There comes a time in every student’s academic career when they simply want to pack it all in and run away. A popular dramatic declaration, and my personal favourite, is that they will run away and join the circus.
So when I heard about Trinity’s own Juggling and Circus Society, I couldn’t resist checking it out. So on Tuesday evening at 7pm, with an equally inexperienced friend in tow, we made our way to the Goldsmiths Hall to see if we had any chance of a future in the famous Cirque du Soleil.
We quickly discovered that, rather than any manner of class, it was more of a collective training session, where students can congregate and work on their own skills while still in a social environment. This made entering as newbies a little awkward at first, as with no prior circus experience, we weren’t really sure where to start.
But as Oisín Carroll – a master’s student studying computer engineering and the society’s PRO – explained, everyone at training is very kind and accommodating for new learners, “as they have all been that person”. So the best way to learn is to approach someone and ask them for help. We soon confirmed this to be the case, as after briefly hanging round the boxes of equipment, our cluelessness was soon realised and one society member, Lucy Deacon, began to show us the ropes.
She suggested that we begin with the poi: a string with a soft ball on the end that’s swung around in rhythmic patterns. This seemed an easy start, but after attempting a few basic movements, it soon became clear it was far more difficult and intricate than she made it look. After accidentally hitting myself (and someone else) in the face several times with the poi, we made a decision to try our luck at juggling instead.
Deacon took us right back to the basics of juggling, and started us off with just one ball. She was patient in teaching us the step by step skills, adding in a ball at a time until we were doing something that certainly resembled juggling. Progress was slow at the start, and I soon came to understand that juggling can be a very legitimate form of exercise when you’re constantly lunging down to pick up the three balls you’ve somehow thrown off in every direction imaginable. But I did show some signs of improvement and within 15 minutes I had even completed a “flash”, where all three balls had successfully been thrown up and caught, thereby completing that round.
Our next experiment involved balancing juggling clubs. First we tried it on the hand, and at initially I was roaming all over the room trying to keep it upright. I was doing so many twists and turns it looked like an intricate one-woman ballroom dance. But with some more wonderful coaching from Deacon, I soon improved. Slightly.
A group of acrobatic hula-hoopers soon caught our eye from across the room and, thanking Deacon for all her help, we then headed over to see more of what they were doing. They were very welcoming and we were soon ushered into the circle and encouraged to try out some tricks of our own. Unsurprisingly, our methods were unrefined, but throughout our attempts we were enjoying ourselves endlessly.
A quick scan of the room at any time would give you views of all manner of circus skills being practised. The society is clearly one of mutual support and teaching, as people frequently showcased their own trick before encouraging others to attempt it, with the favour returned in kind shortly after. Periodic whoops of joy would also echo out across the hall as someone landed a particular trick they’d been working on, and the atmosphere throughout the hall was relaxed and happy as a result.
Before we knew it, we had spent a whole an hour and half at the session, and after that slightly awkward start we had enjoyed every moment of it. And while I might not have left the session the circus maestro I had secretly hoped I would, the session was undeniably extremely entertaining and a rare chance to try out such novel skills.
