Julian Arnheim, 11, of Clarksville, juggles during circus camp.
A group of elementary school students tosses rainbow-colored scarves into the air. Others spin plates on poles for a few seconds at a time before lunging to catch them. And across the gym, a giggly line forms near the balance beam. The noise level surges as instructions from multiple coaches bounce off the cinderblock walls.
If you looked around and thought, “It’s a circus in here,” you’d be right.
This is where kids become masters of clowning around.
Michael Rosman presides over the happy chaos, which this particular week fills the gym of an elementary school in Columbia. Rosman takes his weeklong summer “circus camp” to 11 sites across the Baltimore-D.C. region including the Community College of Baltimore County, McDonogh School in Owings Mills, and Howard County’s Department of Recreation & Parks.
“Are you better at something than when you woke up this morning?” shouts Rosman, a graduate of the prestigious Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus Clown College. “Who’s responsible for that? If you’re pointing to a coach, you should be pointing at yourself.”
Rosman then whispers as an aside, “Now, I’m going to spend the rest of the week trying to take the credit.”
Just a little clown humor.
Grace Hendricks, center, 10, of Ellicott City, holds the hand of camp counselor Barbara Shiffer, 15, of Columbia, while she practices walking on stilts during circus camp at Clemens Crossing Elementary School in Columbia.
The twirling, juggling and stilt-walking continues. “Give me some knuckles. You did great,” Rosman says to a boy with a mop of brown hair as he dismounts from stilts, a surprisingly strenuous and difficult exercise.
In an age when summer camp descriptions sound more like a college class catalog offering everything from baseball to engineering, circus camp is a standout.
“Where else can you learn to unicycle, walk a tightrope or learn the fine art of being silly?” says Trudi Wynne of Clarksville, whose daughters Amber, 12, and Heather, 10, have attended camp for three years. “It’s an interesting mix of fun.”
The skills require coordination, concentration, balance, and most of all, perseverance.
“It’s really fun and they’re learning something really hard,” says Rosman. “They’re so proud at the end. We teach that if you work hard, you will get better.”
And while the camp is physically demanding, Rosman says, “It’s not competitive.”
The combination is attractive to both parents and kids.
Initially, Wynne’s daughters were skeptical — OK, horrified — about going to circus camp. But after the first day, they were won over, Wynne says. “They said, ‘Mom, this is great!’”
On this particular day, campers ages 7 to 15 are circulating through four main areas: plate spinning, juggling, walking a tight wire and stilts. At some point during the week, circus campers perform on the rolling globe, balancing on top of a large sphere and on a rollo bollo, a circus balancing board. They also work on the theatrics of clowning, learn to unicycle and perform with aerial fabric and a Chinese diabolo, which is kind of like a juggling yoyo. Rosman has assistant coaches (most are professional performers) in each area.
At the end of the week, the campers perform their new tricks for parents and friends.
“I always leave doing things I couldn’t do when I started,” says Sara Sheinker, a fourth-grader at Clarksville Elementary School who has attended circus camps for two years.
Amber Wynne, a seventh-grader at Clarksville Middle School, has been to circus camp for three years. She also does a week of sports camp. But, she says, “I like this better.
“You get to be free with what you do,” Amber says.
She also enjoys Rosman. “He’s funny — very entertaining.”
Rosman, in fact, is an entertainer. He’s been on both “The Late Show with David Letterman” and “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” He performs at corporate events, private parties and fundraisers and, frequently, on his 9-foot unicycle in the Inner Harbor. Rosman also performs his “Squire of the Wire” act at the Maryland Renaissance Festival.
Rosman also has performed on more than 25 cruise ships and in numerous circuses including Clyde Beatty-Cole Brothers and various “Cirque” style shows.
The 45-year-old father of two from Reisterstown started the camp in 2005. People were always asking him where they could learn circus skills. And his own kids — now 12 and 14 — were having so much fun learning at home.
Grace Giammalvo, left, 8, and Emma Bohse, right, 8, both of Columbia, work on their plate spinning with help from professional circus artist Tom Dougherty, center,
“I knew it would be even way more fun for them if they had other kids to do it with,” Rosman says.
And so, circus camp was born. Since then, the camp has expanded to 20 sessions that fill quickly — in part because of repeat business.
Erica Byrne’s 9-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter went to circus camp for the first time last year. But they plan to attend camp again this summer.
“They loved it,” says the Ellicott City mom, who has had trouble finding camps that accommodate both ages and appeal to them both. “It was something different.”
And while the kids weren’t ever hard-core circus fanatics, Byrne says they were fans of the London Broil Jugglers at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. When the kids saw one of the troupe members was a camp instructor, Byrne says they were a little “star struck.”
“All the teachers were very good,” says Byrne. “There are enough instructors so that the kids all get a lot of attention.”
Byrne’s son particularly enjoyed playing with the diabolo.
Both of them enjoyed performing in the show at the week’s end. “The kids were all clearly having a good time,” says Byrne, adding that’s reason enough to return this summer.
There’s always some new trick or twist — a slight (or not so slight) variation to a circus skill, says Rosman. Once you’ve mastered juggling three bean balls, you add a fourth. Or you do it with your eyes closed.
“It never gets boring,” says Rosman. “We mix up what they’re doing. The more they get, the more we can challenge them.”
The campers are also taught that when they make a mistake, they should make it part of the fun. If you drop your bags during a juggling act, you let them fall and take a bow. If you miss a catch, you smile and chase another clown. It’s fine to fail, but campers learn to do it with some flourish.
Keeping a sense of humor. Not giving up. Practicing over and over again. These are lasting, important lessons, says Rosman: “It’s how you learn everything in life.”
Plus, Rosman says with a chuckle, “They’ll always know how to juggle.”
More info:
Cost ranges
$230 to $275
Registration procedures vary by location
Click here for a searchable listing of area camps.
Photos by Jen Rynda