Pictured: Senior Sailor Circus student Alex with fellow performer Olivia on the flying trapeze. Provided photos/Circus Arts Conservatory.

For 75 years, students involved with the Circus Arts Conservatory’s Sailor Circus Academy have wowed audiences with feats of physical strength, grace and courage that might initially seem well beyond the abilities of performers so young. In “Origins,” patrons of all ages, from near and far, will be enthralled as students involved in the Red Troupe of the youth training program flip, fly and soar to new heights during their spring show. Performances take place in the Sailor Circus Arena (2075 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota) at 2 and 7 p.m. on May 4 and at 1 and 5 p.m. on May 5. This year’s show celebrates the creative power behind nature, art, human invention, and 75 years of Sailor Circus entertainment. From stardust to supernovas, from aerials to acrobatics, this show has it all! Nearly 50 students will be featured in acts including trampoline wall, acrobatic roller skating, bicycle for five, clowning, aerial acts such as silks, hammock, cloudswing, duo straps, and web, and – the traditional closing act – the flying trapeze. This show marks the first time the Sailor Circus will perform the thrilling and dynamic act, the Russian Swing, which will open the show. Creative director Jared Walker notes that “Origins” is a more traditional circus show: while there is a theme, there’s no complicated plot line so that the focus can stay on the students. The show will take audiences from the Big Bang through ancient Greek civilization and the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to the age of dinosaurs, the Paleolithic age of early humans, the golden age of invention, the creative boom of art up through modern music, to a concluding supernova. The program's graduating seniors – Scotti Horowitz, Alex Hume, Kate McCracken, Cora Thayer, Emma Wilson Weber and Anjolie Zerbini, some of whom have studied with SCA for as many as nine years – will be featured in acts including aerial web, slack rope, cloudswing, acrobatic dance, and flying trapeze. Also being featured are two dance trapeze students, Anna Buchmeier and Emmi Tvenstrup, who recently performed at VivaFest 2024 in Las Vegas; the duo, coached by Olga Coronas, won 2nd place as an Aerial Duo in the Emerging Pro category. Tickets for “Origins” are $20-$40 and can be purchased via circusarts.org, by calling the Box Office at 941-355-9805, or secured in person at the Box Office on Bahia Vista Street, adjacent to the Sailor Circus Arena. Box Office hours are 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Pictured: Senior Sailor Circus student Alex with fellow performer Olivia on the flying trapeze. Provided photos/Circus Arts Conservatory.