So much of what we knew about teaching and learning circus has been spun upon its head during COVID-19. First, we transitioned to online teaching which was only the beginning. We had no idea what we were doing, but then got the hang of it. Then we transitioned back to the studio with fewer students and added responsibilities in the studio like cleaning surfaces, rotating equipment, and taking temperatures. I could look at it from the studio-owner and coach perspective as one logistical nightmare after another (in many ways this is true).

Instead, I’m going to go with: teaching during COVID has been one happy accident or delightful surprise after another.

Sure, teaching online and then teaching in person with reduced ability to demo, no-spotting, and with masks has brought some discomfort, inconvenience, and challenge to what I previously had known as circus coaching. That said, teaching in this time (online and in-studio) has continuously offered me the opportunity (in an otherwise lonely time) to connect with the community, evolve what I knew about circus pedagogy, and help students rebuild trust with their bodies after time away from circus. Oh yeah, and space to try new strategies of teaching and make an incredibly large amount of mistakes while doing it has been cool too!

Teaching in new ways puts me in the learner’s mindset right along with my students and was/is a great reminder that we’re in this covid circus time together. When once I demoed a rope skill and spotted a student through it, I might now roll around on the ground describing my body movements as they might appear in the air. Definitely has proved to be an effective teaching tool which has also resulted in my students laughing—I call that a double success! I have been continually blown away by how much less spotting is needed when you’ve planned progressions well.

I know I am lucky enough to be able to continue teaching during COVID, so I am choosing to see the gifts of what it has taught me.

Here are my top four silver linings from teaching in this time:

• My students are trusting their bodies and learning when to push and when to be patient way more quickly than when I spotted and demoed more. At first, when we came back to the studio in July students thought things were going slower. That said, a month in, we realized that after countless time drilling pathways on the ground, working on strength/mobility/flexibility/agility/kinesiology/dance through online classes, and (gasp!) some space from circus and some REST, students were better able dig in, more prepared to ask questions they might not have known to ask before, and were more willing try things with confidence and curiosity. This is true across the board—from youth through adult. It is a very cool thing to witness: students gaining independence and deeper understanding of what they are learning!
• As a teacher training, I always talk about the importance of prioritizing the information taught to students—don’t overload instructions within the steps of your progressions! Guess what? I now realize that I too was overloading my students before the pandemic. This time has served as a great lesson that I have room to work on my own prioritization skills when teaching! Now is the time to simplify and center the students DOING smaller steps within the progression over listening to you talk and talk and talk. I am going to be better at teaching because of this time.
• Resetting the WHY. Circus is about gathering and connecting. At least at C3 during COVID I have seen students start to value the space as a place (maybe the only place right now) where they can interact (socially distanced) in person with friends. This gathering is starting to feel less about completing the specific trick in whichever discipline and is more about the process of doing it alongside someone they are getting to know, respect, and love. I think our community will be a bit more focused on the strong human-to-human connections moving forward and I am grateful for this reset. Circus will always be a part of it, but maybe a little bit different in the future. This has also been true in our connecting in online community hang-outs and online classes too!
• As a leader in the community (teachers too), students do follow your lead. A big takeaway for me from teaching during this time is that I can be more human in front of my students and can be more open about my mistakes and failures! Whether it is sharing that I am still struggling with getting a move back after taking time away or trying a new teaching technique which is a complete failure and results in my students staring at me blankly or worse/better just laughing at me—it is the same. We don’t know everything about COVID. The way we teach is constantly evolving as we understand more about this virus and how to be in community with each other through it, and it’s reassuring and brings us all together to be open about what we don’t know broadly.