As the St. Louis Arches youth circus troupe wraps up their first week in Puerto Rico, the governor of the island has declared a state of emergency in advance of the oncoming Tropical Storm Beryl. The young circus performers are not too worried, though–the storm is forecast to dissipate quickly before it reaches Puerto Rico, and so far on the island has caused nothing more than a rush at the grocery stores.
After last year’s hurricane, even a small storm could cause great damage to the island’s partially-rebuilt infrastructure. Glorimar Sierra, a coach for the National Circus School of Puerto Rico, and a survivor of Hurricane Maria, explained that the state of emergency is not necessarily because of the strength of the hurricane, but because of the weakness of the island’s infrastructure. “The government says that [there is a state of emergency] because everybody’s worried about the electricity. It’s just too fragile. Even with just rain, we could be without electricity.”
The Circus Harmony students, however, have experienced disaster during their performance tours before–during 2014 when they went to Israel, they were stuck in the Galilee for an extra week because Gaza was bombing Israel, and the airport was shut down. Compared to that, a tropical storm doesn’t seem like much at all, and they remain unfazed.
“In the words of one of the kids’ mothers, well, at least it’s not a war!” coach Jessica Hentoff said. “All she wanted to know is that we have a safe place to go.” The circus group is staying in Ocean Park, a wealthy neighborhood in San Juan, in a house with its own generator in the event of a bad weather event.
In the meantime, they prepare for their touring shows–which will go to the smaller, more rural towns like Vieques that were most hard-hit by Hurricane Maria–and bond with their Puerto Rican teammates. Two different students–Ariana Ruíz and Ricardo Martinez–from the Puerto Rican circus group hope to come study with Circus Harmony in St. Louis. Martinez, who is currently in college, hopes to transfer to an elite circus college. He applied to a few last year, and though he was admitted to one in the United States, was unable to afford to go. Now, he may study with Circus Harmony for some time, then re-apply.
“I think he has a really good shot at some of the better schools,” circus coach Jessica Hentoff said of the young contortionist and acrobat. “He should go to professional school…he’s so serious.”
Though the American kids can see the devastation around them, they are ready to start their performances on Tuesday. “It’s weird,” said Malik Leeks, 13, of Circus Harmony. “Sometimes, when I open up my eyes, I can still see what’s going on, how things haven’t recovered yet. I can still see houses with no roofs, that haven’t recovered yet.” However, they hope to bring some joy with their performances. The show is “a piece of cake!” according to Malik. He, along with his friend Finn McNamee, 13, is most excited about the Charivari: the introductory part of the show, where each performer travels across the stage demonstrating a trick of their choice.
For Leeks and McNamee that trick is tumbling. They will fly across the stage, doing flips and rolls. “Basically, I get to do whatever I want!” McNamee said.