Tightwire Walking - The Circus Arts Conservatory

The Poetry of the
Tightwire
By Kay Deming’s 4th Grade Class of Fruitville School
A collaboration of Tamara Knapp’s Technology Class
with
Karen Bell and Marjorie Nolan
of
Van Wezel Performing Arts Center
Teaching Artist Training Program
Funded by DANA Foundation
Sarasota, FL
Focus
Keep your balance
Don’t fear nor fall
You are in the sky
Focus
By Morgan Hill
Down
If you’re on a tightwire
You never look down
Or you’ll lose your
balance
And you’ll fall right down
By Dustin Scarr
Flying Flying
From fear
In the starting of the malicious
tightwire
Flying
Flying hard in the dark blackened
sky
Focus
Act like the best
Because you are the best
There’s no doubt
Because you finished
As the sky starts to open
With a happy ending
Fall Like a Bird
The tight wire makes you feel like a bird
Higher than any cloud
But when you lose concentration
You fall
fall
fall
Through the sky
And then to the ground
You must not have fear
And you must concentrate on the wire
And only the wire
By Erin Walsh
Be the Wire
In the sky there is a tight wire
Try not to fall
Focus
Relax
The circus is watching
Be the wire
And it will be you
By Camille Armington
Perfect Balance
You must practice
And practice
To learn
To keep your perfect
Balance
If not
You will
Fall
By Jasmine Jones
Highwire Walker
From the ground to the
sky
You must balance way
up high
You are the circus
You are a performer
You are an actor
By Diana Dizon
Afraid
The tight rope
Brings
Fear
To Fall
By Dillon Stuart
Perspective
I jumped
On the tightwire
I felt like a bird.
By Attavio Ukmar
Good and Bad
Roses are red
Violets are blue
Fear is bad
And that is true
Tightwire is good
Fear is bad
One is good
One is bad
And only one
Will make you glad
By Joseph Carnegie
Bubbles
The air sways as you
Walk the tightwire
The fear bubbling
In your stomach
You’re in the sky
You are a performer
So act
You have reached
The finish line
On the other side
By Barbara Pereira
On the Ground
I am in the sky
On a tightwire
My fear
Makes me
Fall
I’m on the ground
Profound
By Kathleen Hagen-Rogeson
High in the Air
From the ground
To the sky
In the air
Do not Fall
Act now!
By Megan Jones
Floating
I am at the circus watching the performer in the air.
She has fear in her eyes.
She is now walking on the tightwire.
It looks like she is floating
In the sky.
By Paola Piascik
The Tightwire
The tightwire
Is like flying
Except on the wire
I feel enchanted
I’m flying!
But then I fall
You have to practice
To get good at all
By Steven Young
Bellini
Bellini
Tightwire walker
Walking the tightwire
He crossed Niagara Falls
By Davi Reis
Too High
The high tightwire
Is very high
Too high
But not too high
For some
By Zach Edwards
Try
Flip on a wire
Walk on a wire
Try the tightwire
By Katherine Koach
Just Have Fun
Walking a tight wire’s fun
It takes a lot of balance and
focus
You can get filled with fear
And then fall on the ground
But you should just have fun
And cross the wire
By Jack Pursell
Catch Balance
I am on the tightwire, swaying back and forth
In fear that I will fall
I caught my balance
I’m in a whole different place
Floating in the sky
Oops! I’m about to fall,
Focus
Catch my balance
And start again
By Liliana Solum
You’ll Love It
In the air
You’ll love it
Up there
When you conquer
This fear
You’ll want to be
Here
By Jovana Cristiani
Flying
Flying
Feels
Fly
Feels like I’m flying
Through the sky
On the tight wire
By Asia Alvis
Highwire
Climbing climbing
Facing your fear
Sliding slowly
Stopping
Saluting
Mind on the end
By Michael Boritz
Butterfly
I jumped into the sky
And fell
Like a butterfly
And landed
On the tightwire
By Shubi Ghay
Acrobat
Focus on
The tightwire
And act like
An acrobat
By Cory Avrutis
Arts Integration
 Collaborators:
– Teaching Artists Karen Bell and Marjorie Nolan
– Fruitville Elementary Technology teacher Tamara
Knapp
 Essential Question:
– How do we relate to the Circus Arts in our lives and
using technology?
Procedure Day 1
 Teaching artist led drama warm-ups
 Students read the story “Mirette on the High
Wire”
 In groups, students collaborated and
developed pantomime scenes of the story
 Students alternated between performing
pantomime and being audience members
Procedure Day 2
 Teaching artist set up tightwire and
explained safety procedure
 Classroom teacher introduced research
questions using computers and Internet
 Students performed research and took turns
trying the tightwire
 Students wrote poems about their
experiences