Christina Campolongo [USA] : Aerial Hoop, Silk
Aerialist and mother of one daughter.
"It’s a big balancing act so that I can perform which makes me feel personally fulfilled and being a good mom who’s around to raise my daughter."
Shows
- Cirque du Soleil "Corteo"
- Cirque du Soleil "La Nouba"
- Circus Knie’s kinder circus
Q1. When was your first experience on the circus stage?
A1. at the age of 6 years old with Circus Knie’s kinder circus.
Q2. What do you enjoy?
A2. I love everything about the stage. The lights, the feelings you get, the ability to take on a personage, the ability to express your emotions through art, the music, the excitement of flying and spinning in the air, the feeling of wind blowing against your face as you fly, the applause, knowing that I’ve affected someone else’s day and taken their mind off of any stresses they were feeling before sitting down into my world, and the smell of popcorn.
Q3. What was the biggest challenge for you?
A3. A few years back I suffered an injury that would really bring tears to my eyes when I would perform. I started worrying that I might have to hang up my wings. I’m super grateful to the talents of the amazing physiotherapist whose therapy helped me to no longer have pain and avoid needing any kind of surgery. Recently I was asked which side it was on and had to think really hard because I have no pain and couldn’t remember. So grateful for the talents of others who helped me through that challenging time.
Q4. What do you want to do if you were not a circus artist?
A4. I never want to be too far from the stage. It’s where I was raised. It’s my dream come true so for that reason I got my degree in Stage Management so that I could continue to help the show go on from behind the scenes when the time comes for me to step aside and give space to the younger generation. Sometimes though I think I would enjoy to be a veterinarian. I love animals and have often thought it would be a job that would also bring me a lot of joy to care for the animals. I also like the idea of being an airline hostess continuing to jet set around the world.
Q5. What is hard for you?
A5. Now that I have a family the circus environment takes more organization then when I was single. As a single artist I could take off whenever and wherever and as long as I was having fun that’s all that matter. Now every job I’m offered I have to consider how long I’ll be away from my family and whether it is both artistically and financially worth that distance from the people I love. It’s a big balancing act so that I can perform which makes me feel personally fulfilled and being a good mom who’s around to raise my daughter.
Q6. How do you overcome difficulties?
A6. I think with any difficulty you have to let it out. Talk about it and get it off your heart. Then take a big breath and start the work to overcome. I find it easier to take difficulties in small bites. Take on what I can and slowly progress until a large difficulty doesn’t seem as big as it did when I first looked at the big picture. Also I often find writing out a plan on how to approach something often helps me. I like lists. I used to even have an excel document with Version A, B, and C of what my life would look like over the next three years.
Q7. What did you learn from the Circus?
A7. The circus taught me about other cultures. I’ve been touring with the circus since I was 6 years old and have had the opportunity to travel on every continent except Antarctica as well as having worked among an international cast and crew my entire life. When you are raised in an environment learning and growing constantly from different cultures you see the world from different view points. I think I’m very lucky to have a much more open cultural mind when dealing with situations and I’m also able to converse in different languages allowing me to think more in world views terms vs just as an American. I’m grateful to be able to transverse those lines.
Thank you Christina!
Official Website : www.campolongodownstage.com