy. But she has not ruled out a career in circus.
“This opened up a lot of new paths for me.”
Regardless of her career trajectory, she sees numerous possibilities for circus arts. Mayhew’s father is a physical education teacher, for example, and she has already begun introducing him to skills that he can incorporate in his classroom.
And the “in real life” imperative of circus arts is the perfect antidote to technology overload, she said.
“AI can’t recreate this. This summer I felt the most human that I’ve felt in a long time.”
Where are they now?
The Department of Theatre began offering a summer circus arts class in 2016. For some of those early class participants, the opportunity changed the course of their careers. Hear from three alumni who are working in the field today.
Katie Harmon '18, Multimedia/Aerial Dance Artist
“I enrolled during the summer between my junior year and my last semester of college. Looking back, those were possibly the most pivotal weeks of my life. In the weeks after I graduated, my best friend’s mom sent me an audition notice for a dance company that combines aerial and contemporary dance. That audition turned into an extremely fulfilling seven years with Aerial Dance Chicago, where I had the honor of becoming the first principal dancer in the company’s 26-year history.”
Jess Pennachio ’16, Actor, Fight Director, Stage Combat Instructor
“It was an intense summer, with long mornings spent training in the sun, that taught me a lot about myself. Through that experience, I discovered the areas where I struggled as a performer and eventually decided to move to Chicago to attend a professional circus training program to learn more about the type of physical performer I wanted to be.”
Lex Baesen ’16, People’s Circus Theatre Company Member
“After graduation, I told Carlos I wanted to do more with circus, and he encouraged me to travel to San Francisco to continue my training. I still live there now and train and work at the San Francisco Circus Center and perform professionally both in the city and around the world. I’m so happy to have taken his circus class. It’s led me to have such a successful and fulfilling career performing circus.”
Written by Meg Whalen. Photos by Toby Schuetze.