Cascades of Time

Reflections on the passing of Mike Wright, teacher, guide, aerial dancer.

Image from: Once Upon a Time – Agnieszka Blonska

I was sad to hear that my foundational aerial tutor, Michael Wright, died on 21^st April. True to form, he had just finished teaching an aerial class, went home, and later died at the age of 76. (The Stage)

I last met Mike at the Gulbenkian Theatre, Canterbury, in 2014. It was winter, October perhaps, so almost a decade ago. I witnessed him performing in Once Upon A Time and it was thrilling to see him back on a trapeze, elegant and dancerly as ever, swinging above a stage that held the beginnings of my own performance career. We never spoke again, though I enjoyed that last hug of recognition and the grainy selfie we took that has now disappeared into the mysterious cybervault.

I created my first circus show just across the way in the Lumley Building two decades earlier. My final degree piece, The Return of the Floating Circus of Fragile Dreams, with its title stolen from a newspaper headline, the original writer of which has fallen back into time, was abstract, absurd, political, multi-media. A novice stilt-walker loped around the edges of the audience, uncomfortable and unhappy at his task; a couple of enthusiastic acrobatic clowns, performed their piece forwards then in reverse, for a reason I can’t now recall; and Steve and I suspended from a homemade trapeze. I certainly wouldn’t recommend the process, but it was 30 years ago; there was no Firetoys to purchase ready-made circus props from, no eBay for second hand options either. I had at least been on one a few months earlier and decided confidently to cobble something together for the show. Then two of us suspend from it! A broom-handle suspended by some strong-looking twine, hanging from the delicate lighting rig, and voila! A trapeze was born! How curious, twenty-one years later to witness my circus aerial tutor swinging gloriously from a more suitable bar in the theatre next door.

It was 30 years ago in 1994 when I met Mike. Steve and I joined Zippo’s Academy of Circus Arts (ZACA) to train intensively in various disciplines, and live with the circus touring in a wagon, living the circus life. We had planned to complete the 6-month course and return to Whitstable to run our fledgling business, the Kent Circus School, but no soon as I swung on a cloudswing, guided by Mike, I didn’t want to leave. Within a few months I was swinging with confidence. I still remember swinging without a lunge for the first time; Mike could no longer catch me if I fell, but he stood to the side of the circus ring, watching carefully and encouragingly, letting me know it was absolutely time for me to fly solo. His guidance up to that moment, and his faith in me after, were priceless. I carry so many of the traits he used on me and my fellow trainees to pass on to my students. His literal teaching days may now be over, but his legacy continues to live on through all of us who were taught by him, and those that we now teach.

It’s been wonderful reading the diverse commentaries on Mike’s achievements and passions. Social media comes into its own when celebrating a life well lived. His funeral promises to be a wild, colourful, and celebratory affair, and I am sure there will be many there to charivari him to his earthly rest. To those who can’t attend in person, here is an online link to view the service. 

Thank you Mike for giving me a great start to my aerial career. Rest well. Fly high.