Hello again! Sorry I didn’t get to update yesterday – there was
a minor spat between Eta and Artem (the two trapeze artists) which kicked off
around midday and didn’t really calm down again till gone twelve. It all
started last week sometime when Eta didn’t feel that Artem had caught her
safely and swears blind that he’s damaged her shoulder because of it. Artem, of
course, is denying it all, saying that she swung dodgy and he did the best he
could – if anything he saved her life by catching her and it is only through
his un-measurable talent that she didn’t plummet to her death. Everything had
been building up since them and sticking them in a caravan together for three days
probably didn’t ease the situation much. Things boiled over today when Artem
forgot to offer Eta a cup of tea this afternoon. They’ve made up now, which is
just as well, as when Artem and Eta are fighting EVERYONE knows it. I should probably
mention that Eta and Artem are twins. When they fight, they fight BIG TIME, and
it’s very loud and very scary and usually involves a lot of garbled Russian. Artem
said he’d teach me some Russian at one point, but he mostly just taught me chat
up lines and swear words. I could pick out a couple of the swear words in their
argument – and believe me it was not pleasant! When they are on the same side,
though, do not cross them, they’ll stick up for one another with a Russian ferocity
and where one goes the other will follow. I guess that’s what’s makes them so
good on the trapeze. They’ve got an unspoken connection between them, a
mirroring of minds and a complete trust in one another. When they work together
they move like a shadow. It’s what makes them so spectacular to watch, to see
these two tiny people up thirty maybe forty feet in the air swinging from bar
to bar, somersaulting and catching one another’s hands and legs... it takes
your breath away it really does. Even for me, even though I’ve seen their act
so many times I can hardly count, it’s something else to watch them perform. I think
it’s because their act is unique in the sense that it relies so heavily on somebody
else. That’s why Eta got so mad at Artem in the first place. If he had caught
her dodgy, he could have ended both of their careers, and maybe even Eta’s
life. Monsieur Loyal runs a very traditional circus. There are no fake acts
here. If Artem hadn’t caught Eta perfectly she could easily have dropped those thirty,
forty feet. We don’t have a safety net. That would have been it for her. I mean,
it’s not like there aren’t other double acts in the circus, or even that there
aren’t any team performers. Mama, Papa and I are all a team. But if one of us
misses a baton then it doesn’t stop the other two from catching theirs. If one
of us throws a duff shot then it’s on the person who threw it. Even with the knife
and fire acts, we each know how to handle it if a dodgy throw heads our way.
But a dodgy pass from Artem or Eta and it’s game over.
But they’re best of friends again now – which is a relief for
us all. Artem and Eta aren’t that much older than me – they’re twenty nine this
winter, so I’m pretty close to them. There aren’t that many circus folk who are
my age. There are a couple of kids who are just starting out, and there’s
Anastasia who’s just turned thirteen (and don’t we all know about it). Other
than that, there me, Freddie, Alessandro and Aurelia. Freddie’s just younger
than me, he’s just turned eighteen, but he’s a cool kid. I say kid – I guess
technically he’s an adult now, but we’re all big kids here in the circus
anyway. He’s one of the most charismatic guys I’ve ever spoken to – right from
when he was but a babe he could get away with anything. He works the tickets
like me – drawing people in. Aurelia is twenty and a bare-back rider. She’s
very quiet, but has these huge saucer eyes which are the most stunning blue –
the colour of the sea in summer, deep blue puddles in her face that glint in
the sun. Her hair is big and blonde, like a lion’s mane. She looks just like a
china doll – petite but perfect. Alessandro is older than me – he’s twenty four.
He’s the son of Bruno, the Lion Tamer, so he thinks’ he’s all that. We used to
be like two peas in a pod – I’d follow him everywhere. It’d be him as the
leader and me, Aurelia and (eventually) Freddie would hang to his every word,
obey his every command. But then something weird happened between him and Lelia
and we kind of split up. Lelia turned even quieter after that happened. We
still get on, and sometimes it’s just like the old days, but something’s not
quite right anymore.
It’s hard to grow up with the circus. There are loads of
great parts – no school (well, at least not in the traditional sense), you get
to see the world, you’ve got this really close nit family around you... but...
Your life is played out in front of the fifty or so people you live with. There’s
no escape. You can hardly have a moment alone. And don’t get me started on
girls. You can never be anything but a fling, nothing more than a one night
stand, because who wants a relationship with somebody whose life is dictated by
his work – who can be in one place one day and three hundred miles away the
next?
Woah, that got a little serious there... lets back track a
sec. I thought this whole “just write about your life and see what happens”
thing would be easy, but I’ve been sat here typing this for what feels like
forever and I’ve still got to finish my closing down jobs and I haven’t even
written about my actual day yet! Maybe tomorrow, eh?
If anybody has any questions about my life that you want me
to answer specifically then just leave them in the comments or email me at
tobyisajuggler (at) gmail (dot) com. I’d love to hear from you and it might
even give me a bit of direction!
As always, au revoir , best wishes and I hope you enjoyed
the show!
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