By ELIZABETH SHEPHERD
For The Beachcomber
Lila Mildon is only 5 and has yet to start kindergarten. But this shy, blonde preschooler is already on her way to mastering an astonishing array of circus skills.
She’s learning how to tumble, juggle, walk a tight wire and fly through the air with the greatest of ease, right here on Vashon.
Mildon is a student at The School of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts (SANCA), which opened its Vashon campus in January 2007 in a high-ceilinged former packaging plant located mid-Island, behind the Sawbones factory.
Classes at the circus school — which include instruction in acrobatics, tight wire, trampoline, trapeze, juggling and rolling globe, where the performer balances atop a large sphere — have become so popular that SANCA is expanding its offerings for Vashon students aged 3-17 in its next session, which begins on Tuesday, May 6, and runs through the end of June. Two week-long summer camps are also in the works.
Parents like Adrienne Mildon, mother to budding circus artist Lila, are excited about the school’s growing presence on Vashon.
“I like the idea of balance — Lila is learning a lot of body awareness,” Mildon said as she watched her daughter take cautious but confident steps across a tight wire. “And Lila loves these classes. Just look at her face — she’s delighted!”
SANCA’s arrival on Vashon is the result of the advocacy and can-do spirit of several Vashon parents who have been ardent supporters of the school, a nonprofit dedicated to improving children’s mental and physical health by engaging them in circus arts.
The school started in Seattle in 2004 with five students and a trampoline; its current Georgetown space is now home to two trampolines, two trapeze rigs, vertical ropes, a tumble track, four tight wires, several unicycles, countless juggling balls and hundreds of enthusiastic students.
Several Island families took the ferry weekly so their kids could participate in SANCA. When that commute grew wearying, some of the families approached SANCA about the possibility of bringing classes here. As it turned out, finding the right space to house the program wasn’t difficult.
Janet McAlpin and David Godsey were among the Vashon parents trekking weekly to and from Seattle for their son’s circus classes. The couple — acrobats and aerialists who co-founded UMO Ensemble — had recently purchased the former Seattle’s Best Coffee warehouse and packaging plant and were planning to turn the buildings into performance spaces. Knowing that one of their buildings could easily accommodate the equipment necessary for SANCA classes, McAlpin and Godsey offered the space for a Vashon satellite SANCA program. The partnership was a perfect fit.
“It’s such a cool thing,” said Godsey, who credits SANCA founders Jo Montgomery and Chuck Johnson with having “huge hearts” and “being in it for all the right reasons.”
He is also effusive about Vashon instructor Kari Podgorski, who travels to Vashon to teach the circus classes. Podgorski, a member of the Seattle troupe Circus Contraption, is an aerialist, dancer, acrobat, stilt walker and enthusiastic teacher.
“Our classes aren’t competitive,” Podgorski said with a smile, as classical music played in the background. “They are recreational and teach stepping-stone skills across the board.”
SANCA’s founders practice the school’s inclusive philosophy daily. Montgomery, when she’s not at her school, works as a pediatric nurse practitioner at Odessa Brown Children’s Clinic, an affiliate of Seattle Children’s Hospital located in the Central District.
Like many pediatric care providers, Montgomery noticed an alarming increase in the rates of childhood obesity and wanted to find creative and practical ways to address the problem. She thought, “Why not a circus school?” and set out to find someone to partner with in starting such a school.
She found Johnson, whose lifelong interest in the circus began at age 10 when his grandparents took him to a circus show in Portland. Soon after that experience he taught himself to juggle, then began gymnastics training when he was 13. As an adult, Johnson helped found the Cascade Youth Circus and has been involved in circus, gymnastics coaching, stunt work and rigging on a local and national level.
“Our goal is to instill confidence,” Johnson said. “We start with skills that our students might feel are a little bit beyond them, and then we see them reach reach those skills. Students find out that they can exceed the limits they set for themselves. The thing that limits us the most is our brains. The body and spirit have a much greater potential. We want to push those boundaries in a safe and secure way.”
Johnson said he hopes to see the Vashon program grow, emphasizing that the school is currently seeking qualified Island residents who wish to become instructors.
And if the eager participation and sunny smiles of students like little Lila Mildon are a barometer, Vashon parents can breathe a sigh of relief: Their children can now join the circus, and they won’t have to run away to do it.
