What started as a small high school gymnastics class in 1949, has evolved into one of the top Circus Schools in the United States, providing a home to thousands of students looking to participate in a unique athletic program. Over the course of 70 plus years, thousands of students between the ages of 8 and 18 have entertained over a million spectators through their participation in biannual shows, parades, ribbon cutting events and road shows. Our students arrive at our doors in a variety of manners, some are already athletes, simply looking for another physical outlet, others watched our performances or attended our summer camps and knew that they had to try out the Circus Arts for themselves. Sailor Circus students learn not only a variety of circus arts, but also an abundance of life skills such as discipline, determination, teamwork, self confidence and time management. The lessons taught at the academy have taken the most shy and introverted children and turned them into confident, outgoing individuals, and taken the most confident and outgoing children and taught them how to help others and support their friends.
Now as the world faces an unprecedented pandemic, we are reminded that circus performers are historically resilient, something that is apparent now more than ever. The Sailor Circus students were incredibly excited to return to the arena, and to their training, which had been on hold since March. In fact, many of our students could not wait for the arena to reopen, and created training spaces in their homes and backyards, any place that could accommodate circus equipment! Our caring and considerate coaching team spent months creating videos and Facebook live sessions to continue to teach and mentor their students in their home training. Sailor Circus coaches come from variety of backgrounds such as retired professional circus performers, from such storied circuses as Ringling Bros and Cirque du Soleil, Sailor Circus Alumni, professional gymnasts and more, but the one thing the all have in common is a passion and desire to pass down their love of the circus arts to future generations of students engaged at The CAC.
Our students are truly remarkable people who leave our program wanting to take on the world and make it a better place, and for that, we couldn’t be more proud. Sailor Circus Academy graduates have gone on to become doctors, lawyers, teachers and more. Some have even become professional circus artists, traveling the world with international circus super stars, and entertainment entities such as Cirque du Soleil.
