Saturday, October 16 – Sunday, October 17, 2004
I started as a bottle girl in the Circus of Horrors JEN CLARKE STILT-WALKER AND ANGLE-GRINDER I come from a farming family in Hurst Green, a tiny village near Bodiam, East Sussex. I enjoyed it as a child. There was plenty to do – running in the woods, chasing cows, making mud pies with my brother – but I’d had enough by the time I was a teenager. The farm was very remote and it wasn’t my calling in life. I wanted to be a PE teacher because I enjoyed physical activity at school. I was captain of the hockey team, playing for Sussex, and I loved netball too. I wasn’t hugely ambitious and my A-level results for other subjects led me towards sport. I qualified as a sports therapist when I was 17 and moved to Brighton to be a fitness instructor. I enjoyed working there for a couple of years. When I was 20, I decided to join the circus. An ex-boyfriend told me he’d seen a newspaper advert asking for a bottle girl to perform with the Circus of Horrors, based in Stockton-on-Tees. I needed a way out, to do something more creative, so I sent a photo of myself as a human puppet and stilt-walker. There wasn’t an audition. I was offered the job straight away. My family thought it was a traditional Jenny thing: “Oh look, she’s moved to Brighton and now she’s joining the circus.” Although they’d prefer it if I concentrated on my fitness training and was a bit more nine-to-five, they accept what I do – they know I’ll do it anyway. I had less than a month to pack up and leave. The circus job was for six months and my boyfriend at the time, Simeon, agreed to keep on our flat in Brighton. I was scared about making the transition from stilt-walking occasionally in clubs to performing in a circus. I knew there would be some great athletes there. A week before the job started, I injured my back. I was performing amateur acrobatics with Simeon and I fell backwards from his shoulders and was taken to hospital. The experience was terrifying, I was almost paralysed. I told the circus what had happened and they said to come anyway. I was limping when I arrived – I was lucky to be walking at all. I wasn’t in top form, I felt insecure and untalented. I felt that some people didn’t want me there, thought I wasn’t good enough at my job because of the injury. The experience was harsh. I couldn’t get into the bottle without causing pain to my lower back. I used to sneak in at night and try to do it. The circus kept me on for a couple of months – as a dancer and stripping nun – but I was sent home after that. It was very upsetting when I had to leave. I went back to Brighton determined to make a living out of performance. If it hadn’t been for my accident, I wouldn’t be as focused as I am now. I learned fire-dancing and angle-grinding from Simeon. A guy called Greg Blackhorse taught me stilt-walking. I practise a couple of times a week. I like stilt-walking best, as I get to wear nice outfits, while angle-grinding has the biggest “wow” factor. Angle-grinding is the most dangerous act. If the metal angle-grinding disc shattered, that would be my face gone. My current boyfriend, Paul, doesn’t like me doing it – he can’t bring himself to look. He shows his concern but doesn’t try to discourage me. I mainly perform on my own and with Simeon (aka Pyrosym). It’s fine working with my ex-boyfriend, we’re like brother and sister. I also work with John and Helen from Flamingfun.com, who do shows with fire and UV light. There can be four to five of us with Poi – the fire sticks you see hippies on the beach using – but it’s more choreographed and we wear glittery outfits. We work outside venues, attracting people to come in. Paul doesn’t mind me performing with my ex – but he jokes that he’s not keen on men looking at me when I’m wearing skimpy costumes. It’s not a major issue, though. He met me when I was doing it and I’m not going to stop. My stilt-walking trousers have to be specially made, which can be expensive. My favourite outfit is a fetish Medusa on stilts, which looks amazing. People tend to react positively to it. Women seem to be a lot more forward and touchy-feely than men and can push when I’m on stilts. It takes me up to an hour to get ready for a performance. I’m sure I could spend ages over it but there’s only so much time. The best place I’ve performed was in God’s Kitchen at the Telewest Arena, in front of 40,000 people. It was challenging to stay awake for my 4am slot. I’ve also performed in most of Brighton’s clubs. The high point of my career was being in OK magazine after appearing as a body-painted model and dancer at a celebrity party for Cirque du Soleil. Ruby Wax, Vanessa Feltz, Chris Eubank and other TV celebs were there. The performers were the naked ones and the celebs were well-behaved. If people want to get into performance, they just have to do it. Anyone can learn the acts. Buy your stilts, buy your grinder and practise.
interview: Jo Chipchase picture: Simon Dack
it’s my life
Weekend 3 100119