Circus Harmony director, Jessica Hentoff, visiting former student, Renaldo Williams, at Cirque du Soleil’s “Joya”
The circus is about accomplishing the impossible. In the circus, people fly. They walk along a cable as thin as your finger. They dance with wild beasts. They do things most people only dream about. So, in a way, circus is about dreams coming true. How many of us have dreamed we had super strength, could talk to animals or could flyy?
“What do you want to be when you grow up?” is an oft asked question. “I want to run away and join the circus” is an answer occasionally given but never taken seriously. What if that was your dream? Most adults would laugh at you. But what if, since you were 12 years old, joining the circus was something you really wanted to do?! If you follow the flying children of Circus Harmony, you know there are children who say that, mean it and do it!
The first Circus Harmony student to cross that bridge was Renaldo “Junior” Williams. Thirteen years ago, he was in the audience of one of our City Museum shows. After the show, he walked up to me, shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said, “My name is Junior and I want to do that.” An incredibly short time later, Junior was a performing member of the St. Louis Arches. He tumbled, juggled, did aerial work and was even a member of our bareback riding troupe. His solo trapeze act performed to live Chinese zheng music was stunning, a group hoop-diving number he choreographed was breath-taking and his choreography of an aerial ladder duet with Elliana Grace brought tears to my eyes. Then he started working on partner acrobatics. This circus genre is known as hand-to-hand because many of hte tricks consist of the base supporting the flying in this way. For years, a 2007 photo of Renaldo and his first hand-to-hand partner has graced the cover of the Circus Harmony brochure. I don’t change it because it tells such a story.
For several years, Junior spent practically every weekend at my house. He watched every circus video I had (numerous times) and poured over my circus books. He became enamored with Cirque du Soleil and watched as many videos as he could on them— particularly a series called “The Fire Within” about what it took to make it into this esteemed company. In the Alexandra Lipsitz movie about us called “Circus Kids”, there is a scene where Junior is talking with the late David Balding, artistic director of Circus Flora. “Are you going to go pro?” David asks. “I don’t know. Maybe…” was the answer. But Junior decided to audition for circus schools. Twice we helped him raise the money to go to France to audition for circus schools there. He didn’t make it in. His breakthrough came when he was accepted into Ecole Nationale du Cirque, the National Circus School of Montreal located right across the street from Cirque du Soleil headquarters.
Since then, Junior, now known by his real name, Renaldo, has performed all over the world— China, Australia, Dubai, France, Russia, Norway… Before he even graduated, Renaldo performed in New York City with the sensational 7 Fingers show, Traces, and later joined their world tour. Renaldo and his partner, Naomi, took silver in the prestigious Circus of Tomorrow festival in Paris. They performed in front of 20,000 people at a New Year’s Eve event for Cirque Eloize. For nine months, they were a featured act with Circus du Soleil’s show, Joya, in Cancun. Renaldo and Naomi are now headed to Montreal to be part of Cirque du Soleil’s newest creation!
What is a word that combines pride and happiness for someone else? There’s the Yiddish word ‘kvell’— to be extraordinarily happy, proud, rejoice. I was privileged to see the penultimate performances of their appearance there. I sat in the incredible theater, with the fantastical food, watching world-class performers… and Renaldo was one of them! Unbelievable! But in the circus, the unbelievable— and dreams—become real! I sat there kvelling. What really touched my heart though is that on his way to Montreal, Renaldo is stopping to visit here in St. Louis and to work with our current students. Giving back. Passing it on. That fills my heart!
Jessica Hentoff, September 1, 2015