Trying to Learn Circus Skills
Running Away to Join A Circus?
Strangely running away to join a circus has never been top of my ‘todo’ list. I was on a steep learning curve as I had no previous experience at any of these things. Part of me wondered if I actually would be able to achieve any of these skills however I was determined to give it a try & am still learning.
What Skills do I need?
- Juggling
- Unicycling
- Highwire
Juggling
A short video clip pf me thinking I can juggle
Juggling
First step to juggling was to buy something to juggle with. Balls seemed the simplest & cheapest option. The french student we had staying with us hooted with laughter with me as he juggled effortlessly & I just flung the balls about randomly.
Circus Skills Update 2022
The juggling continues and I know have acquired a few new sets of balls of different weight & size as I explore the art of launching them into the air and trying to get a smooth rhythm going.
Use the link below to watch me practising :
Not one for giving up I endeavoured to practice & bizarrely the turning point was having a sport massage. Just happened the physio was a juggler & master of other circus skills. A quick practical lesson & the juggling got much better.
Highwire
Having not been able to locate a place near by to learn how to walk on a high wire I looked around for a suitable alternative.
Who knew a sports massage would lead to the purchase of a slack line? To date I have only managed a walk across the lawn about 15cm off the ground. In my defence one of the trees that I was using to attach the slack line to had to be felled & I haven’t found a suitable spot to resume practising.
A quick clip of me unpacking the box can be accessed below
The next video records the first go I had in the garden with the Slackline & trying to record the efforts.
Unicycling
Strangely the person setting this challenge hadn’t realised that there was a unicycle gathering dust in our garage that belonged to my husband. I had never actually attempted to ride it given the fact that I can hardly ride a normal bicycle!
For someone who only learned to ride a two wheeled bike at the age of 38 the prospect of trying to ride something with a single wheel was very daunting. Visions of visiting A & E with multiple broken bones & how I would hide the bruises was uppermost in my mind. Still undeterred I grabbed an old ski pole & tried to balance on the unicycle using the wall to prop me up on the other side. My daughter came out to watch & offer moral support which ended up with us just laughing so much as I kept falling off & swearing while she tried to film me.
I remain a little unconvinced I will ever master this. Which would been combining the juggling & cycling might be beyond my capabilities.
Watch a video of my first attempt at unicycling using the link below.
More updates to follow when I am daft enough to have some more goes.
