Wakulla's Lindsay Evans Flying High with FSU Circus

The FSU Flying High Circus will be holding their annual spring performances this coming weekend, April 6th and 7th, and next weekend, April 13th, and 14th on the FSU campus, and Wakulla’s own Lindsay Evans, daughter of Pam and Jerry Evans, will be a part of it all!  Twenty-two year old Lindsay has been performing with the FSU circus for the past three years, and this spring marks her last performance under the big top.

When asked how she got involved with the circus, Lindsay blames it all on her mom, Pam, a culinary arts teacher at Wakulla High School.  “My freshman year I went to college in South Florida, so when I decided to come back and go to FSU, I was trying to think of ways to meet people and make new friends on campus,” said Evans.  “My mom saw an ad for circus performers in the FSView, and pestered me until I agreed to go check it out.  I walked in to the tryouts, and never left!  I absolutely loved it!”

Evans explained that there are no official “tryouts” for becoming involved in the circus.  Anyone who wants to be involved can be, even if it’s just putting together equipment, working on costumes, etc.  “The longer you stay with it, the more skillful you will become, so your role with the circus can change from year to year,” says Evans.  Evans herself participated in volleyball, track and field, and weightlifting while a student at Wakulla High.  “I cheered my senior year, but I was always a dancer, and I think that experience probably helped me the most with the circus,” she explained.

Evans performs in several different acts with the circus, and all of them are considered “ground acts.”  One of the acts, called “Quartet Adagio”, involves Evans and three male performers who, as Evans describes it, “toss me around and catch me.”  The act ends with a feat known as “The Human Jump Rope,” with Evans serving as the rope!

Another of Lindsay’s acts is called the “Teeter Board”.  She describes it as a see-saw contraption.  Evans stands on one end of the board, and another group of performers jump down onto the other end, which sends Evans catapulting into the air.  “At one point, as I’m going up, I turn a flip and then land on a pole,” says Evans.  Linsday also participates in a “comedy trapeze” act, called “low-casting.”  Evans explains that she is in the air for much of the act, but no nets are used, just floor mats.  “It’s a comedy act, where we dress as spies, sort of like James Bond,” says Evans.  “The kids love it.”

Asked if she’s ever been injured during all this flying around, Evans answers, “Sure, it’s just part of it.”  She describes the worst injury as the time she broke her elbow.  “I broke my elbow and tore several ligaments, but most of my injuries have been cuts and bruises that just sort of go along with the territory.  I have been to see the doctor on several occasions, but the elbow incident was the only serious one.”

Lindsay says her parents don’t miss a show.  “They are there for every performance, but my mom can’t actually watch,” says Evans.  “She averts her eyes every time I’m out there because she says she couldn’t bear to see me get hurt.”

Evans spends approximately 4 to 5 hours per day with the circus, either practicing her acts or working on circus-related projects.  “The circus is not considered a sport by FSU, so we don’t get any direct funding from them,” explains Evans.  “We are solely funded through ticket sales, fundraisers, and the Circus Alumni Boosters Association.”  As a result, Evans and her fellow performers create and design their own costumes (including the actual sewing), build bleachers for circus seating, and numerous other tasks to see that the “show must go on.”  “Luckily we have a really good seamstress as part of the circus this year, and she has created many of the costumes we wear from scratch,” says Evans.  “Sometimes we buy bathing suits and leotards and just sew sequins and fringe to them, but it’s still up to us to make sure we have them.”
     Evans has also been able to participate in the Callaway Gardens, Georgia program as part of the FSU Circus for the past few summers.  Twenty performers are chosen to spend the summer there, working as “Callaway Gardens Kid’s Camp” counselors during the day, and performing in the circus at some point each day.

“We spend the entire summer at Callaway, from May to August,” explains Evans.  “We work during the week from 8 to 3 as counselors to the visitor’s children who are involved in the Kid’s Camp program, aged anywhere from 6 years to 18 years.  We perform weekday shows at around 4:00, and then perform several shows on the weekends as well.”

Lindsay describes the Callaway summers as some of the best of her life.  “It’s so much fun to perform at Callaway,” says Evans.  “We get very comfortable with the shows, because we are performing them so regularly, so the atmosphere is a little more laid back and the shows are more relaxed.  We become a very close family after spending so much time together.  I wouldn’t trade those times for anything in the world.”

This spring will be very bittersweet for Evans; she will be graduating this year, studying abroad this summer, and will not be able to participate in the Callaway program.  “These next two weekends are really it for me,” says Evans.  “It’s really sad, because I will miss it so much.  I can’t imagine having not been involved with the circus.  My fellow performers are like family to me; we are practically inseparable and hang out together outside of the circus, as well.  I don’t know how we spend so much time together and not kill each other, but I love them all and will really miss all this.”

Evans, a criminology major, will be studying in Prague, the Czech Republic, this summer.  “I will be studying with the Czech S.W.A.T. team,” explained Evans.  “We will get to visit Poland, Germany, and Austria while there.  It should be a great experience.”  As for plans after graduation , Evans is still trying to make up her mind what she wants to do.  “I’m thinking about moving out to Nashville at first, to try to break into the music business,” says  Evans.  “It’s hard to get performing out of your system.”  Evans has had some success with recording; she released a CD last year titled “Road to Damascus.”  Her father Jerry is a well-known local musician himself, both as a singer and a pianist.

“I’ve got several friends from the circus who are actually traveling and performing with some different circus troupes in Europe, and another friend who performs in Vegas,” said Evans.  “So I may try pursuing one of those routes before I settle down into something involving criminology.”

Right now Evans is just focusing on the next two weekends, trying to savor every minute of the time she has left with the circus.  “The circus has definitely been the highlight of my years at FSU,” says Evans, “but unfortunately I’m running out of excuses to stay in school!  It’s time to move on to the next step.”

The FSU Flying High Circus will have two performances this coming weekend, and two the next weekend:

Friday, April 6th at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 7th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m

Friday, April 13th at 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, April 14th at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Saturday the 14th will also be the celebration of the FSU Flying High Circus 60th Anniversary, and longtime coach Dickie Brinson, who is retiring this year after 30 years of coaching, will also be honored.

For more information on how to purchase tickets and show times, visit the FSU Flying High Circus website at http://circus.fsu.edu/

- Mary Katherine Westmark