The Villages - January 2018 - 37

Alicia Lewis
Professional CirCus aerialist
Her co-workers were clowns.
They were red-nose-wearing, big-shoe-sporting
clowns. And her office - it was an unlikely place. Alicia
Lewis worked under the big top, where crowds cheered
and bright lights burned warm and wide. As a professional circus aerialist, the standard uniform consisted
of dramatic makeup, a feathery headdress and sequined
leotard. She spent her time carousing with trained beasts,
magicians and unicycle-riding chimps. From 1969 to
1981, Lewis made a living slinging from high places,
spinning and flipping for show. It was extremely dangerous and awfully exciting, she said.
It all started when the Shrine Circus came to town
and Lewis met a troupe of teenage trapeze artists.
"Detroit was dreary, and their lives seemed so glamorous and vibrant," Lewis said. "I decided it was what I

wanted to do, so I started going to
every circus I could find just to chat
with the performers. When I graduated from high school, I was offered a
position to be an apprentice cannonball. I immediately joined the troupe."
But torpedoing from an iron sphere
took more skill than Lewis imagined.
"I was terrible - the worst cannonball they'd ever seen," she said.
"My swan dive was rough."
But Lewis had her start, and
eventually landed her dream job
- circus aerialist.
"At 19, I met my former
husband, a trapeze artist,"
she said. "We started our own
act, traveling and performing for
12 years."
To thrill a crowd - that was
the job, Lewis said. And the two
would never get booked with a net.
So they worked hard, honed their
routines and took the leaps.
But carelessness was costly,
Lewis soon learned.
"I neglected to practice
during winter break one
year," she said. "About halfway
through my act, my arms gave out. I looked up, saw my
fingers open up and I went down."
Lucky for Lewis, the trapeze was set low at that particular venue.
"I was bruised and humiliated, but not severely injured," she said. "After that, I learned
to respect my body. I realized I was
not invincible."
At around 30 years old, Lewis traded the trapeze for a desk
and took a job in the insurance
industry, where she worked for
20 years.
Last September, she embarked
on another adventure - The Villages lifestyle. Plenty of pickleball,
bike riding and socializing with
neighbors keeps the former circus
performer flying high in her Village
of Pine Hills home. - By Rica Lewis

MAGAZINE

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Villages - January 2018