East Hawaii keiki are reaching great heights while learning the aerial arts during a summer circus camp.
Aerial Arts Hawaii is hosting its annual circus camp for beginning and intermediate level students this month. Last week was for the more advanced, intermediate group.
Last Wednesday afternoon, seven students worked with their teacher, Victoria (who asked that her last name not be published), to better utilize the trapeze and then practiced aerial yoga on silks with Aerial Arts Hawaii co-founder Bella O’Toole.
Saphire Love, 11, wore her circus outfit for the third day of camp. It was her second circus camp and her fifth year of doing aerial arts.
“My mom used to follow a circus in California, and I remember going to a bunch, too. I loved seeing them do flips in silk and lyras and I wanted to do that someday,” Love said. “We fell in love with Bella, and I have loved doing trapeze and lyra, and I think I’ve been to every circus camp and performances.”
Aerial Arts Hawaii has been open in its location by Kalakaua Park at 108 Kalakaua St. since March 2021. The studio regularly hosts weekly classes for several types of aerial arts for every level.
“We opened during COVID, so we had a lot of restrictions, and we didn’t know how it was going to go. Luckily, we had many people welcome us, and we grew a lot from there,” O’Toole said. “Our beginner classes are super popular and they sell out in a day. We have almost 20 different classes during the week, and they run in six-week increments.”
O’Toole started offering keiki camps last summer to give eager kids somewhere to go during the week and more opportunities to learn the various aerial arts.
“We get a lot of kids that have done a lot of sports, but have maybe grown kind of bored. Many parents find us, and kids get obsessed with such a new activity,” O’Toole said. “Aerial is a physically challenging and exciting thing to do. It’s something fresh and new to them — I mean, they are in the air, flipping, and learning to do really fun things.”
Those in the intermediate camp has been improving their skills while also practicing new moves that maybe they haven’t tried before.
“I took summer camp last year after my parents found it,” Olivia LeGendre, 10, said. “It’s so fun being up in the air and doing flips. I want to keep doing it and getting better.”
The overall goal for many aerialists is to improve their skills in strength and choreography. While some have goals of joining a circus one day, some kids enjoy aerial arts as a physical outlet.
“We used to do tricks on our hammocks, and that’s why we got into it,” Amara Valdez, 14, said.
“In 2021, our parents wanted us to get out of the house to do something fun,” Anika Valdez, 12, added. “It’s been a great workout and so fun overall.” Coach Victoria spent Wednesday showing the class different moves on the trapeze and helping them feel more natural while up in the air.
“It’s so cool to see kids doing this, because when I was a kid, this just wasn’t a thing you could learn easily,” Victoria said. “It’s such a fun, creative outlet, and no one really arrives ready to go. But once you start doing it, you build strength and can really start getting it.”
The beginner camp is this week and already is full. The six-week series for classes has begun and will run until July 27. After the session, a new set of six-week classes will be available to those interested in starting or continuing their aerial journey.
“This is a small community on the island. We are the only place in Hilo that provides a space, and I know there is a scene in Kona and Waimea,” O’Toole said. “When the community comes together, it’s great to see how much talent is really here on the island.”
Love said that she’s been a part of most of the performances and comes to aerial class every Wednesday after school. She hopes to one day bring her skills to a real circus.
“Yeah, I definitely want to be in the circus one day doing aerial,” Love said. “Being up so high used to be really scary at first, but now that I’m used to it, I love it more than anything.”
More information can be found at aerialartshawaii.com.