When Iain Knopp-Schwyn saw his first circus act at age 7 he knew he was hooked. He realized that the only thing better than watching the clowns and acrobats and aerialists perform would be for him to be performing himself. He has been preparing for nearly a year for the performance of Grimm, Happily Ever After, the 17th annual summer extravaganza running from July 28-Aug. 14. (Photo by Stefanie Berres / Head shot courtesy of Circus Juventas)

By JAN WILLMS

When Iain Knopp-Schwyn saw his first circus act at age 7 he knew he was hooked. He realized that the only thing better than watching the clowns and acrobats and aerialists perform would be for him to be performing himself.

His mom had taken him and his brother to see Circus Juventas in St. Paul.

The circus training school was founded in 1994 by Dan and Betty Butler, circus performers themselves who met at the age of 15 at a youth circus in Sarasota, FL. And for teen-agers like Knopp-Schwyn, who lives in South Minneapolis, the school has offered an opportunity to learn a skill and develop confidence as he masters that skill.

Knopp-Schwyn, who will be a freshman at South High this coming fall, remembered seeing his first show at the Big Top at 1270 Montreal Ave. in St. Paul.

“I couldn’t stop imagining what it would be like to be in a circus,” he said, “and I wasn’t going to leave without being signed up for a class.” He started with a circus experience class that fall.

“One day we would do one thing, the next day something else,” Knopp-Schwyn said. He said for two years he worked on jumping rope, the trampoline and juggling. Then he was invited to learn teeter board, and that is the act he has been hooked on.

“It’s a long seesaw, and one jumps on one end and the other flies. I do the hitting and catching; that is my area of expertise,” he said. “It took me a few years to figure out what I liked to do best.”

He practices five days a week, from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. He has been preparing for nearly a year for the performance of Grimm, Happily Ever After, the 17th annual summer extravaganza running from July 28-Aug. 14. The summer shows are for the top-tier students, and this is the second one that Knopp-Schwyn will perform in.

“I play the baker and the hunter, who is a clown,” he said. “There are a lot of acting bits that I am in. We are not big enough that everyone can be in just their own act. We do what we are needed to do.”

Knopp-Schwyn said injuries can occur sometimes, but the performers strive to be as safe as they can. “We don’t do the hard stuff until we have learned everything else,” he said.

Knopp-Schwyn said he plans to stay with the circus through high school. “Afterwards is a mystery,” he admitted. “If I don’t continue with the circus, which would be preferable, I’m very interested in biology.”

The United States has a circus college in Illinois and Florida, and there are others in Canada.

“It’s just like a regular college, but instead of focusing on math or science you focus on learning and building your skill. From there you can get drafted by Cirque de Soleil or smaller circuses in Europe,” Knopp-Schwyn added.

“The circus is something that, for as long as it has been here, people will watch it. It never grows old,” he reflected. “It’s still amazing that people can do some of these things.”

“I used to be a pretty shy kid, but working with the circus has helped me open up and kind of find who I am.”

Butler sees the experience of providing circus training in just that light.

“Boys and girls are working side by side, in a freedom of artistic impression,” he said. “Nobody gets cut from the team.”

He said an important part of the circus education is the element of trust that is developed.

“There are a physical and artistic side and a huge athletic side,” Butler said. “They become very confident adults.”

“When the lights hit you, you can accomplish anything by mind over matter,” Butler continued. He said it is all about learning the right attitude. “I believe you learn self-confidence that is unsurpassed in any other youth activity.”

Butler said he came to Minnesota because he went through Hazelden and got a new lease on life.

“We thought we could bring something like Circus Juventas to the Twin Cities,” he said.

Circus Juventas is North America’s largest circus performing arts program with over 800 students enrolled. Seventy of those advanced students will be performing in the summer production.

The summer show, based on the popular fairy tales of the Grimm Brothers, has 10 riggers, 12 full-time staff members and dozens of parents serving as volunteers. Coaches for the event have been brought in from Mongolia, Morocco, Russia, China, Chile and Germany, as well as the United States.

For tickets to the show call the box office at 612-343-3390.

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