April 12, 2023 / by Kay / In events

World Circus Day: you could win classes

Every day is circus day at Aerial Edge – but Saturday 15th April is WORLD Circus Day! We gotta celebrate that, right?

Because we are massive fans of the joys of circus, we want more and more people to join the fun. So we’re celebrating World Circus Day with TWO contests where you could win free classes.

1. Donate to enter a prize draw: We have a sponsored places scheme to give circus training to people who experience barriers to participation. When you donate one Youth Circus class for one student via the Pay It Forward option in our booking system (it’s in the store), you will be entered to a prize draw to win a 4-class aerial or acro pass (the winner gets to choose which one you want). ¹

2. Share your favourite memory: whether it’s a proud moment when you held a handstand, pulled off a challenging trick, or a funny one when you collapsed in a heap or tied yourself in knots, post it and tag us before midnight on Sunday 16th April. The one that makes us smile the most will win a free class of their choice. ²

Besides the playful and creative nature of circus training, the addictive factors are the triumph of overcoming hurdles to achieve something that had previously felt impossible, and the laughs that come along with your efforts.

You absolutely will meet challenges as you learn aerial, acrobatic or object manipulation skills. You weren’t born with the skills to achieve them immediately, but you were born with the potential to pull them off.

You get there with repeated failures. That’s what practice is. Getting it wrong (or not quite perfect) is how you understand how to get it right. That’s creates progress.

The difference between circus with Aerial Edge and other areas of life where we practice, fail and repeat is that the training itself is inherently fun, so it taps into your playfulness.

At different points, all of us have felt embarrassed, foolish, despondent and defeated. And in between those points, we’ve felt elated, fantastic, determined and proud.

When you roll with the ups and downs of circus training, you realise you’re not as daft as your darkest fears. You see your vulnerabilities and self-doubts, and understand that they don’t run the whole show.

And you get fit and honed!

So, be proud of your triumphs (however small) and see your “failures” as funny moments. Post them and tag us to be in with a chance of winning a free class.

These ups and downs, difficulties and victories, joys and laughs, are why our sponsored places scheme is important.

Experiencing these cycles, in the encouraging and supportive environment that we provide as instructors and you provide to each other as students, can open new choices and opportunities to people who have endured hardship in other ways during their lives.

If you have the means to donate a class so that someone else can have these options available to them, please do. When you donate a class before midnight on Sunday 16th April 2023, you’ll be entered to a prize draw to win a 4-class pass for either aerial or acro (the winner chooses between the two).

Right now, we’re running sponsored places for Youth Circus, one term at a time. Obviously, it’s best to maintain consistency and sponsor that young person for as long as they want to attend. Regular donations through this system add up so that more people can be enrolled.

We aim to extend the scheme to adult recreational and professional training in future.