By Helen Peng
The art world is filled with harsh critics, lacks funding almost all the time, and has a bad reputation in the mainstream: so why do artists continue to give to things that do not give back? “There shouldn’t be any judgement in art because this is one of the only chances we have to express ourselves the way we want to.” When Natalie Co, a grade 11 Collingwood student, said this out loud, it struck a chord in me. As an artist, I never wondered about the reason I wanted to create beyond the fact that I enjoyed it; however, now I realize that artists like Natalie and I do so because we have found a safe space in which we can truly be ourselves.
Natalie’s safe space is circus. She unintentionally stumbled upon this at age six when she attended her first Cirque du Soleil performance. Although she put this on the back of her mind, a video of an aerial splits performer sparked an eternal interest in Natalie a few years later. From there, Natalie strived to train 15 to 20 hours per week, filling up most of her time after school. “Unless you put yourself through it, make yourself do something, you never know what you could find. Even if it’s not comfortable at first, if you stick with it, you could find something you’ll really love.”
As Natalie has sustained an injury recently, she decreased her training time and increased her time spent on running and petting her cat. However, she never ceases to be inspired by her those around her. One of her role models is her aerial silks coach, who, having sustained a back injury since she was 17, taught Natalie the importance of resilience and the sacrifices one must make to be a performer. As well, she looks up to the aerial silks artist Mizuki Shinagawa, whose stylistic presentation and incredible form has encouraged her to further her own performances.
When she trained with her circus school’s Program, Natalie often looked forward to the year-end shows. However, one of her recent favourite performances was this year’s Halloween festival. This routine was much different from her previous performances, which allowed her to challenge herself by branching out. In reflecting upon this, Natalie surprised herself by how much fun she had organizing the routine. Here is Natalie’s performance below.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfgrgsFK6dPSc72fAaWgu1g/featured
She may be performing at the Spring Fair this year, though this depends on how fast her injury heals.
Though Natalie has considered this as a main career choice in the past, she now does not see it as her future. This is because she has realized the fatigue of performing twice a day as well as its physical toll, and, now, wants circus to stay as her passion rather than become a stressful job. Natalie would never want to be without circus in her life. This is ingrained in her identity, a vessel which she can pour her heart, soul, and her true self into.
The art world is filled with harsh critics, lacks funding almost all the time, and has a bad reputation in the mainstream: so why do artists continue to give to things that do not give back? “There shouldn’t be any judgement in art because this is one of the only chances we have to express ourselves the way we want to.” When Natalie Co, a grade 11 Collingwood student, said this out loud, it struck a chord in me. As an artist, I never wondered about the reason I wanted to create beyond the fact that I enjoyed it; however, now I realize that artists like Natalie and I do so because we have found a safe space in which we can truly be ourselves.
Natalie’s safe space is circus. She unintentionally stumbled upon this at age six when she attended her first Cirque du Soleil performance. Although she put this on the back of her mind, a video of an aerial splits performer sparked an eternal interest in Natalie a few years later. From there, Natalie strived to train 15 to 20 hours per week, filling up most of her time after school. “Unless you put yourself through it, make yourself do something, you never know what you could find. Even if it’s not comfortable at first, if you stick with it, you could find something you’ll really love.”
As Natalie has sustained an injury recently, she decreased her training time and increased her time spent on running and petting her cat. However, she never ceases to be inspired by her those around her. One of her role models is her aerial silks coach, who, having sustained a back injury since she was 17, taught Natalie the importance of resilience and the sacrifices one must make to be a performer. As well, she looks up to the aerial silks artist Mizuki Shinagawa, whose stylistic presentation and incredible form has encouraged her to further her own performances.
When she trained with her circus school’s Program, Natalie often looked forward to the year-end shows. However, one of her recent favourite performances was this year’s Halloween festival. This routine was much different from her previous performances, which allowed her to challenge herself by branching out. In reflecting upon this, Natalie surprised herself by how much fun she had organizing the routine. Here is Natalie’s performance below.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfgrgsFK6dPSc72fAaWgu1g/featured
She may be performing at the Spring Fair this year, though this depends on how fast her injury heals.
Though Natalie has considered this as a main career choice in the past, she now does not see it as her future. This is because she has realized the fatigue of performing twice a day as well as its physical toll, and, now, wants circus to stay as her passion rather than become a stressful job. Natalie would never want to be without circus in her life. This is ingrained in her identity, a vessel which she can pour her heart, soul, and her true self into.