‘It brings out my inner show-off’: Why Marian, 75, can’t get enough of the circus

Running away with the circus may seem like a childhood dream, but for some everyday Australians, it’s very much a reality. Amateur circus communities, schools and organisations that offer a wide range of programs – from slide walking, trapeze, German wheel rolling, acrobatics and clowning – are thriving, with a growing number of individuals from diverse backgrounds participating.

“Our members come to us because they are looking for more than just a class,” says Hanne Grant, marketing and communications manager at Women’s Circus, a not-for-profit, intersectional feminist arts organisation based in Melbourne. “We have a unique offering of social circus programs alongside a creative program that offers opportunities for creative exploration.”

While these elements are major drawcards, it is the sense of community that inspires members to stay. “Social circus brings people together,” explains Grant. “It’s a place you can come when you don’t feel great and know that you will be welcomed and supported exactly how you are that day.”

The sense of adventure that is innate to circus programs can be hugely beneficial for its members, says clinical psychologist Dr Rebecca Ray. “It keeps us feeling alive. Psychologically, it boosts our mood, builds resilience and often reconnects us to meaning and joy. It gives us something to look forward to and pulls us out of autopilot mode. Adventure shifts us out of just existing and into fully engaging with life.”

This can be instrumental for our wellbeing as we age. “Adventure reminds us we’re still growing, still capable, and still connected to life’s possibilities,” Ray says.

“I can do a pretty nifty dive roll while tumbling”

Marian Matta, 75

“In 2009, my eldest granddaughter was doing gymnastics and looking around for something else. She found Ruccis, which at that stage was a small circus school.

Her mother (my daughter) went along and thought it looked pretty good, so she also joined, and then I looked at it and thought, I may as well join in, too. It just seemed like an awful lot of fun and a good way to get exercise.

At the start, I tried a bit of everything – staff twirling (manipulating a length of wood or plastic), manipulation, juggling, aerial and acrobalance. I got a chance to try a bit of everything and find out what I was reasonably good at, or interested in, as I went along.

I did things like hanging upside down and swinging, things that you tend to stop doing after you stop playing at school, when you’re no longer a kid.

I’m 75 now and do weekly classes. I’m surprised how much aerial I can do because I’m short and fat and have no muscle tone whatsoever. I can also do a pretty nifty dive roll while tumbling, something I used to do as a child.

It’s amazing how much you can achieve if you learn how to go about it the correct way – if you have a coach who explains how you can put two things together, and you suddenly realise, ‘Wow, I really can hang from a trapeze.’

One of my favourite skills now is Lyra, which is a hoop that you get onto, and then move around inside. It’s not particularly strenuous; it just makes me feel good to make all these beautiful shapes.

I had a sore back before I started, and just going along to classes, warming up and stretching, and then using those muscles in a reasonably unusual fashion, seems to have fixed it.

The circus has reawakened my inner show-off. I realise that I’m quite happy to stand up and perform, but before joining, I hadn’t done it for a very, very long time.

Perhaps above all else, the circus gives me a sense of freedom, of feeling slightly unshackled. I feel that I can actually do things that are possibly not what people would expect me to do.”

“Circus definitely keeps me young at heart”

Sheryl Bryce, 68

“I moved to Melbourne from Adelaide when I was 40. I worked full-time at a very conservative organisation and it was hard to make friends at my age, so most of my friends were from other states or countries.

In 2001, I went to the Women’s Circus open day, where you could test run doing different things. I was blown away and put my name down [to join], and thought to myself, ‘I’m going to run away with the circus.’

The circus landscape was so different back then; there weren’t a lot of social circuses around, but I also heard about the Performing Older Women’s [POW] Circus, so I put my name down for that as well. Then, after about a year’s wait, both had spots available for me and I joined both. For the first six months, I tried a whole lot of different skills. Then I decided which classes to join.

Twenty-four years later, and I have performed in shows, at festivals and parties. My main skill is acrobalance, which is where you do different balances by yourself and with other people. I’m also a roller-skater and a stilt walker. I stilt walk in the Midsumma Pride March every year. I also do German wheel rolling, where you have two big circles of metal joined together with crossbars that you can sit in, stand on, roll in, and do things with other people in it.

When I learn a new skill, I feel a wonderful sense of achievement as I’m in my 60s. Circus definitely keeps me young at heart, but I’m proud of my age.

One of the signature things we do at POW is an age line at the end of each performance. We stand in a line, from the youngest to the oldest, and say our ages and do our bow. It’s incredibly affirming and also a very motivating thing for the audience to think, ‘Oh my goodness, you know, I can do that.’”

“Circus has changed my life”

Mary Wyer, 61

“It was my daughter who first went to the Sydney Trapeze School. She was in the Youth Troupe and came three times a week. I started watching and becoming really interested and proud of my daughter, but part of me was thinking, ‘I wish I had this when I was younger, I would’ve loved it.’

One Mother’s Day, a TV breakfast show came to the school and got the mums up on the silks. They had to push our bums up to get onto them, and the weatherman made fun of me on national TV. I thought, this is a sign it’s too late, that there are other things I might be able to do, but the circus isn’t one of them.

About six months later, I saw one of the other mothers doing a student performance with her son, and I said to her, ‘You were as bad as me. What did you do?’ ‘I just took classes,’ she replied, and I was like, alright, I’m going to do that.

I took a term class in static trapeze, and at the end we had a class performance, so I invited all my friends. ‘This is my 55th birthday party this year,’ I told them. ‘You need to come and watch me.’

A few years later, my daughter left the school, but I kept going. I love the static trapeze – it doesn’t swing or move; instead, you perform particular moves while on it. You can pick a character and music or learn tricks that you piece together and choreograph. Now I like to choreograph my own pieces.

I also love doing tricks. Each time I perform, I choose at least one trick that’s really going to challenge me, something that’s hard, but not outside my scope, not outside something that my body can achieve. It is something that I can work towards and perform.

When you’re up on the apparatus, you can’t think of anything else. You can’t be worrying about what’s happening at work, or at home, or about any money worries. You’re on a trapeze and you have to concentrate.

Circus has changed my life. I train three times a week, face my fears, and prove every day that it’s never too late to run away with the circus!”

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