Meet Anne Arellano

Today we’d like to introduce you to Anne Arellano.

Anne, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I began circus arts when I was 9 years old. I started at a recreational aerial studio and was quickly captivated by the trapezes, sense of teamwork, and creativity that circus had to offer. When I was 12, I auditioned for a youth circus company in Culver City, Le Petit Cirque. After I auditioned and was accepted, I looked forward to pursuing circus from a professional standpoint. I quickly began intense training in aerial arts, acrobatics, and contortion. And I was even prepared for my first international show in Montreal in 2015. Every hour I wasn’t at school or doing homework, I was either in my living room doing handstands or in the studio training. I gravitated most to contortion and handstand training, while also booking aerial and acrobatic acts. Needless to say, training to be very physically fit leads to a great show.

Later, I performed at a Dubai festival, for the Dalai Lama, and at the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Concert. While all of these shows took me to new corners of the world and offered an extremely unique experience for a young person, what made these experiences worthwhile was doing it all with my amazing team. Circus arts are bonded by community and support. I’ve developed many lifelong friendships through working on different shows and training in new spaces. As I was in high school, my training and performing continued, and I decided to pursue a circus career after graduation. However, I graduated in 2020 during the pandemic. All professional circus companies shut down, and artists were out of work. The shutdown of the circus industry made me nervous to step into this career path, so I began attending college–online of course.

As time went on, shows slowly began opening up again, and fewer artists were out of work, but it became discouraging to continue training. I booked gigs while attending school which gave me some motivation. Then at the beginning of 2022, I booked my first contract, which completely shifted my mindset when it came to my circus career path, I was booked to work with a Norwegian circus company for the Spring and Fall. The show consisted of 3 Scandinavian artists and me, the American. We created our show in just 24 days and toured the show to multiple festivals. I was able to live in Norway for a few months and made many great friends. Now I hope to continue this type of work.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It hasn’t been a smooth road. While I have received many opportunities and great life experiences, I’ve had many doubts about whether to continue working as a circus artist. The shutdown of the circus industry during the pandemic made me very weary of this being a stable career path. Not to mention potential injuries that can put you out of work. It makes me question my decision to devote so much as a young adult, to a career that may not be sustainable. The logical side of me believes pursuing an “average” education and career path will be more worth my time. But I’ve tried enjoying that life, but fails to make me feel fulfilled. Being a circus artist is what makes me feel like, me.

Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
As a circus artist, I have specialties and general abilities. I specialize in contortion and hand balancing and am a generalist in acrobatics and aerial arts. Contortion and handstand training is very intense. It challenges your mental and physical abilities by pushing your limits when it comes to flexibility and strength. My coach taught me Mongolian-style contortion, which focuses so much on strength and control. One-arm handstands, handstand push-ups, and extreme backends are all a part of my daily practice and performance. I’m also known for my work in foot archery, or, shooting a bow and arrow while in a handstand. Many hours were spent practicing accuracy when it comes to this skill, overtime muscle memory makes this trick very consistent. It is most definitely a crowd-pleaser. I’m most proud of combining my contortion skills with classic hand-balancing skills. While contortion does intersect with hand-balancing, the hand-balancing discipline has very different techniques. I really enjoy combining the two and using my flexibility to my advantage.

Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
Something most people make not know about me is that I am obsessed with knitting and crocheting. I love having other creative hobbies and really enjoy freehanding pieces of clothing. I’ve made sweaters, hats upon hats, and so many gifts for my friends. I hope to make a costume for myself one day!

Contact Info:

• Website: annearellano.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/annearellano_/

Image Credits
Kata Pasztor Alexander Cull