Clown has ‘high hoops’ of making kids laugh
Kate Ryan is serious about playing around. The clown and hula hoop artist who grew up in Saskatoon literally ran away and joined the circus at the age of 19.
But it wasn’t a tiger-and-elephant circus. It was a “social circus.”
“It’s a circus that uses circus arts to help support healthy growth and development in at-risk youth,” Ryan said recently.
“In Thailand, we worked with refugees and helped them find confidence within themselves through the simple art of juggling. There’s team-building exercises that you share and you can really get a child to warm up to another child and face a lot of their fears through the art of play.”
Ryan says she can identify with the kids she works with.
“I had a difficult childhood and circus was something that I applied to my own life that made very positive changes with, and now I’m in a lot healthier position.”
Meeting children in Thailand and Myanmar, she found her calling.
“I just realized that this is what I was supposed to do. I was here to inspire play in a child’s life.”
Her company, Kate Ryan Circus, has travelled across the country and around the world inspiring kids. The satisfaction is immense.
“It feels very special. I feel very honoured and grateful to be able to work with those children. It’s me wanting to be the person I needed when I was growing up. And I’m so grateful that I get to do that.”
Ryan is bringing three shows to the PotashCorp Children’s Festival. There’s a fire show on Saturday night at the sunset party. Expect acrobatic tricks, fire hula hooping and fire dancing. “Exciting stuff,” says Ryan.
On Sunday, she’s part of a fourperson pop-up circus. The show is inspired by roving shows and flash mobs. “I wanted a small child to be walking around, turn around and see this huge circus just pop out of nowhere and be so excited by that.”
The story is about a businessman who rediscovers his sense of play. “At the end, he hops into the clown car and runs away and joins the circus.”
On Monday, Ryan turns into Kate the Life Guard. “It’s a circus, hula-hooping show with comedy and interaction with the audience and a fun volunteer bit. At some point there’s going to be a synchronized swimming act with probably a male volunteer. They’re going to just love me.”
Ryan got the idea for the lifeguard character at a rain-soaked music festival.
“Everybody was having a miserable time so I decided to put on a one-piece bathing suit and a plastic inner tube and go and swim in a puddle. In that moment, I made so many people happy. They still ask about it, if she’s going to be there.”
In other words, Kate the Life Guard might keep you from drowning in seriousness.
“We work so hard and we forget that it’s OK to play and laugh and be silly. And I do believe laughter is the best medicine and with play we’re able to make mistakes and laugh about them. And we’re able to discover new things about ourselves.”