Meet Molly - another circus sessions artist

Molly Keczan tells me about being a circus artists;

How long have you been doing circus arts and which circus arts do you do?

I have been doing circus since 2008. I grew up as a competitive rhythmic gymnast and represented Canada at international competitions. After that I transitioned to classical ballet and continued onto Ryerson University to receive a Bachelor of Fine Arts, majoring in Dance. Now I perform a variety of circus arts including silks, hoop, duo trapeze, hand to hand, acrobatics, busking, some clown and physical theatre.

Describe your work as a circus artist? Trad, Cirque, Contemporary?

I am an entertainer. My job is to take the audience out of their day to day lives, even if it's just for a few minutes. It is important for me to remember the history of wonder and the through-line of spectacle within all circus arts.

What’s your most interesting/ weirdest gig?

For the past 4 years I have performed for this amazing wearable art fashion show out of St. Catharines Ontario called Strutt. It is absurd. One year the director simply said, "...so for this section can you guys be on the silks and pretend like you are floating through outer-space?" I was in the air during the show moving slowly into an upside down position then noticed a bunch of big silver beach balls crowd-surfing and being tossed in the air floating in my direction, I simply made a "lost in space" face and bounced the softly floating object right back into its cross-room orbit. As this was happening a man was standing on stage inside of a giant blow-fish costume, inflating it with a leaf blower. I smiled inside my head and thought "this is exactly why I do what I do."

What interests you about circus sessions ?

I am really interested and excited to learn from and work with artists in other disciplines. It will be a great think tank of circus artists, getting together to share their skills and knowledge. I am also excited for this to be in partnership with one of the biggest artistic venues in Canada, Harbourfront Centre. It is great to see the support that circus is gaining within the arts scene.