Performing's a juggling act | Northland News | Local News in Northland

When Whangarei circus performer Emma Phillips told her parents she wanted to become a contortionist, they told her it wasn't healthy.

But New Zealand's only foot juggler followed her dream, spent two years at Circus School in Christchurch, and has returned to Whangarei to perform with Circus Aotearoa on Riverside Drive.

The circus had been operating as Whirling Brothers Circus for 40 years until two years ago when co-owner Damian Gordon purchased it and renamed it Aotearoa. It was the country's only New Zealand-owned circus, was "full of Kiwi quirkiness" and didn't include animals, he said.

Mr Gordon first saw Ms Phillips perform at the 2008 Kumarani Circus Festival in Dargaville, and then later during her graduation performance.

"She's a natural performer, bright and cheerful, and her production values are high," he said.

Ms Phillips, 20, was offered a place with Circus Aotearoa and has travelled to 10 towns since the start of the tour in January.

She said she decided to become a circus performer after attending Cirque Du Soleil in Auckland when she was 15.

"I didn't blink the whole time - I thought this is me, this is what I want to be doing."

After the show Ms Phillips spotted an advertisement in the Women's Weekly about Christchurch Polytechnic's CircoArts course.

"I didn't want to follow the crowd and go to university and my parents respected that."

In the second year of her two-year diploma, Ms Phillips specialised in aerial hoop and foot juggling. She was trained by a Russian legend named Stanislav who had starred in the world famous Moscow Circus.

"He got me doing hours and hours of really simple stuff. I spent two months playing with a swiss ball to get the exact balance.

"I had to get my brain to focus on my feet and both hands, while throwing and catching. It was very repetitive and involved lots of small movements - but it paid off."

The former Whangarei Girls' High School student said she was always "that girl who ran away to the circus".

"People were confused and thought I'd be a clown. Since I've been back I told my teachers 'I did it' - they were so impressed.

"Whangarei has lots of time for sports people, but if you're in the arts you don't get the same recognition."

Ms Phillips said she had proven it was possible to leave Whangarei and do something "other than sports or uni".

She loved the carefree lifestyle and had become close to the nine other permanent performers who were "like family".

After touring with Circus Aotearoa, Ms Phillips plans to attend Beijing's International Art School to specialise in foot juggling for four months.

"It's an ancient Chinese tradition - where better to learn it?"

The flexible Northlander then hoped to perform on a cruise ship.

Circus Aotearoa is performing at Whangarei's William Fraser Memorial Park on Riverside Drive from Thursday to Saturday  at 7.30pm, with afternoon performances on Saturday and Sunday at 2pm.