THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 2, 1995 TAG: 9503010170
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 05 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOAN C. STANUS, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
From his bleacher seat, 12-year-old Shauntell Lew watched spellbound as 10 teenagers from Chicago's inner city took turns leaping into the air, doing a few somersaults, then flipping onto a mat spread across the gymnasium floor of the Colonial Avenue Boys & Girls Club.
As the aerial leaps got higher and the flips faster, Shauntell and about 100 other kids from Norfolk's youth centers, watching on the bleachers, began to stomp their feet, whistle and clap wildly.
The tumbling Chicago Kidz, a team of teenage acrobats from the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, were strutting their stuff, and the Norfolk kids liked what they saw.
``Those guys are so lucky,'' Shauntell lamented to a friend. ``I wish I could be in the circus.''
Just then, the Kidz's trainer, Janos Novak, asked for three volunteers from the audience. Like almost every other kid in the bleachers, Shauntell raised his hand.
Miraculously, Novak picked him. In a slight daze, the Lafayette-Winona Middle School student walked to the front of the gym floor to follow instructions. After a few words of encouragement from the circus trainer, Shauntell and two other Norfolk teens formed a line and bent over. Then, one by one, the Chicago Kidz began taking turns, leaping over their backs. As each performer finished, he joined the line.
The last to jump was Tim Shaw, an 18-year-old who regularly leaps across the backs of four elephants in circus performances. Without a hitch, Shaw cleared the 11 backs. The audience shrieked in approval.
Done with his part, Shauntell returned to the bleachers with eyes shining and a smile spread wide across his face.
``That was scary,'' he told a friend. ``But fun.''
For a few moments at least, this Norfolk youth got a taste of the circus life.
The Chicago Kidz also got an opportunity to sample another life for a while. The afternoon of Feb. 22, before performing for the circus, the teen performers spent a few hours hanging out with the Norfolk kids at the Colonial Avenue facility, playing air hockey and pingpong and taking swims in the pool.
``They're on the train all the time, traveling,'' said Sue Rowand, publicist for the circus. ``They needed a break. We called the boys club, and they said, `Sure, come on over.' As a way to pay them back, we thought we'd put on a little show.''
Life at home for many of the circus performers is not much different than those of the kids at the center.
Most hail from the inner city of Chicago, and learned to tumble, hip-hop and do gymnastics as young children from the streets.
``Back at home, we did `bad matches,' and tumbling tricks out on the streets,'' explained Robert Williams, 16, during a game of pool at the Norfolk club. ``That's how I learned. I've been doing this since I was little.''
Two years ago, a circus executive discovered the Chicago teens performing in a tumbling troupe at sports games, street fairs and other local events. Ten of the best were selected to spend seven months training and developing their act for circus performances.
Since then, the Kidz have spent their lives on the road, thrilling audiences throughout the country with their antics under the big top. They attend classes daily in a mobile schoolroom but rarely get a chance to hang out with kids away from the circus.
``It's hard work, but it's fun,'' said Chicago native Gene McMillian, 14. ``But this is fun coming here, too. It's a good break.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo by ERIC THINGSTAD
Robert Williams, 15, of the Chicago Kidz, soars through the air
during the performance at the Colonial Avenue Boys & Girls Club.
by CNB