Taking the Road Less Traveled

OK, so Carolyn Mitchell admits that, at least for the moment, she’s taking the road less traveled, but why not? Her current gig as a trapeze artist and instructor for the Club Med affiliate in Port St. Lucie, FL, is an intensely fulfilling, unparalleled, thrill-a-minute learning experience. It satisfies her wanderlust. It’s a dream-come-true. And, hey, en route to the real world, she knows she’ll never pass this way again.

 

“I’m not really sure what I want to do yet,” said the 2012 Collegiate graduate as she addressed her long-term plans during a visit to her alma mater.  “That’s why I’m doing this. I figure I’ve got my whole life to work in an office. Right now, my office is a trapeze rig in sunny Florida, and I’m having the adventure of a lifetime.”

 

This trapeze-artist thing isn’t just a passing whim. Carolyn actually took her first turn on the apparatus when she was six years old during a family vacation to the very resort where she now earns her living.

 

The experience piqued her interest.

 

During her Collegiate years, she participated a bit in sports but involved herself more deeply in theater and dance. Then, when she was 17, she vacationed at the Club Med in Cancún, Mexico, and tried the trapeze once again.

 

“That’s when I thought this was something that I might like to do,” she said.

 

For her three-week senior project, she interned at the Washington, D.C. branch of the Trapeze School New York. At UVA, she trained and performed with an organization called Virginia Circus.

 

Late last spring, she secured the Club Med opportunity and reported for work the Monday after her Saturday graduation. Her job title is circus G.O, Club Med terminology for gentil organizateur, which, translated, means friendly organizer.

 

Her days usually begin around 8:30 a.m. and often don’t end until midnight.  During that time, she trains with her aerial team, instructs guests on the trapeze just as she was instructed years ago, and performs in circus and sometimes comedy shows.

 

“I love performing and teaching,” she said. “You have to have the energy of a young person to sustain hours like this, but it’s absolutely a labor of love.”

 

Though there’s always a net below, executing routines on a trapeze as high as 32 feet above the ground isn’t for the faint of heart. Safety lines secure the guests, her students, at all times, but she and her colleagues perform their acts using only their skill, strength, nerve, and mettle.

 

“It requires a lot of arms and abs,” she said. “Dancers, divers, and gymnasts are often good at it right out of the gate because it has to do with your aerial awareness. It’s a sport, but it’s also an art. It’s athletic and aesthetic. Having pretty lines, keeping your legs straight and your toes pointed, having style in the air, and having stage presence help you be a good performer in circus.”

Is there any one moment during your time at Club Med that stands out? I asked her.

 

“The first time I did the catch and return was in the show,” she said. “That’s where you do your trick, go to the catcher, go back to the bar, then back up to the board. (In practice) I just couldn’t get the final piece.  My coach (Billy Havik) has been doing this for 17 years. He knows that the show lights the fire under you. I was terrified, I was shaking, but it’s the most proud I’ve been of something I’ve done.”

 

So there’s a fear factor? I asked.

 

“There’s a huge fear factor,” she said, “but there’s an adrenaline rush. I like setting goals and achieving them. There’re new tricks to learn and always something to work toward. There’s never an end. I can learn infinitely. That’s one of my favorite things.”

 

When her current tour of duty ends, Carolyn will move to one of the 70 other Club Med resorts at, she hopes, some exotic location.

 

After that?

 

“I have no idea,” she said. “I’m not in a hurry. It’s fun because I always had a plan. Now I have a no-plan plan. It’s quite an adventure not knowing where in the world you’ll be next.”

     -- Weldon Bradshaw