Posted 4/15/2009 10:47:46 AM by Jim Cole
News from Micalela Hood, Miami Herald viewed 872 times
Wednesday, April 15, 2009 - N. Miami Beach, FL
Florida Circus Art School
Students at a NMB circus school take big-top studies seriouslyBefore the start of class the students are free to practice any skill they want at Florida Art Circus in North Miami. CHRIS CUTRO / FOR THE MIAMI HERALD BY MICAELA HOODA 6-year-old girl in a black leotard balances spinning plates on a long wooden stick. Another girl climbs 15 feet in the air, gracefully twisting on a silky fabric rope. In a corner, a teenage boy practices juggling a rainbow of plastic balls.
While most of their peers aspire to become teachers or doctors when they grow up, the kids at Florida Circus Art School have something else in mind: They want to join the circus -- or at least learn some Big Top skills.
Students at the school, nestled in a North Miami Beach warehouse district off Biscayne Boulevard and Northeast 151st Street, are learning circus tricks, such as how to walk a tightrope, fly on a trapeze and ride a unicycle.
''When I tell people at school I'm in the circus, they don't believe me,'' said Hadleigh Hamm, 11, a student at David K. Lawrence Jr., K-8 Center in North Miami Beach.
So far she has learned several trapeze moves and how to maneuver on the Spanish Web, a long cloth-covered rope looped from the ceiling. Hadleigh has become an expert at twisting her body around the web to create a mid-air dance.
''A lot of kids are scared at first of falling, but I know there's a mat there,'' she said.
Hadleigh is one of 100 students learning moves from the school's ringleader and artistic director, Eugene Baranok. Baranok has 35 years of circus experience. He is a graduate of the Russian Circus School and former performer with the famed Moscow State Circus.
His students are not only interested in the circus arts but are willing to prove strength, flexibility and agility.
And Baranok's years of experience helps him assess their strengths and weaknesses.
''If a student has real potential, I'll work with them,'' Baranok said. ``I may not perform anymore, but I want to pass down all the things I've learned.''
But no one is turned away from the school.
''We're always looking for a few good clowns,'' joked Laurie Allen, Baranok's partner and mother of 8-year-old Elisa Silverstein, one of the school's star pupils. Elisa has earned the title of South Florida's Funniest Kid, besting six other finalists in a competition sponsored by Wannado City and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
Allen said kids who are not gymnastically inclined can learn how to juggle, hula hoop or spin plates.
The studio's storage room is crammed with authentic circus costumes. The students learn how to apply stage make-up, including developing their own performance character: kitty-cats with painted whiskers, clowns with white faces and red noses, and whimsical creatures with starry eyes and fairy wings.
''We teach them how to create their own circus face,'' Allen said.
For 8-year-old Margarita Armes, the circus has become part of her life.
''My dream is to join Cirque du Soleil,'' said Margarita, who lives in Kendall and attends the performing arts magnet program at South Miami K-8 Center.
When she's not at the studio, Margarita -- who also dances with the Miami City Ballet -- practices at home and watches videos of Cirque Du Soleil's performances to learn new moves.
Margarita and several of her circus friends are rehearsing for a May 2 performance at Cinco De Mimo, a festival held in Miami's Design District between 69th and 71st streets. The circus school has already performed at a Miami Heat event, at the Habitat for Humanity annual picnic, at the Junior Orange Bowl Parade and at Bloomingdale's inside the Aventura Mall.
The school also holds a summer camp, and is available for birthday parties and other private events.
The school welcomes kids of all ages -- grown-ups can take classes there, too.
'Our motto is, `Where every child is an artist, and adults can have just as much fun,' '' Allen said.
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