April 9th, 2013:

Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,

Blog post by Felicia:

Children grow up incredibly quickly, so Rob and I make it a point to spend time with our nieces for their birthdays, sharing an experience instead of giving a physical gift. This year was no exception when we celebrated Madalyn’s 11th birthday.

Madalyn is quite the little gymnast, competing even in the Nationals for the past few years, so we’ve taken her to a couple of Cirque du Soleil shows, which she enjoyed immensely. This year, we decided to give her the REAL Cirque experience, and signed her up for a private Aerial Silks / Trapeze class at Cirque School Los Angeles, where Cirque du Soleil alumni and other professionals teach classes.

We had the entire space to ourselves, and Uncle Robbie joined Madalyn as the wonderful instructor Lauren put them through their paces. When she looked at Rob, who was unglamorously contorting himself like a trapped manatee, then at Madalyn who lithely twirled and spun, she said matter-of-factly, “You’re gonna hurt tomorrow. Her? Not so much,”

I laughed and was not-so-secretly glad that I volunteered to photograph this endeavor instead.

(And Lauren was right. Rob was hurting everywhere the next day. He said even his groin was tired.)

Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,To be fair, I think Rob did pretty good. But he should keep his day job and not run away to join the circus.
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,Thankfully, despite the physical exertions, Madalyn was completely stoked and declared the experience to be “even better than watching Cirque du Soleil!!”. She’s now been asking repeatedly if she can take weekly classes here. Wow….
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,
Cirque, de, soleil, school, Hollywood, California, los, angeles, circus, training, acrobats, fitness, trapeze, silks, aerialist,

Happy birthday, Madalyn! We love you so much!