After witnessing Maika Isogawa’s elegant aerial ballet performance in Spiegelworld’s ABSINTHE, Newcastle Live sat down for a chat with her about running away to join the circus and what it takes to perform in the air…
You have literally lived the old saying “run away and join the circus”. Tell us about your decision to put your science and engineering degree on hold and pursue a career in performing? What inspired you to make this big life change?
Performing professionally has always been a dream of mine. I always expected to go to college, get a degree, and find a steady job. After many years of hard work, I was accepted to my dream college, Stanford University.
After only three months in school, the opportunity to work for Spiegelworld: Absinthe presented itself. This was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I wanted to pursue my dream while I was still young and physically strong enough to do the act. School will always be there, but the chance to perform professionally would not. I’ve been told that if something is both terrifying and amazing, definitely pursue it, and that’s what I’m doing.
You trained for eight years at Circus Juventas, what was this like?
Circus Juventas is a youth performing arts circus school in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Everyday after school, I would go to Circus Juventas and train various circus disciplines with a world-class coaching staff.
For me, Circus Juventas is like my second family. It is the place where I’ve made my closest friends, and trained acts I was passionate about. There are not many youth circuses in America. I was lucky to live right by one. It has changed my life.
When you joined Circus Juventas, did you know what skills you wanted to master when you began or did you find your calling by training in lots of different areas?
At Circus Juventas, I trained a variety of acts like aerial silks, teeter board, handstands, trapeze, wall trampoline, and many others. There was something challenging about each act, whether it was having enough upper-body strength, flexibility, good teamwork, or performance ability. By training so many different acts, I had the opportunity to improve all of those different skills.
Duo straps, the act that I perform in Absinthe with my partner, Jacob Oberman, is a combination of all of those skills.
What’s your favourite circus/performance skill you have learnt along the way?
Handstands! It is a skill that requires no apparatus or equipment other than your own body. It is a full-body exercise, but it can be relaxing as well. Also, it is a skill that can always be improved by attempting harder positions or new variations.
Handstands also make for a good picture and an impressive party trick!
How did you find Spiegelworld, or did Spiegelworld find you?
I think it was a combination of connections, timing, and a lot of luck. One of my coaches from Circus Juventas, Sun, is friends with the duo straps couple in the Las Vegas show, Ming and Alexa. As former striptease artists and students of Sun, Jacob Oberman and I got a call to send in videos of our previous performances. It all fell into place from there.
For those who haven’t seen the show, tell us a little bit about your duo straps performance in the ABSINTHE production?
It’s a romantic, intimate routine, flying over the heads of the audience. I’m not sure how else to describe it… You’ll have to come see it for yourself.
What is life like behind the scenes for a circus performer? Is there a strict training schedule you need to keep up with?
As a circus performer, my body is my job. Training every day is necessary to stay in shape for the act. I like to review the previous night’s performance and work on any skills that were not solid. It’s important to always keep working and training.
Luckily, it’s something that I love to do!
You’re constantly travelling and performing all over the world which must be fabulous, but when you’ve finally got some time to chill out, what’s your favourite thing to do?
My favorite Australian discovery… Beaches and coffee! The beaches here are gorgeous. Nothing is more relaxing than laying by the water with friends for a couple of hours. I’m not sure why, but the coffee here is the best I’ve ever had. Going back to any other country’s coffee is going to be difficult. I’m looking forward to seeing the rest of Australia while on tour with Spiegelworld: Absinthe!
Catch Maika in Spiegelworld ABSINTHE running in the Spiegeltent in Wheeler Place until 15 March.
PHOTO CREDIT: Mark Turner
