Juggling new skills at circus camp

BY LAUREL MYERS

One Sudbury girl has dreams of running away to the circus.

But not the type of circus that involves lions jumping through flaming hoops, elephants balancing on balls or a troupe of clowns piling out of a miniature car. Melissa Murdoch has her dreams set on the type of circus that exudes acrobatic excellence and physical prowess. A circus like Cirque du Soleil.

For the avid dancer and gymnast, the dream came one step closer to reality after spending a week of her summer holidays at the National Circus School in Montreal.

The prestigious school opened its doors in November 2003 and has been inviting youths, aged 13-17, to participate in their professional training camps ever since. Two years ago, a program for kids aged 9-12 was launched.
Much to Melissa's extreme elation, she just made the cut this year.

The nine-year-old was one of 32 kids selected from more than 130 applicants across Canada and the United States to attend the camp. She was the only one from northern Ontario and among the youngest participants as well.

"I love gymnastics and I thought it would be a great opportunity... to have fun," Melissa said.

It was a stringent application process to go through to get into the camp. The detailed application included information on her technical abilities, along with photos of her performing specific feats and disciplines.

But apparently the effort was all worth the while.

She was exposed to a number of different aspects of the circus. Melissa focused on the power track (a long trampoline used for tumbling), and aerial tissue acrobatics (which is performed using two ribbons suspended from above). She even learned how to juggle.

"Power track was one of my favourites because in gymnastics we do tumbling and I learned new things," she said. " I think that's one of the things I'm going to keep up."

There is a facility in Sudbury with a power track for her to practice at, but she had other ideas about the aerial tissue. "Maybe I can get a tissue in the back yard," she said with a hopeful grin directed at her mom. "I think that's a good idea."

Intense workouts and flexibility training at the camp left the youngster with aching muscles, a scratched knee and some rope burns from the silks.

"We had to do all these things that made you really hurt, not fun," she admitted. But overall the circus training camp was "the best time of my life."

Melissa's mother, Barb McDougall-Murdoch had a chance to observe what her daughter had learned over the week in a special show held on the last day of the camp.

"It was neat to see her do things that she hadn't done or learned before," the mom said. "To see her achievements and progress was really exciting. It was nice to see such camaraderie between the group of kids that were there and the coaches, who are amazing experts in their own respected fields."

At a pause in the interview with Northern Life, the young gymnast casually bent her leg up above her hip to rest her arm on it, before leaning into a silky, smooth back bridge, rounding like a wind mill and returning to her feet - a transition packing total muscle control.

"Whenever we're at home, she's constantly doing cartwheels and splits," McDougall-Murdoch said.

The movements have obviously become second nature to Melissa. With a certain nonchalance, she twisted herself into poses for the camera, impossible for the vast majority of people and what most would consider contortionism. All the while, a beaming smile radiated from her face, despite the obvious strain she was putting on her muscles.

After three years in the sport, the young Saltos gymnast recently delved into the world of competitive gymnastics and has already made it known to the her competitors that her sweet, innocent smile comes with a competitive drive and fierce determination.

At her most recent regional gymnastics competition, held in North Bay, Melissa came in first in her flight, nabbing the top spot in the floor, beam, bars and vault categories. "That was the best day of my life," she said.

The circus hopeful said she thinks gymnastics will be a part of her life for a long time. "I actually want to be a gymnastics coach when I grow up," she said, adding the circus was a dream as well. "All of the things I've learned, I think I could redo all of those and I love performing, so it would just be easy for me."

As for next year's camp, Melissa said she's going to fill out the application as soon as possible.

"I'll be the first one to send it in," she said.