Stories of Impact

Some of our favorite things at Cirque have started with a question we probably ask a little too often: “Could we just figure out how to do that ourselves?” Spotlight Studio is the latest result. It started because we wanted better photos of our athletes. Not just the perfectly posed, everyone-look-at-the-camera kind. We wanted the moments that actually feel like them. The split second at the top of a drop. The expression they make when they know they nailed something. The cos

There are two ways to measure a season. The first is easy. Count the medals. Add up the titles. Celebrate the podium finishes and the highlight reels. Those moments matter, and this team has certainly earned its share of them. The second way is harder to measure. It's found in the athlete who finally attempts the skill they've been afraid of for months. It's the older teammate who quietly celebrates a younger athlete's success as if it were their own. It's the family that arr

Little Ms Katie, preparing for her performance debut to "Good Ship Lollipop" This month's story of impact isn't about a competition, a performance, or a community event. It's about me. Over the past month, I've spent a lot of time reflecting on the kind of coach I want to be. Coaching high-level athletes is one of the greatest privileges of my life, but it comes with an unexpected challenge that I never saw coming. Excellence quietly becomes normal. The first time an athlete

When people walk into one of our productions, they see the finished product. They see castles, villages, forests, and entire worlds built inside a gymnasium. What they don't always see is the work that happens before the curtain rises. For Belle, every backdrop began as a sketch. I spent weeks drawing the village both on a computer and onto the flats, the castles, and the details in the village that would eventually transform our gym into a storybook world. The vision was the