Source: Radio New Zealand
If you ever dream of running off to the circus but worry you’ve left it too late – never fear.
In Christchurch there is a now a circus skills class specifically for those aged over 60 on offer at the council’s new recreation and sports facility, Parakiore.
The classes are offered by Move, a charitable trust which aims to make dance, acrobatics and circus more accessible.
Jenny Ritchie, the circus programmer for Move, said she hears a common refrain from people when they first arrive at the class.
“Many come through the door going – I won’t be able to do anything, but I’m just keen to try – and they leave with a great sense of achievement,” Ritchie said.
Louize Juniper at the circus skills class. RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The classes usually start off with floor work such as juggling, hoola-hoops, or the roller board (a plank balanced on a cylinder), before moving on to the aerial work.
The circus studio has an extensive 12 metre high rigging system to attach the trapeze, swings, and silks.
“The great thing about this space is the rigging lines allow us to adjust the apparatus to any height,” said Ritchie, “so you don’t have to muscle up on to the trapeze. You can actually just come along and sit straight on to it and learn a really simple move.”
Jenny Ritchie takes circus skills classes for Move at Christchurch’s Parakiore. RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Ritchie said circus skills were fantastic skills for older people to work on.
“Circus involves a lot of balance and co-ordination so that is something we need to keep up as we get older, but you know you don’t really want to do those drills at the kitchen bench that the physio has given you. So it’s nice to just keep active in an artistic and fun way.”
Anna-Marie practising her juggling. RNZ / Nate McKinnon
The circus classes were suitable for people of all abilities, and the average age of those currently coming along to the over 60s class was 78, she said.
One regular is Martine Carter who said she looked forward each week to the class, which she described as play for grown ups.
Her favourite activity is the diabolo.
“That is like a giant cotton reel on a string that you move up and down. Then you flick it and it goes in the air, and you catch it on the string – hopefully,” Carter said.
Anna-Marie took part in an earlier pilot of the programme and has now returned to the weekly classes at Parakiore.
“I gained better balance, better perception in space, where my body was, where it was moving, … what it’s limitations were, but also how to push that.”
The circus class for over 60s currently runs twice a week, and is just one of more than 50 Move classes aimed at getting people up and moving in Christchurch.
Martine Carter RNZ / Nate McKinnon
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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand
