There are some love stories that out-do all the others in the “where did you meet” game at parties.
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Meeting on the flying trapeze, one soaring through the air to the waiting hands of the other, is one such story.
This is how Schantal Kathriner, sixth generation circus performer, and Jim Carroll, who ran away to the circus at 16, met.
Ms Kathriner had what many might consider a story-book upbringing.
Her father migrated to Australia from Switzerland, where he continued in the tradition of five generations of circus performers.
“He came over with my godfather and they did a duo act together and then he met my mum here in Australia and he decided to stay,” Ms Kathriner said.
And so it was that the circus would be home for a young Ms Kathriner, throughout her childhood and on into her adult life.
“I was actually nearly born on a boat on the way over to New Zealand because that’s where the circus was travelling,” Ms Kathriner said.
“When I try to picture how it would be growing up, let's say ‘normal’, to me it would be a bit boring in a way because when you're in the circus ... the whole circus is your family in a way, so everyone is looking out for everyone.
“The best things about it is you're with the people you love and trust the whole time, but you're moving to a different location every time so not only do you get to meet new people every two to four weeks, but you’re in a different site, you're seeing different things and I think growing up as a kid it’s really important that you do those things.”
Ms Kathriner believes she was lucky to have grown up in a circus.
“Because we get to experience different people, different cultures different places, different things,” she said.
While Ms Kathriner was travelling Australia in a fleet of caravans in the circus, Mr Carroll grew up in Launceston, born in a house just above the Zig Zag Track.
But at the age of 16 he set off on the adventure of a lifetime, which was to become his life.
“There wasn’t much work in Tassie and a guy from the Launceston area was going to work for the circus in Perth (Western Australia) and I said, ‘Can you get me a job?’ and he rang up and said, ‘Yep’, so I got a plane ticket and flew to Perth,” Mr Carroll said.
As he flew off to join the circus, with his mother words “don’t forget to call me” ringing in his ears, Mr Carroll was entering a new world.
“I think I might have seen a circus when I was in primary school … I just remember the lions in the lions cages,” he said.
Starting as a rouseabout, Mr Carroll soon began to learn the trapeze. When the trapeze artist had to leave the circus for personal reasons, it was Mr Carroll’s time to shine.
“They said, ‘Alright, you better practice Jim you're in the show in two weeks’,” he said.
So started a 17-year career in the circus as a performer.
Mr Carroll said there is more to the circus life than just performing.
“You do have to multi skill a lot in the circus so I am I gues fairly mechanically minded, I did a lot of spray painting, panel beating, motor rebuilds, welding, we built our own tents as well,” he said.
Ms Kathriner added, “Being in the circus is actually really hard work, people think that you just travel around in a caravan and do your performance and just spend your time hanging around.
“There’s a lot of behind the scenes work, you’ve got to travel to a town, you’ve got to pack your caravan down every travel so nothing breaks or smashes or falls, get to the lot, pack it all back up again, get your power, your water, then everyone has to help get the tent up, get the animal yards up, get the canteen ready.
“Then we do our performances and then if there's jobs to be done you've got to pitch in and help, you can’t just go and disappear. You’ve got to train as well through the day, if you're a kid you have to do school.”
Ms Kathriner said people often don’t realise what circus performers do, and calling them “Carnies” is seen as an insult.
“Circus people get really annoyed with it because a carnie is a person who runs rides at carnivals, a circus we’re like performers and we entertain people,” she said.
“It’s completely different pressing a button on a ride to risking your life every day to perform for someone, which takes a lot of skill.”
In 2007 Mr Carroll and Ms Kathriner left the circus, but not circus performing, behind.
Moving to Launceston, Ms Kathriner tried to find a “normal” job, but all she could secure was a job at K-mart.
Despite having experience in front of house, logistics, money handling and much more from the circus, all her resume said was “circus, circus, circus”.
“I don’t know if people thought it was a joke, they probably could have,” Ms Kathriner said.
So, Mr Carroll and Ms Kathriner turned to what they knew and established Circ’s’Cool to share their circus knowledge and skills with Launceston.
The couple say the support of the community has enabled them to bring their vision to life. They now have a permanent base for their school in the old church on the corner of Frederick and Bathurst Streets, and have a regular program of classes.
Ms Kathriner said they want the school to be one big community.
“Growing up on the circus is like one huge family and that’s how I want the school to be,” she said.
Mr Carroll delights in helping the school’s students overcome their fears and achieve a new set of skills.
“They've got to learn to control their fear, control their body and their mind, that mind and body combination I think is very advantageous to anything you do in life,” he said.
Ms Kathriner said, “So many kids are so capable of doing things but their mind will just mentally they will be held back.
“It’s amazing to see the look on their faces when they've tried something and they haven't got it, haven’t got it and then they've finally achieved it ... that is probably the most rewarding thing we can take away.”
The couple has big plans, with a dream to have an annual small tour of circus performances, and to continue to build on the foundations that have been laid.
They will soon release a new schedule of classes, and run school holiday programs.
Continuing the family tradition and passing on their skills to their children, Ms Kathriner said, “Circus is what we do.”
Jim added, “It’s like it ends up in your blood.”
- http://circustas.com.au/