When I learned the Trapeze School New York was coming to DC, I was psyched. I just knew I was going to be flying through the air with the greatest of ease before the year was out. I remember hearing stories about circus school right outside the beltway; and yep, I did see that episode of “Sex and the City” (“The Catch”). Well…it turned out the trapeze didn’t quite happen for me this year. The minute the school opened, classes filled up quickly, so did my schedule, and my butterflies.
So, what do I do? Get an interview with one of the teachers. My sister introduced me to Mandy Keithan who teaches at the Trapeze School New York in Washington, DC. Before taking the leap into this new career, Mandy was director of Religious Education for a Unitarian Universalist church. I used to be a “RE” teacher my self, but I still call it Sunday school. Mandy definitely has swinging in her blood as you’ll hear in the “Eclectique Interview” — the first video interview for this blog. The toughest part of bringing this to the blog was scheduling a mutual time Manyd and I could make the interview happen. The Washington Post beat me to it. That’s the convenience of print.
Mandy and I finally settled on August 30th which turned out to be a rainy day at the hour of our interview. The school was in the parking lot on H Street, a few blocks west of Chinatown, where the old DC Convention Center used to stand. (The school is moving to a new location near the Navy Yard Metro.) After the rain we began to record, then came the wind. The temperature dropped and it felt like a pre-fall day. New students were starting their ground training. Apparently, you have to learn to jump before you fly. As for me…maybe late spring 2010. Maybe.