Swing Shift

Kia Eastman, 17, ran away with the circus when she was 12. (OK, the aerialist?s parents encouraged her.) Now the recent graduate of Waltham High School is about to embark on her second act.

(Photograph by Natalie Stultz)

You perform the trapeze with Circus Smirkus, a Vermont-based traveling children's show touring throughout New England this summer [www.smirkus.com]. What made you join the circus?

I've always had a love for being in the air. I've been doing gymnastics since I was 3. I never liked competing. It was more he performance. So when I was 7 or 8 years old, my mom brought me to Circus Smirkus, and I fell in love with it, and she kept bringing me back for classes. I took Pie Throwing 101.

Apparently you're not afraid of heights. How high do you swing?

It depends. My trapeze in the show is rigged about 20 feet.

Did the kids at Waltham High think you were at all weird to be in the circus?

First they thought it was kind of weird. They didn't understand the difference between carnivals and circuses.

Carnivals have giant rats and the bearded lady, from what I've heard.

People in carnivals tend to swallow swords, but circus, especially Smirkus, is about the performance and aerials and the clowns and the artistic points of it.

Any pranks at the Smirkus? You are all kids.

There was a clown named Spencer. He had a mailbox, and he had to take out a letter, and we put a rubber duck in instead of a letter, and he pulled out a duck onstage.

If a kid is reading this and wants to learn to become an aerialist?

Go to the Smirkus camp [in Craftsbury Common, Vermont]. I went there for three years from the time I was 9 to 11. I had never thought of being a performer until I went to camp and it was suggested I try out. But when I was 12, my mom finally said I could try. The camp really taught me everything I knew.

You're heading to Endicott College in the fall. Do you want to go on to become a circus performer?

It's definitely an idea floating around my head. Ever since I was 5 years old, I wanted to be an interior designer. My aunt and uncle are interior designers, so it's always been in my head that I would do that. But when I became more serious about circus, I decided I didn't want to leave it behind. It's a huge dream of mine to go into Cirque du Soleil.

Not Ringling Bros.?

I'm not a huge fan of the showgirl type thing. It's more "Look at me." I like watching it, but I wouldn't like doing it. Cirque du Soleil has always been an amazing show to me. It's so beautiful.

If you don't make Cirque du Soleil, will you find a way to stay in high places?

I'm going to try to figure out a way to stay in touch with it. The trapeze is something you can never leave alone. It's been a part of me for so long that I can't just drop it. I'll find ways to continue - no matter what I do.

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