We Live in a Gladiator Culture
At the heart of the Academy lives a strong commitment to cherish the precious human body. Our first standard, Non-Violence: Keeping the Body Safe & Healthy, emphasizes creating practices and environments in which we never sacrifice physical safety for performance. We emphasize ways of moving that strengthen rather than strain, training that challenges without harming, and a community culture that values non-violent competition.
We treat the body as sacred. We affirm that true excellence grows not out of exulting in pain and risk, but instead out of honoring these magnificent human bodies of ours in mindful motion.
In our culture, however, we allow entertainment and profit to take precedence over human well-being. Sports activities such as football, boxing, and mixed martial arts glorify bone-jarring hits and playing through serious injuries. The crowd cheers when an opponent gets knocked down, even when that moment creates lifelong damage. Extreme races of all sorts - motorized or not - push participants beyond safety limits, while audiences merely shrug at the resulting crashes.. As a society, we’ve progressed past blatant brutality in some areas, yet we too often prize spectacle and grit over the integrity of the healthy, intact human body.
(Excerpt from “The Art of Mindful Movement” by Renée Tillotson)
I remember being at a circus performance as a kid, and watching a high wire walker fall dozens of feet to the ground, and land with a sickening Thud. Flop. Still. They carried him off the circus floor on a stretcher. The show went on, as they say it must. As I watched, though, I saw his fellow performers, acrobats and clowns, coming back into the ring with tears rolling down the makeup on their cheeks. I never saw an article in the paper saying what happened to that fallen performer, but I've always feared the worst. The memory still haunts me.
Why on earth did they not have a net under that high wire during the performance, like they did during practices? The answer is simple: the higher the level of danger, the greater the thrill for the audience. We still do have a gladiator culture. And we lack enough love for human life.
(End Excerpt )
Thankfully, many circuses are changing. In the current Cirque du Soleil Auana show in Honolulu, Hawai‘i, for example, the trapeze artists perform over a net that not only protects them but becomes part of the show, turning safety into art.
I’m encouraged to see more performers choosing the safer route. In some arenas, at least, we’re finally moving toward cherishing our sacred bodies and taking the precautions we can.
The Academy has graduated multiple aerial instructors and two former circus performers, such as Carmen Curtis, a former Cirque du Soleil aerialist. These skilled athletes are re-examining society’s “disposable bodies” approach to their arts.
Discover cutting-edge methods for body awareness, injury prevention, and mindful coaching at our upcoming in-person Academy of Mindful Movement Instructor Level 1 Training. Reserve your spot today and become a leader in redefining what peak performance means: strength, safety, and lasting well-being.
Move with awareness, teach with heart.
Moving mindfully with you,
Renée Tillotson, Legacy Founder