Author: Laura Bertocci
You might have seen Alison Lockfeld around campus, either passing by in the quad, studying in the Green Bean or perhaps swinging upside-down from the tree in the Haines lawn.
“Hi, my name is Alison,” she introduces herself. “I’m a sophomore at Occidental College from San Francisco, and I do circus … I also juggle, dance, tumble, teach and knit.”
What was that?
“Not really, I can’t knit.”
Lockfeld is an expert at aerial rope, a trade also known as corde lisse (French for “smooth rope”). It is a circus skill that demands a great deal of strength, endurance and flexibility as the performer wraps, holds poses, drops, spins and tumbles with the amount of contortion you never knew the human body was capable of.
A little different from the rope in your gym class, the corde lisse is an apparatus rigged from the ceiling that the performer must gracefully climb. After reaching a desirable height, the performer maneuvers into various poses and then drops by flipping upside-down or wrapping the rope around various body parts. With the entire body weight held by a single gripped hand, an incorrect wrap or failure to flex a toe can result in a swift plummet to the floor.
As a preschooler, Lockfeld began taking lessons at the San Francisco AcroSports Gymnasium, located within walking distance of her home. She continued her training with circus camp every summer, gymnastics at age seven, and trapeze classes at age eight. After she ripped her hamstring, she took a two-year break to play soccer.
“That’s when I started doing rope, because my Mom said I couldn’t do trapeze anymore. … I started becoming more into it when I had to choose between soccer and circus, and I chose circus,” she said.
Upon entering a pre-professional program at AcroSports and eventually the City Circus troupe at age 13, Lockfeld learned to diversify her skill set with new disciplines including tumbling, juggling and other aerial arts. The troupe serves as a stepping stone towards bigger circus careers, such as work with Cirque du Soleil, though many people participate while holding down full-time jobs and typical, everyday lives.
Lockfeld reached an advanced level at an early age and started volunteer-teaching before she could obtain a legal work permit. Her troupe was hired in the San Francisco area for parties, opening shows and even an event for the mayor.
Today, Lockfeld works in Culver City at Kinetic Theory Circus Art, a gym opened by the former director of AcroSports. She also subsidizes her income as an independent contractor, getting calls for shows through friends and associates.
This fall, she was contracted to perform at a book release party for Rainn Wilson, also known as Dwight from The Office, where she taught him how to juggle. “Rainn wanted me to juggle pancake batter boxes, but I can’t do that. Creed laughed at me. We’re friends,” she said. Yes, that Creed.
Lockfeld also aerial bartends on the side. “It’s boring,” she insists. “[It’s] commercial spectacle.” Hanging from her ankles inside a chandelier that is strung with champagne bottles, she pours drinks for eager partygoers. She yawns. She is one of a handful of people in the world with it on her resume.
All the flying out for shows, incredible talent and juggling for Rainn Wilson’s book release party haven’t seemed to faze Lockfeld. “She doesn’t treat it like it’s anything out of the ordinary. For her, it’s really not,” roommate Roxanne Butler (sophomore) said. “The other day, she performed at this big party for famous choreographers and dancers at the Avalon. I thought it was super cool, and she was just like, ‘This sucks that I have to miss our Greek Ice Cream Social!'”
She does not seek out job opportunities, but is often referred to event organizers by coworkers and friends or contacted by Cirque USA, the aerial bartending company she works with.
Juggling her acrobatics with her academic obligations has been a balancing act in itself. The task was more difficult in high school for her than it is now. “I would have to be on top of homework because I had circus practice. It was hard with the social thing too because I would go more with the circus people.” When Lockfeld missed school functions, her friends came to expect the same line: “Sorry, I was at a circus party.”
Lockfeld counts some of her greatest friends among the circus community, which has provided a support system throughout her life. “It classically is the outliers of society,” she said. “I guess it kind of works to extend that. They are accepting even if there’s something wrong, so they are a little off, but in a good way. Mostly they just want to have fun.”
Circus has provided Lockfeld with skills that aid her outside of the tent. A constant awareness of her surroundings, the ability to improvise and confidence that she could probably beat most people up seem more like the talents of a superhero. “I used to always think during high school that [my circus self is] my alter ego, it’s my secret identity,” she said. “By now it’s just kind of become who I am, so I don’t really think about it that much. … I would feel confused if I didn’t have it.”
Despite her passion and commitment to the art, Lockfeld remains devoted to her education. “I always wanted to go to school. Circus isn’t something you can do for your whole life, and it’s really hard on your body, so its always good to have a back-up plan.”
“It just didn’t seem right [to make it my life],” she said. Lockfeld is a psychology major with plans for medical school, though she thinks she’ll take a two-year interim period to go on an international tour with a circus company.
“It is still right now something that’s on the side. I’m at college, and I’m at college to do college,” she said. “I’m focusing on that.”
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