Jon Richard was once so shy that he didn’t want to go to a party at school for his birthday, said his mom Jennifer Richard.
Then he joined the circus.
Now, he’s able to stand atop a German wheel 30 feet in the air, with nearly 100 pairs of eyes all on him, his mother said.
“He is no longer terrified to be in front of people. This is what circus can do for children,” said Richard, who owns Circus Kazoo, LLC, based in Grayslake.
Since last April she has been sharing space at 100 S. Atkinson Road with Tera McBlaine, owner of Monkey Aerial Arts — to teach youth and adults — the ropes to the circus world. McBlaine focuses on the circus arts in the air, while Richard focuses on apparatus including the German wheel.
“We had the entire staff of the Grayslake library here recently,” to work on the German wheel and balancing skills, Richard said. The device with metal bars and steps resembles a hamster wheel made for humans.
For three years, Richard also has been bringing her show on the road by leading circus clubs and children’s programs at the Round Lake and Grayslake park districts and at local schools.
Youngsters, typically between the ages of 7-13, learn to walk on stilts, ride the unicycle, walk on a huge balancing ball while juggling scarves, do arabesques on a tight rope and circle upside down while inside the giant German wheel. During summer camp, they learn to paint with their feet while studying famous artists in between working on circus tricks.
But they learn much more than that, said Richard, a Golden Apple scholar with a degree in education from Illinois State University. While there, Richard joined the circus and performed for several years to a crowd of thousands. A self-professed lover of climbing and aerial maneuvers, Richard said circus builds a sense of community and trust.
It changes lives, she said.
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Children become stronger, more flexible, more spatially aware, and it gives them a sense of belonging, along with challenging their cognitive abilities, she said.
Circus for youth “is hot all over the country,” said Richard, who has decided not to work with circus animals as part of her business.
Most of the youth circuses in the U.S. were founded in the past 25 years, and in the past six years, at least 10 new schools have been added annually in the U.S., according to the New York-based American Youth Circus Organization, founded in1998.
“I think kids like it because it’s a hybrid of art and sports. And it’s a cooperative rather than competitive sport, which is rare,” said Amy Cohen, the organization’s executive director.
Richard added kids like circus because “it’s super fun. Adults aren’t telling you how to do it. Circus is your voice. You can be part of a team or perform a solo.”
Richard said she started Circus Kazoo to help her son become more confident, and though she loved teaching in both Lake Villa and Round Lake after she graduated, she was looking for something new.
“I reawakened the desire to have circus in my life.” But she couldn’t find anything in Lake County like what she learned at college, she said.
“So I had to start the school myself.”
Now, after three years, she said not only has she found her calling and her son found his sense of belonging, but she’s also spread the wonders of circus to other youngsters.
“It rippled beyond us. It gave me a new trajectory in my career,” she said just before four of her students came to a recent Wednesday afternoon class.
Arianna Sprenger, who is in sixth grade, is known as the pink ball girl.
“It’s a great big pink ball and it’s hard and you walk on it,” Arianna said. During class, she not only walked barefoot on the ball about half as tall as she was, but moved it along the room while juggling three colorful scarves.
Said her mom and pilates teacher Patricia Sprenger, “I love that she gets to take calculated risks. Kids might take unsafe risks in the world. Here it’s safe.”
Richard said she and other instructors work with students to gain trust and help them succeed.
Cecilia Frievalt, who’s in fifth grade, said she loves circus class because, “It keeps me balanced during the week.”
Indeed, she loves spending time working on her balance, walking a tight rope about 4 feet from the ground and practicing arabesques with Richard’s guidance.
“This is wonderful,” said her mom Emily Frievalt.
“She’s getting exercise and movement. She’s learning balance. She tells people she can ride a unicycle.”
Brianna Promenzio, a seventh-grader from Ingleside, spent her time on the German wheel, while her sister, Kiara, in fourth grade, walked on stilts.
“I never knew German wheels existed until I went to an open house at Circus Kazoo and saw one,” Brianna said. “I thought this looks cool. It was scary at first. Now it’s fun.”
But she hasn’t experimented with the wheel without getting a few bumps and bruises.
“I was doing something called seat rocking. I slipped backward and ran over my fingers,” she said. “On the wheel you always need a spotter,” she said.
Once she was doing a trick without a spotter, got stuck and had to call someone to help her. “I knew what I did was wrong,” she said. She got right back on the wheel and is looking forward to performing in Circus Kazoo’s annual show in May, she said.
Brianna seemed like a natural as she performed cartwheels and other tricks, rolling around like a hamster in the German wheel. But circus class is not just for those already agile, Richard said.
One of her 9-year-old students had trouble riding a bicycle before she signed up for circus classes, she said.
“So I started her on stilts. It balanced her core, and then she was able to get on a bike and ride. Now she is our best unicycle rider. She can ride forward and backward and do spins.”
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As for the adults, Richard said, they’re learning about themselves and boosting self-esteem as well, working on juggling, the German wheel and other skills.
“I have had adults in tears,” she said. “They said I never thought I could do that.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance writer for the News-Sun.