Lang & Cravat

Burt Lancaster is a new fave. And it's not just the face. Nor is it just the physique. Actually, this is my favorite part of his biography: Nick Cravat. This life-long friend of Lancaster was also his partner in a doubles acrobatic/trapeze routine in the mid 1930s and 1940s. He starred alongside Lancaster in nine films. In most he was mute. Cravat's daughter attributes this to his incredibly strong east-coast accent.

Cravat died in January and Lancaster in October of 1994.

A great aside is that the Circus Center has a fabulous doubles acrobatic act. Weirdly, our strong-man base bears a striking resemblance to Lancaster. Take a look for yourself.

Stop Clowning Around!

Did you see this article in the New York Times about the clowns teaching nursing students about bedside manner? Really. The idea and article both would have been worthwhile had the journalist not decided to refer to all nurses as "women" and had it not insisted that nurses need to figure out that their job is about more than "bedpans and blood samples". Thanks. Nothing like a few stereotypes to ruin a good idea. Another opportunity for nursing and circus to come together, wasted.

*On a more uplifting note, I hear from Nurse Z. that Nurse K. is a natural on the flying trapeze, so maybe there are more chances for the nursing-circus union yet to come!

Sweet Can

Sweet Can is performing this weekend in Fremont. $25 for adults, $15 for kiddos. Totally worth it, even on a student budget. Tickets here. Check it out.

Is That a Clown in Your Pocket...?

There was an article in the NYT last Thursday about Clown Conservatory founder, Jeff Raz. I love the clowns. But this article was one of the more absurd, placing clowning in cahoots with psychoanalysis by way of desocialization. And here is where I run screaming from the room... “Working on clown is in vogue right now," says Dody DiSanto, director of the Center for Movement Theater in Washington. Working on clown? Does that sound, um, dirty to anyone else? Here are some of the workshop names for those of you looking for a little clown action*:

DYNAMICS OF CLOWN PARTNERING
DISCOVERING THE CLOWN
ENSEMBLE ADVENTURES IN CLOWN
BOUFFON. THE ANTI-CLOWN

*AKA get your clown on, a phrase I am working on popularizing.

Flying Nurses

Thanks to one MEPN's persistence we made it onto the flying trapeze today; a first for me. Props to the *fantastic* guys who run the program: Scott, our main man, Jiggy Jives and Leo the magnificent. Leo was the catcher for those of us who made it that far (nope, not me) meaning he has both strength and impeccable timing. In fact, all of the trapeze folks seem to have an amazing eye for detail. Watching them work and listening to the feedback given to both novice and advanced fliers is itself worth a visit.

The MEPNs looked great. Hopefully you'll see more here, as all seemed motivated to make it back up the ladder before too long. Maybe I can talk everyone into putting together a flying nurse routine before the next show...

**Yes, the photo is of the circus center, and that is Scott on the lines, but the little person on the trapeze is The Kid. As flying nurse pictures become available, I'll post them here.

Liar, Liar Pants on Fire

I have started to think that my friends and fellow nursing students don't really believe this whole circus shtick of mine. Frankly, since nursing school started I don't really believe it anymore either. Well, there's photographic evidence. (I know, I know -- I'm faceless. But there is HIPAA to contend with here, so enough already.)

Circus Blood

A fellow nursing student posted this piece from last week's San Francisco Chronicle. It's actually a review of Michael Chabon's new collection of essays, Maps & Legends, but the review takes notice of the ever-great nurse novel genre, one we know well thanks to the previously mentioned Tiny Pineapple. Long-time columnist Jon Carroll who wrote the article also happens to be father of the wonderfully talented Shana Carroll of Les 7 Doigts de la Main, a fabulous and wildly successful, self-made circus troupe. Here is a Hearing Voices interview where Jon talks to Shana about her decision to become an aerialist. It is a part of a larger, 54 minute radio documentary called Circus Blood.

Pratfalls & Rising Stars

The previously mentioned showcase of the Circus Center's professional aerialists begins tonight.
Here is a sneak preview.



Emma ~ cloud swing, Jodie & Sandia ~ static trapeze and Shersten ~ straps.
All will all be performing Friday through Sunday. (Photos again by friend of the circus, Seth Golub.)

This final picture is a blast from the past - Elena Panova, director of the aerial program, performing her famous swinging trapeze act. Here is a bit about her from her Circus Center bio:

Elena created a groundbreaking swinging trapeze act that has redefined swinging trapeze as it is performed today all over the world. Elena won the Gold Medal and at Paris’ Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 1987, and the Gold Medal at the 1988 All-Union Circus Artists Competition of the USSR. For twenty years, she has performed in major circuses and variety shows on four continents, including the Moscow Circus, Circus Knie, Paris’ Cirque d’Hiver-Bouglione, and the Big Apple Circus. Elena moved to the United States in 1991. She started teaching at Circus Center in 2004.

This is her show.
Catch it if you can.

Rocking chairs, sheet knots & elephant hair

It's Friday the 13th! A folkloric day, if ever there was one.
For your enjoyment, circus and nursing superstitions.



Circus Superstitions:
• Circus bands play John Phillip Sousa's "Stars and Stripes Forever" in emergency situations only. The march is played as a warning signal to circus workers that something is wrong.

• Never count the audience.

• Accidents always happen in threes*.

• Always enter the ring with your right foot first.

• Never whistle in the dressing room.

• Boots, shoes and slippers should never be seen in a trunk tray or on a dressing table.

• Never sleep inside the Big Top. (This belief comes from the days when the raised ring was made of dirt and people were afraid it might collapse on them.)

• In pictures, elephants must always have their trunks up.

• Hair from the tail of an elephant is good luck.

• Never eat peanuts in the dressing room.

• Never look back during the circus parade.

• Never move a wardrobe trunk once it has been put into place; moving it means that the performer (owner of that trunk) will be leaving the show.

• Never sit on the circus ring facing out.

• Peacock feathers are bad luck. (This is also a theater superstition, wherein peacock feathers can never be used in costumes)


Nursing Superstitions:
• Women go into labor more often when it's raining because their water breaks with the storm.

• If a patient is perspiring profusely (and is already on antibiotics and antipyretics) place a pan of water under the bed to stop the fever.

• A penny above the door of a patient in ICU ensures good luck.

• There seems to be a "full moon effect" whereby one experiences increased workload, stress and general chaos.

• Codes, deaths and births happen in threes*.

• Certain rooms are unlucky.

• Never say the "Q" word. If it's been a quiet shift, don't say so or, it is told, the dam will break. (This is, hands down, the most popular nursing superstition I have come across.)

• Never say the name of a frequent visiting patient aloud or s/he will miraculously appear.

• If one has turned down the bedding for an expected admission and the admission is canceled, pulling the linen back up will ensure an immediate unexpected admission.

• If a patient may code, place the crash cart outside the door of the patient's room to prevent the code.

• Have a lucky pen? You're not alone. Apparently it ensures patients' well-being and a good shift.

• Place a penny above the door of a patient in ICU for good luck.

• If a knot is tied in the sheet of a dying patient during the night shift, that patient will not die until morning.

Circus superstitions collected from The Museum of Science and Industry and Nursing superstitions compiled from the following sources: Nurse Connect and The American Journal of Nursing.

* The superstition of threes is well documented in folklore. Dundes has something to say about it in The Number Three in American Culture which is reviewed at The Book of Threes. This is the second time I've mentioned the good professor in a week. I wonder...

See the Circus

It's that time of year again. If you are reading from anywhere near the Bay Area, come and see the Circus Center's Annual Showcase. The San Francisco Youth Circus will make it totally worth your while. June 19th - 22nd. Here is a taste of last year's show, photographed by Seth Golub.




I am also hearing whispers about the Pratfalls & Rising Stars recital starring students in the Professional Aerial Program and this year's Clown Conservatory graduating class. June 13th - 15th. Buy your tickets for both shows. Do it now.

The Confidence Factor

I'm in a bit of a funk right now over circus. I've been active with the center for going on two years; I am not -- and have no interest in becoming -- a professional. (After all, I'm a mom, an ____ologist, researcher, and I'm about to become a nurse!). Granted, I am not the most self-confident person on the planet. And while I like to think of this as humility, I am fundamentally aware that it oftentimes manifests as self- consciousness and self-doubt. So, there's that. But the thing that's getting to me is what any good teacher knows well: the best way to help a student to learn is to be encouraging and to help to build confidence. I am not always getting this feedback at my place of practice. I should say here that I am not shabby, in general, at the art of circus. (Though, I don't hold a candle to The Kid.)

I trained for a couple of hours this morning on my own, just strength-building exercises, but I had the constant sense of judgment from a particular instructor, (and students who felt either obliged or merited to participate in the evil eying) which just kills confidence. Without confidence, exacting a skill is going to be impossible. Feeling watched and judged makes even hanging from the trapeze like threading yarn through the eye of a needle. Impossible! As a "recreational user" (a term I love because of the apparent lack of awareness of its contemporary, urban connotation) there is always a degree of displacement, but one would think that circus folk, for love of their art, community (and livelihood) would be inclined to encourage outsiders' interest in their trade. Well, on that front, at least the clowns are always very welcoming.

My take-home message on this one is that we need to believe in others; if we don't, we'll never be able to believe in ourselves. That, or we just need to surround ourselves with clowns.

Tomorrow, partner and I have a wieny roast at The Kid's school to attend to, but Sunday, I'll be back at the circus center, back on the trapeze, heart tucked tidily inside sleeve.

Eccentric Contraction

I had a cardio conditioning class at the circus center two nights ago, and now I am hurting all over. A class taught by circus folk is very different than the traditional aerobic experience: think Jane Fonda at Burning Man + steroids and a heavy-duty stimulant (she was drug free, of course, she just had way more strength, energy and spirit than your average Betty). Needless to say, I almost expired.

I was recently discussing my very sore muscles with one of my acro training partners, who also happens to be a physician's assistant. Contrary to what I've always been told and believed, she reports that the sore muscle factor has nothing to do with lactic acid. Apparently, delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is caused by small tears in the muscle fibers caused by eccentric contraction (elongation of the muscle under tension due to an opposing force greater than the force of the muscle).

Exercises that involve many eccentric contractions will cause the most DOMS and thus the most pain. The pain is believed to be caused not by the damage to the cell but the muscle's response to the contraction, reinforcing itself beyond its strength by increasing the size of the muscle fibers. So the reason my calves feel swollen today is because they are. The jury is still out on whether or not to train during DOMS, and while it is always a good idea to stretch and warm-up before exercise, (and this should be of note to cirq-types) stretching on muscle soreness is not a good idea as over-stretching itself can cause DOMS. The only proven treatment so far is contrast showers, to increase circulation.

I think I'll just wait it out, thank you.

No, You Are Not Fat

Can we just get this straight? There is a cultural obsession with body image and I am convinced it goes hand-in-hand with the feminism problem. And I don't mean that feminism can solve it, I mean that modern expectations of/for women exacerbate it. Women around me lately seem totally obsessed. I, too, am guilty of said preoccupation from time to time.

Granted, circus girls look a lot like this, which is to say circus bodies are not traditionally feminine nor particularly skinny. And that's a big change for some. But other women around me seem even more singularly-minded. Today alone (it's noon) I've heard one woman, weighing maybe 90 pounds soaking wet, say she was having a "juice" for lunch "because I have to watch my calories" (?) while another of similar proportion told me, "All I do is eat. Look at me." I wanted to say, "I can hardly see you."

Unless you are suffering from morbid obesity, which is an entirely different physiological problem, don't even ask me, because no, I don't think you are fat and, no, I don't want to argue with you all of your dissatisfactions with your body.

To be frank, that kind of discussion is incredibly punishing to all of the other women around you.

~ Postscript: the picture above is of Laverie Vallee née Cooper, bka Charmion (1875-1949), an American vaudeville trapeze artist and strongwoman, best known for her act during which she disrobed on the static trapeze (down to her leotard). You can see the act here, in a short film made by Thomas Edison (1901).

Muscle Memory

My tissu teacher (who is great, by the way) has been trying to get me to keep a notebook so that I will remember the different wraps and drops. My take on this is that for chronicling what we've done week to week, this is a fine exercise, but for learning, it is an exercise in futility. As a former dancer I have pretty decent body awareness. I am aware that my body learns through repetition. The trouble is that at the circus center, other than during class, there is no way to practice because the silks are not hanging. I maintain that without this repetition, I will make slow gains and will, likely, need to be reminded of where my feet, hands, butt should go. But this argument was putting me at odds with my instructor, so I conceded and whipped out the handy dandy moleskine, with a mental note to check up on this one. I recalled a piece I had seen in the NYT last year about a professional dancer who had a very detailed explanation of learning by watching and repeating movement, something which is quite natural for me - and imperative - in physical activity, even though I am much more of an auditory learner, generally.

After class I looked into muscle memory, aka neuromuscular facilitation, a very real phenomenon. The way it works is that through repetition, training movement of the body will stimulate neurological adaptation processes. The outcome will eventually induce physiological changes resulting in increased levels of accuracy in movement. Both fine and gross motor skills are involved in muscle memory. As we reinforce specific movements through repetition, the neural system learns those fine and gross motor skills so that we no longer have to think through the action. We merely react and perform. As you can imagine, anyone learning a new activity has a significant amount of brain activity occurring. Since muscles grow accustomed to certain types of repetitive movement, (walking, brushing your teeth, driving a vehicle) the best way to insure correct and adequate unconscious performance is repetition. Practice. Ask any musician or athlete.

So while doubting its efficacy, I will write down the drops and wraps until there is a tissu up on which to practice, at which point I guarantee marked improvement (and decrease in trainer frustration over having to shout out, "no, behind! no, left leg up! no, turn to the right!"). Which brings us to the confidence factor, another documented phenomenon in which a person's sense of being unable to perform affects muscle memory. But that's a different problem for another day.

Why is the Room Spinning?

This single point trapeze has got me thinking about balance. After the first round, which was a solo lesson lasting about an hour, I felt pretty good. My instructor, mightily prepared with water, ginger, smelling salts and a bucket (just kidding about the last two), was very conscientious about checking up on my dizziness every few minutes: “How are you doing? Do you need some ginger? Drink some water.” And I was really fine. Until… I finished the class and made it all the way to work when I realized I felt exceedingly tired, had trouble focusing, was walking very slowly, methodically placing one foot in front of the other. I imagine I looked drunk, which is not the best way to appear at work. When I made it to my office, I sat at my desk, both feet placed firmly on the floor. With hands flat on my desk I stared straight ahead for about an hour. Then, quite suddenly, it passed.

So, what is this experience? The theories in the single point class abound. I’ve heard everything from fluid in the inner ear moving too rapidly, to low blood sugar. The remedies are even more diverse: eat protein before class; after you’ve been on the trapeze place the palm of your hand an inch from you face and study your life line; jump up and down; or my personal solution, which is to invariably, inadvertently close one eye.

According to more knowledgeable sources, our balance is maintained by a complex interaction of many different parts of the nervous system including the eyes, inner ears, joints, spine, muscles, sensory receptors, the brain and spinal cord. The symptoms of dizziness occur when the central nervous system (brain and spine) receives conflicting messages from the other systems. Each of these systems works in a particular way. The inner ears, or labyrinth, help us to know the direction of motion of our body, such as turning in different directions. The eyes monitor where the body is in space and also the direction of the motion in our environment (think about sitting at a stop light in your car and the car next to you begins to move slowly forward and you slam your foot on the break, having the sensation of movement). The joints and spine are skin pressure receptors which communicate which part of the body is touching the ground. Muscles and joint receptors tell us which part of the body is moving while the brain and spinal cord processes all of the information from the other systems. So, when the systems are sending contradicting signals, such as a spinning on a trapeze, hanging upside down from one knee, while simultaneously trying to focus either on nothing or an unmoving body part, this will inevitably cause the CNS some confusion. Rightfully so.

Now, how to combat the dizziness. This guy calls dizziness his idea of “absolute hell”. I wouldn’t go that far, obviously, or I wouldn’t be on the trapeze. But dizziness can be a real drag. So his remedies seem quite useful. Recommendations include: move slowly and find a focal point, stay hydrated, practice deliberate movement (walk a straight line), build focal strength (do exercises like following moving objects with your eyes). His final solution? Avoid dizziness-inducing activities. Heck no!

A Brief Circus History

After training since the summer of 2006, off and on, in acrobatics and on the static trapeze - and since December on the tissu - I decided that today I would try out a new circus apparatus, the single point trapeze.

Like all circus endeavors: humbling.