By Sue Wambolt, Contributing Writer
Southborough – For Sue LoVerso, 48, a 2008 trip to the Trapeze School New York (TSNY) with Girl Scout Troop 72766 sparked an addiction to aerial acrobatics.
“I participated with the girls and was completely hooked by the time I left class,” said LoVerso. “I went back a month later and it has been a part of my life ever since.”
LoVerso takes flying trapeze lessons at TSNY which is located in the lobby of the Jordan's Furniture store in Reading. She also attends Simply Circus in Newton to practice other circus stunts. Combined, she typically practices four to six hours a week.
A software engineer by day, LoVerso considers aerials a fitness hobby – building strength, balance, flexibility and spatial awareness. Performing on the flying trapeze is more than an exercise class, though, she said.
“The circus aerials such as lyra (a type of hoop suspended from the ceiling) make me feel strong because the movements are done slowly.?Flying trapeze takes me away from everything in my life because all my focus must be in the moment on what I am doing,” she said. “It is a release and a form of therapy.?When I am up on the edge of the platform with the bar in my hand ready to jump off, I cannot be thinking about anything else.?Any worries or stress in my life disappears because I have to be completely in the moment and aware of what I am doing and where my body is in space.”
While LoVerso has enjoyed the challenge of aerial acrobatics, she says that it can be difficult to make the mind-body connection.
“The instructors will tell me what I am doing wrong, and show me on the recording used in class, (and I will understand what I have to do), but then it is a struggle to make the body actually do it!? Timing and patience are very important in flying trapeze.?Being patient and letting a trick happen rather than trying to force it can be hard for me.?Probably the thing I work on the most is not over-thinking or over-analyzing what I’m trying to do,” she said.
Following the 8 to 10 week flying trapeze sessions there is a student show – the only “performing” that LoVerso has done. The show allows LoVerso to showcase her favorite trick and the one which comes most naturally to her, a split. Swinging on the trapeze without safety lines, she said, is also a favorite.
LoVerso's love of circus aerials has rubbed off on her children and has turned them into a circus loving family.
“My teenage daughter takes classes at both schools with me,” she said. “My son, now in college, trained in aerials when he was in high school.?Both have performed with Simply Circus at Boston's First Night celebration and have done stilt walking in the First Night Parade.?My husband comes to everything, with his camera, to cheer us on at all our flying trapeze shows.”
While life can be a balancing act for LoVerso, she will jump through hoops, she said, to keep performing.
“My biggest goal is to be able to do this for a very long time.?At my age, that means I have to stay healthy and avoid injury.?I do a lot of conditioning, particularly for the shoulders and the core, to stay strong,” she said.
For more information on Trapeze School New York visit www.boston.trapezeschool.com.
For more information on Simply Circus visit www.simplycircus.com.
Photos/Sue LoVerso