A circus school in Hoxton has reopened for in-person training after a year of acrobatics in home gardens and performances broadcast over Zoom.
The National Centre of Circus Arts had to change their training methods due to COVID restrictions leaving athletes to train at home. Many circus trainees have an aerial rig at home, but the Centre provided extra safety for last year’s quarantined, virtually-supervised training sessions.
Even as the Centre began to open for limited in-person lessons, equipment had to undergo multiple isolation periods before being used by the next student in order to maintain COVID safety.
Kate White, CEO of the Centre, spoke of the intense conditioning that the 60 students go through to get their degrees: “there’s no part of circus that doesn’t hurt”.
Despite the pandemic resulting in a rather bleak period for trainees, the Centre did not have a single student drop out in the last academic year.
White commented on the passion students have for their craft, as when a student specialises, “it’s a bit like falling in love”.
The National Centre for Circus Arts, famous for its conservatory-style training and selective intake, is now accepting applicants for September 2022 entry.
