Photo by Wes Roberts.

There is science all around us. Especially in the circus. From January 14-16, the Circus Arts Conservatory (CAC) presented the Marvelous, Miraculous, Circus Machine, a special circus performance at the Sailor Circus Arena. The show, which was attended by over 2,000 fifth-grade students from Sarasota and Manatee County schools, was the culmination of CAC’s educational outreach program of the same name that incorporates STEAM-learning (science, technology, engineering, arts and math) into the fifth-grade curriculum.

“In the fifth-grade, students in Florida study Newton’s Laws which include some really tough concepts,” says Jennifer Mitchell, CEO and president of the CAC. “The physics of gravity, motion and inertia can be difficult to grasp, so we use the circus arts as a tool to teach. What the kids are seeing today, after working in the classroom on small Rube Goldberg machines and other projects that they did with our teaching artists, is the culmination of all of these concepts brought to life.”

At the Marvelous, Miraculous, Circus Machine, a combination of Rube Goldberg-inspired contraptions and circus performers brought those concepts to life. On the Chinese pole, for instance, the performer’s balance illustrates friction and gravity, or while jumping on the trampoline, performers’ demonstrated how acceleration leads to larger leaps. Students from CAC’s Sailor Circus program displayed kinetic energy while jumping rope and performing acrobatics. An illusion cube juggler implemented elements of geometry into his act and a performance on the ever-impressive aerial silks demonstrated laws of gravity and inertia.

“Part of what we like to do is peer to peer inspiration. While a lot of these kids are learning science in the classroom, they’re not getting exposed to the arts. This is an opportunity for us to do all of it,” says Mitchell. “The students can hopefully take inspiration from the performers as some of them are also students in Sarasota and Manatee County schools while learning about these scientific concepts that are everywhere in the circus.”

In both the curriculum and the show, an emphasis is placed on collaboration. “Everything in the circus is about teamwork. We can’t put on a show without a team of performers,” says Mitchell. “We mimic the life of the circus and use it as a way to teach in the classroom.”

Photo by Wes Roberts.

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