Aerial

The Second Chapter

Most other modern circuses have taken on a touring caravan model since the nineteenth century thanks to the likes of Barnum & Bailey, where the entirety of the circus, including the buildings, performers and animals are packed up and reallocated from city to city. You were immediately drawn to Rusty Buchanan's Circus Extravaganza the moment you read about it in the newspaper for its assimilation of a commitment to timeless standards as well as a new take on tradition, wherein the performance conveys a holistic story or theme. It reminds you of something you're extremely well-versed in; a fantasy narrated by the perfectly rehearsed sway of dozens of bodies to invoke emotion from a crowd of curious onlookers.

The ringleader Russell, or Rusty, has concocted a groundbreaking idea to tell a fable by merging established ballet performance with that of circus exhibition. Music, costume and light design are being reimagined and he's diminished most of the former animal involvement, as activists were beginning to give traveling circuses well-deserved heat for the mistreatment of their zoological performers.

The role that you're auditioning for in particular is the famed trapeze act, rumored to be a spectacular culmination of all of the acts preceding it. A sought after position in the circus, one in which only the most prestigious athletes are awarded and the prize is to be the center of the climax that stuns and dazzles the audience. There have been murmurings of Rusty's ingenious reinvention of this final scene, all created with one particular aerialist in mind who is now in need of a female counterpart with a reliable dance pedigree.

It was being publicized in the media as the first of its kind, plus it was receiving worldwide attention for the resurgence of the infamously renowned trapeze artist who mysteriously disappeared for a year following a season finale back in 1963. Rumor has it that he packed up his belongings and fell off the grid when he skipped town without a single trace left behind, only to re-emerge here in Malibu with a grand announcement of his long-awaited return.

You had considered your career as a ballet dancer long departed when you were forced to drop out of college with only a few months remaining of your program. It's not something that you like to mentally trudge through very often; it was traumatic enough to lose several prospective opportunities at esteemed ballet companies as well as the one thing you spent years upon years pouring your heart and soul into. It was a helpless situation that nearly drove your determined and industrious personality mad with scrutiny, until a lightbulb flickered to life with the happenstance conception of translating your expertise to a different but similar field.

After you left college, you took a couple depressing months living at home with your parents until you came across this newspaper article on a whim. It made sense to you to construct the wrecked shambles of your life into something completely different. A sunny change of scenery, a place where everyone seemed carefree and content. Far away from anyone you'd ever known. It was a bold move for someone like you who takes comfort in ritual and consistency, but if you were ever going to break the shackles of your conservative upbringing, it would have to be far away from the small town where your roots were beginning to tangle and cluster into a pot-bound knot that halted your growth.

You can feel the circus building before you actually see it, it's wild energy mixed with salty air wafting under your chin and through your hair. Much like an invisible cartoon hand manifesting from the breeze, unfurling to curl a beckoning finger towards you and gliding your wheels to an abrupt stop where the cement pathway meets the boardwalk. You crane your neck to take in the grandiose setting; it's built in the style of the classic big top tents from the turn of the century, except it is everlasting and extravagant with steadfast promise of sheer beguilement.

The facade is circular and oblong, nearly the size of a full race track from end to end with a wooden tower that ascends into a keen peak towards the clouds. The crown is finished off with several flags fluttering like an exaltation of larks in the harsh sea breeze, each representing different countries of the performer's origins and punctuated by prideful rainbows. Large pillars of marble decorate the front entrance and above several sets of double doors, an unlit fluorescent sign with the words Circus Extravaganza written in whimsical cursive.