The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
When I ran away to join the circus...
She might be rubbish at juggling and know nothing about aerial acrobatics but Gayle throws caution to the wind and heads along to Adventure Circus
When a colleague asks what I’m doing on Tuesday night, I take great pleasure in replying: “I’m off to the circus.” No, I’m not lying. I’m heading to Adventure Circus, Perth’s very own circus school.
Set up in 2015 by Gemma Simpson, 36, the school runs classes for adults and kids in everything from aerial acrobatics (rope, hoops, silks and trapeze) to spinning plates and juggling.
Tonight the focus is on aerial work and, thankfully, there’s not a clown or a lion in sight.
Gemma and co-director Stephen Armour, 31, kick off the class with a taxing conditioning session, which sees folk down on their hands and knees, on their backs, spread-eagled and star-shaped, walking on all fours and generally loosening up.
Alas, I’d done something nasty to my neck and shoulder earlier in the week and this forces me to sit out many of these movements.
It’s soon time to move on to the aerial work and I gape in awe as fellow classmates fling themselves up into the air with ease.
I head for the lowest trapeze and watch as an instructor shows two women how to pull off “mermaid” and “gazelle” poses and transition between moves.
Then it’s my turn. It’s at this point that I realise just how pathetic my upper body strength is; I have virtually none.
Nevertheless, I manage to hoist myself, somewhat ungracefully, up and on to the trapeze and enjoy swinging around on it for a few minutes before an instructor comes over to show me how to pull off some more impressivelooking shapes.
Because of my injury, I struggle to do too much but I’m fairly happy with my progress, which culminates in me doing a Superman-style pose in the air.
Getting down is a tad tricky and I almost boot myself in the eye. On reaching terra firma, one of my classmates informs me that I have “skinny shoulders” and would do well to bulk them up. She is absolutely right.
My training regime, as regular readers might be aware, largely consists of running, horse riding, walking and the odd cross-training session. Years ago, I did weights in the gym but with country living and owning a dog, I simply haven’t bothered myself with such things.
Glancing across to Gemma, I notice she is slim, trim but bursting with muscle, which has to be key to being good at this. She has a background in dance, gymnastics and equestrian vaulting and was a contestant on ITV’s Ninja Warrior in 2015.
By day, she works in events and marketing for Triathlon Scotland.
“I was in the British Equestrian Vaulting team competing at the Euro and World Championships,” she tells me. “Then circus came along and took over my life!”
The moves that she and her fellow instructors teach start with fundamental climbs, followed by basic hip and foot locks.
Once people have mastered these, they move into improvers’ classes, with increased difficulty levels, but much more impressive tricks!
“The fundamental moves we teach on silks, hoop, trapeze and rope will lead to bigger drops, rolls and spins,” says Gemma.
“Most people have very little body strength when they come here; that’s normal.
“Our conditioning helps and builds flexibility, then you can start making moves more interesting.”
For Gemma, the most exciting thing about Adventure Circus is seeing people having fun and achieving their goals.
“You might look at a hoop and think you’ll never manage to do splits up there,” she says.
“But we can help you! And when you climb to the top of the silks, at 6m, and look down, it’s a brilliant achievement.”