Annie says fear was a stumbling block for most people before trying circus. Photo: RNZ / Mahvash Ikram
Hundreds of Kiwis have been turning to an unusual fitness trend - the circus arts.
It involves hanging upside down and moving through the air on different apparatus including silks, straps and trapeze.
At React Studio on Auckland's North Shore, Annie, who is more than 70 years old, is the oldest student.
"I love trapeze," she said.
"I think I was an orangutan in a past life. I just love being able to hold on to something and move through the air"
Annie does the trapeze without a harness.
"If you consider throwing yourself from one bar through the air and relying on somebody else to actually catch you, I think that would probably be the most dangerous [I have done]."
She had a single mantra that kept her going.
"The first stumbling block for most people is fear."
Annie said she had met people who were too scared of being upside down or doing cartwheels.
"And that, that fear flows over into other aspects of their life."
She said doing the circus helped her keep her fears at bay.
React Studio was the brainchild of Benny and Cel Searle.
A graphic designer, Benny did not want to spend his life behind a computer screen.
So he said he "ran away" to the circus in 2005 and there has been no looking back ever since.
"My wife and I have been travelling doing circus for about 10 years overseas and we decided that we wanted to take circus back to New Zealand. The dream was to really create a space that people could come and leave the cares at the door."
He said sometimes it was a bit difficult explaining to people circus was his full-time job.
"I get a lot of blank stares at first and then they say 'oh, you're not joking'.
"It's definitely a conversation starter."
But Searle said more people were turning to aerial arts than ever before.
"It's a nice bridge for a lot of people that were creative when they were younger, maybe did gymnastics or dance, and then got a job and didn't have time for it and now want to stay fit and satisfy that creative urge as well.
"I'm not a big fan of the gym myself, so this makes a lot of sense to me"
When Elisa Valentini joined React seven years ago she was not sure if she would be strong enough to perform the manoeuvres.
She had some issues with her back but the trainers assured her she would be able to do most things.
Valentini said part of the fun was the challenge of learning something new all the time.
"It takes a little bit of time to pick up things and build up strength. If you go and you pick up everything immediately, then after a while you say 'ok sure what's next?' instead here you keep progressing."
While she did cardio at the gym, she said now her fitness routine was incomplete without circus.
Valentini said circus was great for people who had spine issues.
As for those who wanted to plunge into the world of circus, but were too afraid, senior student Annie said: "It'll be fears that stop people coming. We all put ourselves into a box, and we have to actually take ourselves out of that box."
