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Circus connection

New England Center for Circus Arts performs at LPCA tonight

Jenna Ciotta of the New England Center for Circus Arts stands on Rachel Rees’ shoulders at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts Tuesday. (Enterprise photo — Griffin Kelly)

LAKE PLACID — With relative ease, Jenna Ciotta hopped on top of Rachel Rees’ shoulders and stood tall. A whole other person putting all her weight on your shoulders sounds straining, but Rees stayed focused and relaxed, showing no signs of exertion. This is a dynamic system of trust the two have been working on lately — Ciotta as the flyer and Rees as the base.

“This was the first year I started really intensive training in partner acrobatics,” said Ciotta, a student and coach at the New England Center for Circus Arts. “I would refer to myself as a reticent flyer. I really didn’t want to relinquish that control. But two of the things that facilitate trust are time and repetition.”

The New England Center for Circus Arts will perform at the Lake Placid Center for the Arts Friday at 8 p.m.

The word “circus” often invokes images of big top tents, animals in costumes jumping through hoops and the ever-popular globe of death — the act where motorcyclists ride around in a caged sphere. That type of circus still exists, but a more emotional and narrative-driven version of it has emerged in recent years. Ciotta said the renowned Cirque du Soleil transformed circus from something that was about animals to human feats of athleticism and acrobatics.

“That, at a time, was considered contemporary circus, but now contemporary circus is usually comprised of smaller casts telling more human stories,” she said. “Now you have this merging of circus arts and theatrics. It’s less about putting on something otherworldly and more about using circus as a way to talk to people and express what it’s like to be human.”

NECCA shows focus more on acrobatics, trapeze work and tandem maneuvers.

“For our show on Friday, I think that people will see the ways in which human connection makes extraordinary feats achievable,” Ciotta said.

She got involved with circus arts after she graduated college and moved into a new place that happened to be across the street from a pole-dancing studio.

“I thought that sounded more fun than a gym membership,” she said. “So that was kind of like a gateway to circus and aerial arts.”

Ciotta considers life as a circus performer and coach an odd adult existence, but she said, like most jobs, the circus has a fair amount of routine.

“I think when people hear circus performer, there’s a certain amount of wonderment attached to it,” she said. “When people are like, ‘Wow, I work in an office all day. I don’t get to do any of that,’ what’s missed is this sort of drudgery in our day-to-day work. It’s a lot of crunches and push-ups. There are a lot of routines and menial tasks that go into being a circus performer, too.”

Despite all the physical strain that comes with the job, Ciotta said those feelings disappear for a performance.

“It’s amazing how the lights will come on and your body will just not deal with the fatigue until the curtains come down. Then it hits you,” she said. “But there’s a real distinction between a rehearsal and a performance. During a performance, there’s an energy from the audience that feeds you, and there’s adrenaline you get because the stakes are so much higher.”

Ciotta said it’s difficult to imagine herself in an office job.

“It’d be hard to have a lifestyle that required that much sitting and was that sedentary,” she said. “And I don’t think the level of expertise in movement is important at all, but it’s fascinating to look at that divide between people who spend most of their days sitting and those who have bodies that crave so much movement.”

If you go …

What: New England Center for Circus Arts

Where: Lake Placid Center for the Arts, 17 Algonquin Drive, Lake Placid

When: Friday at 8 p.m.

How much: $15

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