2012 was the year I first realized that ring juggling should not just remain a fun hobby for me, but that I wanted to spend my life doing contemporary circus.
At the time, I was at university, wanted to become an English teacher, and already had a very supportive sports professor who gave me access to the gym every day so I could train there. At the beginning of the semester, I looked at the gym schedule and chose my seminars so that they wouldn’t clash with my training time. I spent almost every weekend at juggling festivals in Germany and Austria, primarily to train and see shows.At one of these festivals, I met a juggler from France who invited me to visit him at the circus school in Lille. He was so impressed with my skills that he wanted to get me excited about the school.
I ended up spending a full week at the circus school, participating in a workshop. A week that changed my life. The moment when it “clicked” will probably stay with me forever. An improvisation to music. Me, alone on stage, to a song I had chosen previously. Just before I started, the workshop teacher whispered in my ear: “Focus on the fact that you exist. What do you want to share with us?”So I put all my emotions, all my love into my juggling and movement. I felt it, made myself vulnerable, was simply myself instead of trying to please others.The feedback on the improv: “Je m'en fou de ta technique, mais tu m'as touché au fond.” “I don't care about your technique, but you touched me deep inside.”
Those five minutes are the reason why I now create my own pieces and perform on stage, with passion and from the bottom of my heart. A circus school was out of the question for several reasons, so I moved to Berlin in 2015, a few days after my last university exam. Since then, I have attended numerous workshops, mostly about things I'm not good at. I make sure I have to step out of my comfort zone in order to grow.
My love for British studies, cultural studies, literature, and languages ultimately proved its worth, because since 2019 I have written my own texts and became involved in story telling and the spoken word scene.
That's how I ended up creating I Was Told during the pandemic.There are many people who supported me along the way, who believed in me even when I had doubts or there were difficult moments. However, thinking about this key moment still reminds me of what I love about this profession and why I perform.
