Local circus performer Bethany Lovell will travel to Lithuania to compete at an international circus competition. She spoke to Matt Hewson about what it’s taken to get this far and her hopes for the future.
In less than a year Bethany Lovell, 18, has gone from never having used a Cyr wheel to preparing to compete against the best young circus performers in the world.
Next week she travels to Lithuania to take part in the International Youth Circus Festival of Ziburiai, the only Australian performer selected to compete this year.
“I’m really excited to go over and see everyone else’s acts and performance, see what everyone else is like overseas,” Bethany said.
“But for my performance, I’m so nervous. I’m just like, I’ve got to keep drilling it, making sure it’s clean. So I’m really nervous but excited at the same time.
“Circus is a community, no matter where you come from. It’s such a unique sport… I know it’s a competition, but we’re still one big family, that’s what I really love about it.”
On November 23 in Lithuania, Bethany will perform a five-minute routine on the Cyr wheel. If you don’t know what the Cyr wheel is, you’re not alone.
Typically made of metal, the wheel stands some six inches higher than its user and is used for a wide array of different manoeuvres and tricks, with performers often standing within it and rolling or spinning gyroscopically.
Although the origins of a single large wheel used for sport are contested by scholars, the Einreifen (or Mono Wheel) was a gymnastics apparatus developed in Germany after World War II that quickly fell back into obscurity.
Canadian circus performer Daniel Cyr revived its use in the late 1990s, developing the modern version of the wheel, inventing a brand new suite of moves for the apparatus and lending it his name.
So in relative terms, the Cyr wheel is fairly new to the circus scene.
For Bethany, it’s even newer. She has been training on the Cyr wheel for less than 12 months.
“I’ve come a long way this year; I’m really proud of my progress and then hopefully by the start of next year I’ll be doing so much more,” she said.
In fact, she only started her circus journey at local circus studio CirqArts less than five years ago, although much of the first two years of that time was interrupted significantly.
“I came to do one class in 2020, and then COVID happened, so that year didn’t really go,” Bethany said.
“But in 2021 I really started circus. Just in basic classes, doing a bit of everything and then slowly moving my way up.
“I studied dance before I started circus though. I did that for eight years, and I did all styles; jazz, contemporary, hip-hop, ballet, everything.
“When I first came along it was because I needed a hobby, something to do. I saw the aerials and I thought, oh, I really want to do that. Then I discovered I actually didn’t like aerials at all.
“I discovered a bunch of other ground specialties that I liked. But I continued with aerials because it’s good for strength, and I found I love trapeze and lyra (aerial hoop).”
Then she began to get “invested”.
“I started becoming more involved when I did CirqArts’ teacher training program to become a junior coach,” Bethany said.
“And then I did their Emerging Artist program and it just slowly built up more and more. All of a sudden I was in every day, doing everything.
“It definitely started off as just a fun hobby. Now it’s the career that I want to do for the rest of my life.”
CirqArts founder Rosa Pagani said Bethany had “some pretty big goals” but given what she had achieved in such a short time, she was well placed to succeed.
“CirqArts is a career-focused studio; we like to give students pathways to professional careers in the arts,” Rosa said.
“The first step is the Emerging Artists program… and now Beth is in our Professional Development program for people over 18. And they train about 12 hours a week and focus on specialties and developing acts which they will use to launch their career as an artist.
“It’s only been two years and one term that (Bethany) has been training, and only this year training at that 12 hours a week mark.
“She is already starting to build her footprint in Europe now, in that short period of time. Imagine what she can really do in two years from now.”
For Bethany, her “dream beyond the stars” is to one day perform on the Cyr wheel as part of Cirque de Soleil.
But in the meantime, she hopes the competition in Lithuania will allow her to kickstart her career.
“I’m hoping to connect with other artists, train with them, see different stuff, also get some good footage of my act for my show reel” she said.
“It’s about starting to create those connections, getting my name out there.
“While I’m in Lithuania I’m going to go travelling and hopefully go to a European circus school, (where) they can help me focus and train especially hard and get my skills up to an advanced level.”
