From Lawyer to Circus Performer: Kirsten Edwards

Having strong skills in multiple areas can lead people down diverse career paths and into worlds they never intended to explore. This is the case for Kirsten Edwards; her journey to working as a full-time circus performer in Berlin included the completion of a law degree at York University’s Osgoode Hall.

Photo by Jeremy Gilbert

During law school, Kirsten’s goal was to build a career in public policy - an exciting, and financially-stable/parent-approved option. With a passion for social justice, and immigrant/refugee rights, Kirsten worked with The Innocence Project, a North American law-campus initiative that assists “on cases of believed wrongful conviction.”

Kirsten looks back on her time with The Innocence Project analytically, “This was one of the most rewarding experiences of my life, but also extremely emotionally draining. I also worked briefly, after being called to the bar, at a legal clinic in the east end of Toronto.  There, my work was refugee law, working with West African refugees. It was probably the most difficult thing I’ve ever done.”

While working at the legal clinic, Kirsten accompanied one of her clients, a single mother, to a meeting regarding the family’s refugee claim. She realized that the claim was in the process of being rejected. The powerlessness and desperation that Kirsten felt on behalf of her client, whom she believed was returning to a dangerous situation, caused Kirsten to re-evaluate her career path.

“At the time I was becoming more involved with circus training and with the circus community in Toronto,” she adds, “Circus was my outlet, emotionally, creatively and personally. It honestly, was were I went to save my sanity.  So, my transition into circus seemed natural.”

While Kirsten maintains a non-practicing membership to the Law Society of Upper Canada, she has wholly embraced circus as a career path, performing professionally for the past 8 years and teaching for 6.

These days, Kirsten instructs at IVA, an aerial arts and pole studio, in Berlin, Germany. From afar, she maintains her connection to Toronto’s Hercinia Arts Collective (where she formerly taught), and seeks out European opportunities for Canadian performers.

“My days in Berlin are very similar, at least circus work wise, to my days in Toronto,” Kirsten explains, and goes on to say that there is no “typical” day in the life of a performer - which is something that she thrives on.

Her schedule is an exciting mix of instructing, training, and performance. “Training content depends on the day,” she says. “I tend to train aerial (rope or silks) three to four days of the week and the other days I will use for additional stretching or rehab/physio work.  If I am prepping for performance then the training schedule obviously changes with rehearsals etc. Then, most evenings I am…[teaching] aerial silks, hoop and contortion. Usually once or twice during the week I have private classes booked with students who are working on specific acts or technique.”

Career Paths Travelled: What advice would you give to other people who are considering a non-traditional career, such as circus performing?

                                                                                                           Photo by Jona Stuart

Kirsten Edwards: Honestly, you need to really love what you are doing.  You need to know why you are doing it and have the capacity to go back to that inspiration and find it and use it, always.  I say this because artist life, a non-traditional life, is NOT an easy life. Being an artist is very hard work and requires a willingness to sacrifice many of the things other people take for granted.  It is often financially difficult. It can take a toll on personal relationships because not everyone understands this lifestyle. It is a wonderful and fulfilling life and I wouldn’t choose a different one but it is not always easy.

While Kirsten’s law to circus story is unique, many people choose to leave traditionally “stable” jobs for careers in the arts. Like any other job, an arts career requires an understanding of available opportunities, a network of sector-specific contacts, and the desire to learn/grow. Full-time careers in the arts are not only about creating art, but about creating financially viable opportunities to make and showcase art. Bravo Kirsten!

On a final note, Kirsten shared a long list of Berlin travel recommendations for YOU. This includes:
- “The River Spree is beautiful and there are many cafes and bars all along it, and during the summer people just hangout and have barbecues along its banks.”
- “Klunkerkranich is a bar on the rooftop of the Arkaden (a mall) which is amazing to watch the incredible Berlin sunsets from.”
- “The East Side Gallery is something I also bring people to, it is a stretch of the Berlin Wall that was left standing after it was demolished that has been painted by international and local street artists.”
- “I like going to smaller bars in Kreuzberg or Neukolln where often later it will turn into a mini club and they have DJs or live music or someones bizarre art installation.”
- "Oh and you must eat Turkish food (donair, halloumi etc.) in Berlin because its amazing and cheap and a pretzel from the U-bahn."