Take A Look Inside Windsor Circus School And Try Something New

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A unique experience is waiting to be found at the Windsor Circus School, which offers many fun and rewarding ways to not only get fit, but find a new hobby while you’re at it.

Classes may seem intimidating at first–but no prior skill level is required for the many unmatched and interesting classes. The Circus School offers aerial classes as well as ground arts. Classes offered include aerial silks, aerial lyra classes tied in with static trapeze, contortion fitness classes, acro yoga classes, and juggling.

Classes range from novice levels to intermediate, and offer lessons to adults 14+ as well as youth from ages 2 to 13. “We do all ages, with our youngest client being 2 and our oldest being 76,” Tia Nicoletti, a co-owner of the Circus School, explains with a chuckle.

Windsor Circus School co-owners Joe Jelasic (left) and Tia Nicoletti

The Circus School welcomes everyone and anyone who wants to come learn the arts being offered. Marley Reaume, the Student Services Coordinator at the Circus School, explains that while there are many fun and interesting classes, there are functional classes offered where they focus on joint mobility as well. “Me, my mom, and my grandma can all take the class and all benefit from it,” she explains. “Same thing with a lot of high-performing athletes; they’ll take the class just to work on all areas of training from aerial to ground.”

“The community really pulled itself together here,” Marley explains. “There wasn’t really a huge circus community in Windsor, but now everyone can come together [locally] and not have to travel for it.”

“A lot of people are nervous to walk in here,” she continues,”but everything starts from beginner and is at your own pace.”

“We get a lot of questions asking if Cirque Du Soleil performers come here or like, do ‘real’ circus performers come here… like yeah! We are real circus people!”

Marley explains that the Lyra, which looks like a hula hoop, is a 35-pound metal hoop. “We use sports tape over everything,” she explains. “You can imagine it as hanging off of a monkey bar; its an equivalent feeling.”

The Silks are made of a low-stretch tricot nylon. “There are different levels of fabric in terms of stretching,” Marley explains, “but this one is the best to work off for our intents and training purposes. We also have different colour silks for performances!”

Silks are tied at the bottle in a “hammock” style for intro and beginner classes to allow students to get comfortable and have the ability to touch the ground until they are ready to move up. All aerial apparatus points at the
Circus School are rated to hold 10,000lbs, or 4x the weight of a car.

Marley also works as the Event Coordinator for the school’s sister company and booking agency, Height Entertainment. Anyone is able to book a unique performance for events such as birthdays, galas, showcases, public events and weddings.

Height brings professional artists and performers to venues for a unique experience, and the school has a portable 20-foot rig to make this possible. “We do on-site inspections before the events take place,” Marley explains, “we do calculations and ensure the force of the rigging is safe for the drops the performers will do. Safety is number one.”

Some acts listed on their website are: a comedy juggling show, acrobatic dance duo, duo trapeze, aerial silks and aerial lyra. Check out more acts on their directory here.

Tia, a Windsor native, brought the school to Windsor using her past experiences at different schools and different circuses from around the world. “I was a national diver,” Tia explains, “and I just never wanted to stop falling.”

Tia displays her exceptional hand-standing abilities, as it is her specialty.

“I’m a total adrenaline junkie, and now i bring adrenaline junkies together in a cohesive space for other movers to come and play.”

Tia, who traveled in Canada, South East Asia, Australia, the Philippines, Thailand and lived in Malaysia for two years, brings a lot of worldly experience to the school and is truly passionate for every aspect of it.

Aerial Silks instructor Kaitlyn Schram (top) poses with Marley Reaume, Student Services Coordinator

“I love this school for the creative ability aspect of putting fitness with entertainment. There are many people who go here that go on to perform,” Tia explains. “While we have a recreational section and intermediate performance section that trains students to become professional performers.”

The Windsor Circus School opened their doors in May of 2016, and Tia has enjoyed her part of being to watch the progress of all of the students who attend. “I love seeing everyone get so strong,” she explains. She has watched the school grow with her fellow co-owner, Joe Jelasic.

“The city is growing for sure,” Tia goes on. “Interest has been growing, people are getting out of their shell a bit more.”

Tia expresses how everyone who attends classes and works at the circus school is very supportive of each other, explaining that the circus is a little family. “You start from knowing how to do nothing and grow together to do something.

“There’s nothing better than seeing a student succeed when they thought they couldn’t.”

Performances from Height Entertainment by the Windsor Circus School are tailored to each individual event, with the ability to match any theme with their different coloured silks. Learn more about Height Entertainment on their website here. Learn more about the Windsor Circus School and what classes are offered on their website here, and keep up to date on new happenings on their Facebook page here.

Check out Windsor Circus School at 511 Pelissier Street, with entry beside the building through a gate to the back.