A pair of Vancouver-based circus performers shared their passion and love for their profession with children across the Cariboo last week.
Juggler and standup comedian Quinn Beasley along with his friend Britannia Giovincio, a contortionist and professional dancer, visited 13 schools in four days including 100 Mile Elementary School, Mountview Elementary School, Horse Lake Elementary School, Alexis Creek Elementary School and Lake City Secondary School, to name a few. At each stop, they demonstrated portions of their skills and talked about their life stories.
“This was the craziest school tour I’ve ever done. This is the biggest tour I’ve booked thus far, I’m quite happy,” Beasley, 29, said.
Throughout his act, Beasley juggles knives, balances blocks on his chin and rides a 10-foot-tall unicycle. Because there were days he was doing three shows in a day, he invited his friend Giovincio along to show the kids something he doesn’t do and give himself a break.
Giovincio said they both go to the same circus gym and have known each other for several years. Getting the chance to come on this journey with him was a ton of fun.
“The kids are great. They make me realize how much I love performing and that what I do truly is what I love,” Giovincio, 25, said. “This was my first school tour experience and was very different from what I usually do with big stages and audiences.
“Every school has been unreal, they scream and they cheer so loud. They ask for hugs and autographs, it’s so cute.”
Beasley’s passion for circus started when he was eight after his parents signed him up for an after-school program where he learned to juggle and tumble. Before that, he remarked he was a bit of a “crazy kid” who liked to bounce off the walls and do dangerous stuff, like jumping off his parent’s roof and once accidentally setting their garage on fire while attempting a magic trick.
“Just performing in general I’ve always enjoyed. The act of performing in front of an audience has been quite special to me,” Beasley said, noting that the discipline and time required to learn new skills and write jokes gives his life needed structure.
Growing up Giovincio said she was a gymnast who became a dancer and later joined the circus because she missed acrobatics. After spending a few years attending a professional circus program, she graduated and has been working professionally ever since, specializing in contortionism and aerial acrobatics.
During her visit to the Cariboo, Giovincio demonstrated an old contortion act she came up with several years ago. She also explained to the students that contortion work requires more core strength than flexibility.
“I’ve never actually done three shows of contortion in a row, so that was a challenge for me mentally and physically to figure out what I needed to do all the shows,” Giovincio said. “I’m very cautious of my body, I do a good core warmup first and make sure it’s feeling strong before I do anything. It’s always really important to be stronger than your flexibility to avoid injury.”
His love for the circus is what saved Beasley from living on the streets of Vancouver and dealing drugs. When he was a teenager, Beasley said he started doing drugs and after rehab didn’t work was kicked out onto the streets by his parents. This time in his life was a dark one as he also began to deal drugs, until he one day realized he had to choose between drugs or doing what he loved.
Dedicating himself full-time to circus and cutting out negative influences in his life, Beasley repaired his relationship with his parents and at 19 became a professional circus performer. For the past 10 years, he has been honing his skills and in 2013 did a TedXYouth talk about his journey from homeless street kid to professional circus performer.
“I had always wanted to tour schools and tell my story but I didn’t really know how to do that,” Beasley remarked.
About a year ago, however, he joined ArtStarts, a talent agency that connects artists like him with schools around the province. Since September he’s visited schools across B.C. where he shows off his skills and tells his own personal story about overcoming hardship to inspire the kids. He remarked he’s happy it took him a decade to start going to schools, noting he’s four times the performer now that he was back then.
“It’s nice to do something that has a positive impact beyond giving me a living and social validation. It’s nice to give back and try to make a difference in the lives of kids,” Beasley remarked. “(As a kid) I was told not to do drugs but I wasn’t told what to do instead. I want to give kids a way to deal with their problems that helps them, not hurt them.”
Beasley said that while he tells a lighter version of his story at elementary school, he does his best to impress upon the students the importance of finding their passions and pursuing them.
“I was told by so many people to not follow the career path I did and it worked out for me to go against the grain a little bit. The really important part of making it in the field you’re in is making sure you surround yourself with people who make you better, instead of pull you down,” Beasley said.
Giovincio said she agrees with Beasley’s approach to life, noting art and movement is her passion and without it, she feels like she’d be miserable.
“There’s so much out there and if you can find your passion at a really young age, how we did, it’s lucky but it doesn’t always happen the way. Sometimes it can take a long time but that’s ok, you just got to keep moving forward,” Giovincio remarked. “Follow your passion and whatever makes you happy. If you haven’t found your passion, go explore and be open-minded.”