By JoAnn Ireland
So you want to join the circus and also go to college – or maybe your parents want you to go to college – either way, there are options to turn your dream into a reality. On a recent trip to Tallahassee, Florida I visited the site of the Florida State University (FSU) (https://www.fsu.edu) Flying High Circus (https://circus.fsu.edu), founded in 1947 by Jack Haskin. Jack had the foresight and creativity to bring the circus to FSU, which was a rare opportunity for gymnasts and other athletes at Florida State to perform.
Florida State University (FSU) Flying High Circus
The only requirement to be a member of the FSU Circus is that one must be a degree-seeking student registered at Florida State University. The Flying High Circus has three rings with no animal acts. In addition to performing in the circus rings, the students set up the tent, rig their own equipment, sew their own costumes, do hair and makeup, produce the lights and sound for the performances, are stage managers, and perform front of the house activities.
Students must audition for the Flying High Circus, which takes place at the beginning of the fall semester. No experience is necessary and the majority of students have no previous circus experience. To learn a bit more about the FSU Flying High Circus experience, see this video.
To be a circus performer at the Flying High Circus there are two rounds of auditions. The first round consists of basic strength and flexibility evaluations (note that there are no particular strength and flexibility requirements to participate in the circus, but they do have strength requirements to participate in aerial acts) and a short interview. Once the first round of auditions is complete, callbacks are posted, and students then must sign up for their second round audition.
The second round audition is one session and consists of basic skills evaluations. Basic skills evaluations – for those who met the strength requirements (Minimum requirements to be assigned an aerial act are five pull ups, five leg lifts and five inverted pikes or L’s. Aerial acts that are primarily swinging have more stringent strength requirements.) – consists of: partner ground skills, trampoline, and static trapeze. If students have some applicable circus experience, like juggling, this is when those skills will be observed, if necessary. Students who have expressed an interest in clowning may be called back to a separate clown audition.
I had the brief opportunity to speak with Chad Matthews, the Director of the FSU Flying High Circus and he told me a bit about their annual performances. The FSU Flying High Circus has two sets of annual performances over multiple weekends in the spring and the fall – the fall circus shows occur over Family weekend and also around Halloween. The Halloween themed shows are spooky, yet family friendly.
The FSU Flying High Circus also has a series of week long summer camp sessions where the counselors are all current FSU circus student performers. During the summer camp sessions the students will have the opportunity to try many different circus disciplines, such as: cloud swing, flying trapeze, triple trapeze, trampoline, low tight wire, lyra (aerial hoop), hand-to-hand balancing, and jump rope, in addition to the very important juggling and object manipulation. At the conclusion of the week-long camp experience there is a Friday afternoon performance where the campers will have the opportunity to show off what they have learned during the week.
Florida State University
For the 2025-2026 school year, the FSU estimated annual costs for undergraduates (which includes: tuition, fees, living expenses, books, course materials, transportation, and personal expenses) are $25,766 for in-state students and $41,417 for out-of-state students. Similarly, the estimated annual costs are $31,158 for in-state graduate students and $44,851 for those who are out-of-state. The main campus also has a School of Law where the estimated annual costs for first year law students are $43,874 for in-state students and $67,078 for out-of-state students, and for the juris master program it’s $30,188 for in-state students and $40,184 for out-of-state students. In addition, FSU also has a School of Medicine where the estimated annual costs range from about $49,000 – $59,000 for in-state medical students and about $75,000 – $97,000 for out-of-state medical students depending on their year of study; whereas, for physician assistants it’s $53,603 for in-state students and $61,323 for out-of-state students. In 2025 FSU had over 46,000 students.
Scenes from Tallahassee, Florida and its State Capitol
Not far from FSU in Tallahassee (or referred to as Tally) is the Florida State Capitol where you can get jaw-dropping panoramic views of the city and FSU campus from their 22nd floor observation deck. You can also see the Florida Artists Hall of Fame that includes many writers/authors, painters, sculptures, actors, composers, singer/songwriters, dancers, photographers, film makers, and architects. Two of those individuals include Lou Jacobs who was a circus clown (referred to as the, “King of Clowns”) and John N. Ringling who was an American entrepreneur who was best known for owning and managing many of the largest circuses in the United States.
In addition to the FSU Flying High Circus, another option to “join the circus” while also going to college (or graduate school) is the Gamma Phi Circus at Illinois State University (https://gammaphicircus.illinoisstate.edu) in Normal, Illinois. The Gamma Phi Circus is the oldest collegiate circus in North America, founded in 1929, with membership open to all full-time Illinois State University students in addition to faculty and staff. The Gamma Phi Circus has its annual weekend performances in the spring, as well as summer camp sessions.
Even if these two options aren’t quite for you, there are many colleges and universities that have juggling clubs as an extracurricular activity, so that is always an option to continue your interest in juggling while attending college. As is often mentioned in the IJA eNewsletter (https://www.juggle.org/resources/ija-enewsletters/), check out the list of juggling clubs (https://jugglingedge.com/clublistings.php) at The Juggling Edge (https://jugglingedge.com).
JoAnn Ireland
JoAnn Ireland is a longtime hobbyist juggler who especially prefers juggling beanbags, joggles (running and juggling), and occasionally rides a unicycle. She is grateful for the opportunity to have been able to attend many IJA and regional juggling festivals.