VERO BEACH — A gymnasium full of spectators hardly knew where to look as approximately 50 aerial performers, gymnasts, and dancers delivered the grand finale on Thursday’s opening night of the 2014 Aerial Antics Youth Circus at St. Edwards Academy.
Twelve young girls and women swung, flipped, and spun several feet in the air on trapezes, silks, ropes, and globes while dozens of other gymnasts put on a thrilling routine beneath them.
Several gasps were heard from the audience when two small girls were used as human jump ropes for full grown men; then again when a young woman tumbled toward the ground wrapped in a dangling silk only to catch herself inches before hitting the mat beneath her.
It was a night full of jaw-dropping acrobatics as performed by some of the best local talent ages 2 to 30. But anyone who plans to attend the show on Friday or Saturday evening, should be prepared to observe with heart-in-throat.
“It scares me, it really does,” said Edmund Nalzaro, father to 12-year-old Micah Nalzaro who spent part of his performance balanced by the back of his neck on a small strap, spinning high above the ground. “He is fearless, he’s always been like that.”
“The aerial, the dancing, and the tumbling, I love it all,” Micah Nalzaro said. “It’s where I belong.”
Nalzaro attended Vero Beach’s Aerial Antics summer camp three years ago when the coaches quickly recognized him as a gymnast with incredible potential.
One day, Nalzaro hopes to perform with world-renowned acrobatics team Cirque du Soleil. But until then, he is trying to spread his stage presence to Broadway as he just returned from New York City after auditioning for the musical, “The King and I.”
Performing alongside Nalzaro and his team of “Spotlights” were sisters Amber Atwell (23) and Ashton Atwell (21) of the Performing Arts Company.
The Atwells also attended summer camp more than 10 years ago when they moved to Vero Beach from Indiana. Not only did the girls fall in love with gymnastics, but they fell in love with their new found “family” in the Performing Arts Department.
Practicing two to three times per week for months leading up to the show, the sisters agree its their teammates and coaches who have kept them in the sport for more than a decade.
“We’re all family here,” said one of the Atwells’ teammates, 21-year-old Dana Gibbons. “We make it all fun; it’s like home to us.”
Of course, when practicing and performing aerial routines, there is always the risk of falling.
“I face planted in a show once. But you just have to get up and keep on going,” Amber Atwell said.
So far, in his short career, Nalzaro said he has hit the ground only once.
“I just got up and climbed back up as quickly as I could,” Nalzaro said. “It’s a little scary, but I just do it.”
Gibbons and the Atwell sisters all said they would continue in Aerial Antics for as long as their bodies would allow them.
With his eye on Cirque du Soleil, it is not likely Nalzaro will slow down any time soon.
In the meantime, his parents will keep watching from the stands, as his father said, “with hearts beating fast.”
The 40th annual Aerial Antics Youth Circus will continue with more performances from 7-8:30 on Friday and Saturday evenings.
Tickets cost $7 for adults and $6 for children under 12 and seniors. Seats fill up quickly and spectators are encouraged to arrive early.
