Just outside Downtown Cleveland, a local gymnasium offers its high ceilings and padded floors to a group of performance artists who gather to hone their craft. Formed more than a decade ago, the Crooked River Circus teaches skills in a variety of acrobatic disciplines and offers opportunities for its members to perform throughout the year.
Co-founders Vanessa Lange and Jaime Bouvier both began as students, then they became instructors.
“I love teaching,” Lange said. “It makes me think about the moves I do in a very different way. You have to break it down step-by-step and have to learn how other people’s bodies and brains work.”
Bouvier is also a teacher in her full-time job as an associate professor at Case Western Reserve University’s law school.
"I’ve realized I’m teaching the same thing everywhere,” Bouvier said. “I’m teaching a skill, and I’m teaching how to reach that skill, whether it’s writing or climbing up a silk or doing turns on a trapeze.”
Focusing on collaborations as a group rather than individual performances, Crooked River Circus wanted to blend their usual “human tricks” with theatrical elements to create a full-scale production. Their first foray resulted in 2019’s “The Séance,” an immersive theatrical circus show that combined a narrative and live music with aerial and ground acrobatics.
Three years later, the group returns to the stage for the holiday season with its second full-length show at Cleveland Public Theatre, “How the Circus Stole Christmas.” Featuring original music composed by Obediya Jones-Darrell and scene design by professional rigger Bill Auld, the production will include artistic talent at every twist, flip and turn.
Lange loves the aspect of performing, but she admits there’s still a bit of intimidation to it, even after her many years in the craft.
“There’s a lot of emotional buildup,” Lange said. “You have to work through it before you go on stage. And then, you’re the only one in the spotlight, and even though I’ve done it so many times, it’s terrifying. But you start to trust that you can do it, and you’re watching your friends do it and they’re doing amazing. And that feeling of being supported by your friends while you’re up in the air is really awesome too.”
For its members, the Crooked River Circus provides much more than a space to perform. It’s about building trust, building relationships and building a sense of community.
“We all do this for love, because we literally love doing what we do. This is our hobby, this is our avocation,” Bouvier said. “We’ve created a really wonderful group of people who are supportive of each other, and that’s just a lovely thing to be a part of.”
“How the Circus Stole Christmas” will be performed at Cleveland Public Theatre in the Detroit-Shoreway neighborhood Dec. 1-10.
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