How to Reignite Your Spark After A Cirque Performing Mishap
Imagine losing control of a fire element while performing in front of thousands of people on stage. Terrifying, right? Well, Grace Good has experienced this more than once. The arts of circus performance, fire performance, and hoop dancing are full of hazards that you might have missed going to the traditional circus growing up. Mistakes happen in rehearsals and sometimes in front of huge live audiences too. Not only do these hiccups hold a threat of danger, but a threat of losing your cool on stage as well. Grace can overcome these obstacles thanks to her extraordinary talents, stay safe, and remain calm and collected.
Recounting a recent show in Las Vegas, Grace tells us how she bounced back from mistakes and obstacles. For this performance, she would use a chemical that turned her fire green! Before her big show, our mad scientist turned cirque extraordinaire made sure this trick was practiced and perfected to do it in her sleep. Mid-show in front of 7,000 attendees, Grace attempted to light up the hula hoops from her fire fans, and they could not catch a flame. As a talented professional, she took a moment to think, with only thirty seconds left in the song before her big finale. Rather than outwardly panicking, Grace masterfully improvised and performed a brand new trick on the spot! The production team praised her for how well she could improvise and go with the flow, which is NOT an easy feat in the moment!
According to Grace, it's more about the tricks than the recovery and the presentation when it comes to unexpected performance changes. Nobody knows your mistakes except you, so as long as you play it off that everything that is supposed to happen is happening, everything will be fine. It is all about the recovery and your attitude around it. Of course, this wasn’t always easy for Grace—to let mistakes roll off her back like they were nothing, and she occasionally gets discouraged. However, over time she has grown, and she credits this ability to work mistakes to her advantage to her background as a street performer. She shares that street-style shows are a lot of improvisation versus how some performers have always been conditioned to be on a formal stage and held to a standard of perfection. As a street performer, mess-ups happen, and you must be quick-witted to improv on the spot to grab your audience.
Grace's dedication and phenomenal attitude, on-stage and off, set her apart and give the illusion to her audiences that everything is going exactly as planned, even when it isn’t!
Experience the magic of an exhilarating Grace Good performance for yourself. Check out her upcoming performances HERE, and follow her on Instagram @gracegood, Facebook @Grace Good, TikTok @gracegoodcirque, and YouTube @GraceGood to stay up to date on all things Grace!