VERO BEACH — The Waxlax Center of St. Edward’s School was brimming with spectators who watched with bated breath as the young performers flirted with gravity, high above the floor, suspended only by loops of fabric or rope during the 38th Annual Aerial Antics Circus.
Throughout the not-quite-2-hour event, moms, dads, siblings and friends cheered on the performers who danced and tumbled to the tunes of The Jackson 5, as well as to Michael and Janet Jackson.
Some in attendance didn’t know anyone in the show but wanted to check out the performance just the same.
“We’ve heard some really good things about it,” said Kay Farmer of the Aerial Antics. “So, we decided to bring her.”
“Her” was nearly-8-year-old Emma, who said she wasn’t sure if Aerial Antics was something she wanted to do.
“It was excellent,” said spectator Anita Gilbert, who came to watch Addison Rich.
“Very good,” agreed her friend, Janis Hansen, who was there to support Nicole Charest.
Nine-year-old Sara said she enjoyed the show and that she’d like to participate next year.
“It was cool,” she said.
Hansen said Sara has participated in gymnastics in Sebastian – so it’s possible they might enroll in the Vero Beach Recreation Center’s program next summer. Sara nodded her head adamantly in response.
Often throughout Saturday night’s final performance, spectators could be heard gasping as the older participants dropped seemingly perilously from near the ceiling, wrapped in loops of cloth like Cirque du Soleil performers.
“Those girls are strong,” one spectator was overheard saying, referring to Lauren Nichelson and Ashton Atwell, who performed “Earth” – the third of 19 pieces of the night.
Saturday night, much like Friday, was a packed house, according to Recreation Director Rob Slezak, who asked the crowd to scoot over as far as possible to make room for those still arriving.
“We’re a full house,” he said. “This is a first.”
Performances included more than 200 youth, ranging in age from a few years old with the AcroTots to the more mature teens in the Performing Arts Company. They spent their summer in different camps learning acrobatic and gymnastic skills and pulled together for the annual show.
While the night was about the performers, Slezak took time to acknowledge some key volunteers and staff members, providing them with certificates of appreciation.
Those he recognized included Olivia Richard, who was named “Outstanding Camper” and was selected by the camp staff, and two teen volunteers who put in countless hours over the summer – Justin Kendrick and Jennifer Kramer.
“They’re outstanding volunteers,” Slezak said. “They worked hard all summer.”
Slezak also recognized three staff members who will be leaving at the end of summer to go off to college.
“They’ve made a difference in a lot of people’s lives,” Slezak said, noting that one staffer has been with the program for 11 years, the other two for eight.
The three he named were Ashton and Amber Atwell and Dana Gibbons, who all performed Saturday night in various pieces.
No tribute to The Jackson 5 or to Michael Jackson himself would have been complete without a performance of “Thriller,” which served as the finale. The Performing Arts Company dressed as zombies took to the floor and air performing dance and tumbling routines.
They formed stackable human chairs, human rings that other performers leapt through, and a spectacle that left the audience in awe.
By the end, the audience was on its feet cheering and applauding the performers and rushing to give their own special performer hugs, kisses – and for some, bouquets of flowers.