Overview
Circus artists are used to being in the spotlight, but when it comes to research into their health needs as a distinct group of performing artists, they are living in the shadows. There is currently little research on injuries in circus arts different than dance and most sports. We need to better understand the relationship between factors such as training, movement, and injuries in order to find better strategies for preventing injuries and keeping circus artists healthy. By enhancing our understanding of healthy movement and injury risk factors in circus artists, we can develop circus-specific, evidenced-based injury prevention strategies to keep circus artists doing what they love.
photo by Leah Marie Studio
Injury Surveillance Research
My first study of injuries in pre-professional and professional circus artists, was a pilot study at Kinetic Arts Center in Oakland, CA from 2017-2018. In Fall 2018, I was able expand this prospective, longitudinal study, with the help of a grant from Samuel Merritt University, to a multi-center study conducted at 10 sites around the country: The Circus Project (Portland, OR), New England Center for Circus Arts (Brattleboro, VT), Circadium,(Philadelphia, PA), Esh Circus Arts (Somerville, MA), Versatile Arts (Seattle, WA), Kinetic Arts Center (Oakland, CA), MOTH Contemporary Circus Center (Denver, CO), Kinetic Theory (Los Angeles, CA), Sky Candy (Austin, TX), and AcroSports (San Francisco, CA). This study concluded in February 2021 and data analysis is underway.
Surveillance of Injuries for Research in Circus (SIRC) consensus working group is made up of circus arts researchers in injury and illness epidemiology, performing arts medicine, and circus practitioners from around the world. Dr. Stephanie Greenspan is the chair of the working group that includes David Munro PT, PhD, Joanna Nicholas PhD, Melanie Stuckey PhD, Janine Stubbe PhD, and Rogier van Rijn PhD. The overall consensus group includes Evert Verhagen PhD, Marco Bortoleto PhD, Agathe Dumont PhD, Chris Gatti PhD, and Kathy Yu, MD. This international group published the only consensus statement for the monitoring of injuries in the circus arts in September 2022. Open Access Link
photo by Leah Marie Studio
Research on 3D Motion and Muscle Activation in Aerialists
We have completed the first phase of this research study analyzing aerial movements in the Motion Analysis Research Center (MARC) at Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, California. Although there is some knowledge about injury types across circus arts, no research has studied joint movement in the aerial arts to understand normal movement or faulty mechanics that might be contributing to injuries. In order to work towards preventing injuries and correcting training errors, we first need to better understand the quantity and sequencing of motion in common aerial acrobatic movements. We have conducted the first research study to examine 3D joint motion of aerialists performing bent-arm and straight-arm straddle inversions to learn more about normal movement patterns. We hope to use this information to inform future interventions to reduce injuries in aerialists.