InsideWAIS Feature: Simpson Sets Sail for Cirque Dream
One of WAIS’s favourite senior gymnasts Georgia Simpson will depart Perth later this month for Montreal, where she plans to spend the next four years at Circus School.
The school is called “L’École Nationale de Cirque” – “The National Circus School” in Montreal, Canada. It is the largest North American school devoted to advanced circus arts training and the only circus school in the western world to offer the complete spectrum of professional education, from preparatory programs, to professional placement for graduate artists, as well as training circus instructors and trainers.
The seed to move on from gymnastics was planted after an unfortunate injury back in 2012, as Simpson tells.
“Following my devastating injury at Pac Rim in 2012 shortly before the Olympic trials, I went through a really tough period dealing with missing out on the Olympics, rehabilitating my foot and ultimately figuring out how I still felt about my Gymnastics Career.”
“I had the time to really think about my life and what I wanted to do with myself beyond Gymnastics, and I realised that my path in Elite competitive Gymnastics may have come to an end but a new pathway of channelling my talents and skills was something I wanted to venture into, which brought me to Circus,” she said.
Growing up in Perth, Simpson was always inspired by the Cirque Du Soleil shows that would tour around, so she tapped into her resources to research the option further.
“It was through some research and talking to Australian Gymnastics coach and former Cirque Du Soleil talent scout, Mark Calton, that I got to know my real potential for Circus and that such schools as the one in Montreal actually exist,” said Simpson. “Mark just seems to have a clear appreciation for the level of skill that Elite Gymnastics develops; and could see how successfully those skills translated into circus.”
“So after some much-needed thinking time and a new perspective on things, I came to the conclusion that I wanted to audition for the circus.”
Simpson then travelled to Montreal for a four day audition which included tests of strength, flexibility, dance, acting and a comprehensive test to display given skills and specific cirque training.
Lacking specific circus discipline, Georgia had WAIS coach and choreographer Stacey Umeh help put together a piece for her to perform at the audition.
“As I’m not exactly form a circus background, I decided to put together a short routine with the use of a balance beam, displaying my skills as a gymnast in a more theatrical way,” mentioned Simpson.
“Mentally it was just a matter of letting go and going with the flow and heading into it with an open mind.”
After the audition, Simpson travelled back to Perth to await the results.
“The Audition was the 18th-21st Feb 2014 and I found out March 15th 2014 by email that I had been accepted into the ‘Mise √† Niveau’ preparatory year of training.”
In a few weeks, Simpson will make the big move to Canada and spend the next year in Montreal before testing her circus abilities in a follow up audition that will take place August 2015.
“It is a very unique and fortunate position to be in and I am super keen to see what the world of circus is all about and not only what I can offer this Art form as a performer but what circus can offer me as an individual.”
“Who knows what the future will bring, but I hope I can find something I am passionate about as I was with my gymnastics, and at the end of the day just enjoy what I do, and feel a sense of purpose in what I do.”
-Olivia Vivian