Circus Summer Camp lets kids enter the big-top spotlight

By Ian Swaby
| 1:50 p.m. August 4, 2023

Nine-year-old Estella Stroth reaches great heights.

Sarasota
Neighbors

When 17-year-old Emma Wilson Weber began attending Circus Summer Camp at the Circus Arts Conservatory, she wasn’t the performer she is today.

“I couldn’t point my toes. I couldn't touch my toes. And now, not only can I do all those things, but I can help other people learn to do those things,” she said.

She now serves as a counselor, helping kids learn circus skills.

As she led part of the camp's act practice on Aug. 3, the sights to be seen throughout the tent included performances involving the trapeze, the rolling globe, the rolla bolla, wire walking, juggling and more.

“The experience of doing circus is not like any other experience you can have,” said 9-year-old Lena Chesnoff, explaining that the entertainment form blends gymnastics with many other skills.

“I love circus camp,” said 7-year-old Hudson Nesmith.

Many kids, Weber said, do not come from a circus background or play any sports, yet she finds herself impressed with the skills they acquire.

“They're always so talented and so able to achieve such powerful and great things in a short amount of time,” she said.

On the final Friday of each weeklong session of camp, kids close out the learning experience by offering a show, featuring limited admission, for their families.

Emma Weber, 17, instructs Ela Vardan, 11.

Marney McClain, 9, practices her high-flying skills.

Molly Harris, 12, Rowen Heath, 14, and Isabella Francois, 10, strike a pose.

June Hery, 6, Vivian Kornweibel, 7, and counselor in training Elin Harvey, 12, prepare to work with the hammock.

Counselor-in-training Helena Kushner helps 6-year-old Clair Chase reach for a bar.

Luciana Eduardo, 8, uses the hammock with the assistance of Ella Worthing, 13.

Dylan Welling, 8, practices in the lyra with couneslor Elle Singerman, 12.

Counselor Ella Abrahamson, 13, Ryan Miller 6, and Madison Barrett, work with the mini trampoline.

Gunnar DiFazio, 10, learns the rola bola from Benito Aguilar.

Isabella Francois, 10, swings through the air.

Anna Polk, and Violet Hoefer, 7, hang from the cargo net.

Elle Worthingm, 13, Juliet Bradley, 9, Ethan Kuykendall, 15 and Lyla Przylaba, 9, work with the hammocks.

Geoffrey the Pig does the limbo for counselor in training Elin Harvey, 12.

Emilio Guevara, Estella Stroth and Marney McClain, 9, marvel at a performance by camp staff.

author

Ian Swaby

Ian Swaby is the Sarasota neighbors writer for the Observer. Ian is a Florida State University graduate of Editing, Writing, and Media and previously worked in the publishing industry in the Cayman Islands.