‘You know you’re addicted to the flying trapeze when ...’ by Kevin HaggertyCommunity columnist | November 19, 2007 ARTICLE: “I fly because it releases my mind from the tyranny of petty things.” -Antoine De Saint-Exupery “Holly, bar!” Chris Lemon tossed the trapeze bar to Holly Faulk. She caught it using her free hand. With her other hand on the pedestal support, she announced her next trick. “Holly, cutaway!” The cutaway is a challenge to the flying trapeze artist, or “flier,” for a couple of reasons. It’s hard to gain the height needed to complete the move. She is also flying blind, with her back to the catcher, who swings upside down on the other trapeze bar. If everything works out, the flier releases her bar, performs the trick and catcher and flier connect smoothly, each grabbing the other’s wrists. They swing together over the safety net, then back. On the backswing, the catcher releases the flier. The flier shoots upward, turns, and catches the trapeze bar, then swings back to a safe landing on the pedestal, 25 feet above the ground. That dry, wordy account is accurate. But you don’t win points for accuracy when you are performing poetry. The flying trapeze captures the beauty of poetry, expressed as aerial ballet. You have to see it to appreciate it. More often, you have to see it to believe it. Chris began studying gymnastics at age 5. He soon graduated from the mini-trapeze in his back yard to single trapeze, web rope, lyra and trampoline, performing with the Bloomington Circus. He began flying several years ago. Now, he’s working on professional level tricks — a flyaway with a double twist, and a double back flip with a full twist. The Bloomington Circus was founded years ago by my brother Marc, his son Cogi, Breshaun Joyner and many others. Marc and Cogi have performed professionally all across the U.S. Marc also did a stint with the Ringling Brothers Circus, as catcher for the Flying Lunas, the world’s best flying trapeze act at the time. Chris: “For anything circus, you have to have some love for something; whether it be the danger or the beauty or the thrill, there has to be passion. If there’s not, you’re in the wrong place, 40 feet in the air; for example. I’m working on getting into Cirque Du Soleil.” Holly: “I have always been an adventurous character. I love to try new things. When Marc first proposed to me to come fly, I jumped on the idea. I met Marc on the music scene and from the get-go, thought of him as a well rounded, positive individual with good intent. As a coach/mentor, he has proved that two-, three-fold. Thus, I think the world of him.” Cogi, my nephew, began flying at age 8. His biggest trick is a full twisting double back flip. Cogi: “Train hard; use all the safety measures you possibly can.” Well said. I began catching in 1988. I had been a member of the IU men’s gymnastic team, back in the day when it was a varsity sport. My event was the still rings. That training probably saved my neck. It was Friday the 13th, some years ago. I was swinging upside down on the catcher’s trapeze bar, ready to signal the flier to leave the pedestal for a trick. A split second before that, my left cable snapped. I had enough time to unwrap the trapeze bar from my other leg, find the net, and tuck my body to rotate to a soft landing on the net. I still think of Friday the 13th as my lucky day. I asked Chris and Holly to finish this sentence. “You know you’re addicted to the flying trapeze if ...” Holly: “If leotards are an essential piece of your wardrobe. Or going to fly five to six days a week is a part of your normal routine.” Chris: “When you skip school to go fly lol.” Kevin Haggerty’s column appears every other Monday in The Herald-Times. You can reach him at [email protected]. Copyright: HeraldTimesOnline 2007
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