Art & Life with T Lawrence-Simon

Today we’d like to introduce you to T Lawrence-Simon.

Please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far.
I’ve definitely always been a creative mind. When I was little, I was into magic and playing the flute, a love of theater sparked very early, and has never gone away. In high school, I added juggling and dance to my world, and then finally in college, I started learning circus arts. I went to college for theater with a concentration in lighting and costume design as well as stage management, but I was also practicing circus after school. Once I graduated, I attended a two-year full-time professional training program for circus artists in Vermont and since then, have worked all over the world teaching and performing circus. My home base is ESH Circus Arts in Somerville, where I teach a bazillion classes, and train all day. If you haven’t been, you should come to check it out.

Can you give our readers some background on your art?
I wear many hats: In circus, I am both a coach and a performer. As a coach/teacher, I help people from absolute beginners all the way to veteran professionals learn circus, or gain new skills to enhance their performances. I have always loved teaching no matter what the subject matter, I love helping others learn. As a performer, I love creating unusual worlds and taking audiences on a journey with me. I am definitely a fan of connecting more on a human level with an audience more than the kind of surreal creature-like circus styles.

I am also a costume designer and semester: I love making circus costumes, and quilts, and bags. I have loved sewing since I was taught to sew in the costume shop at Temple University where I went to school. It is so fun to be able to take sheets of fabric, and through planning and cutting and sewing, create these vivid ideas from paper onto a human. In all my art, I love bold imagination, always asking “what if you could do THIS?”, and never shying away from being told something can’t be done.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful?
Success is such a loaded word. To succeed is to accomplish a goal, right? But then, achieving success is so much more nuanced in society. To be successful, there are ideas of flying to fabulous cities all the time to relax or have billions of people know your name. I think different industries have to have different definitions of success. Success at owning a huge money-making company is defined in dollars. But maybe success as an actor is defined in performance opportunities (getting to perform in a show with THIS company or at THAT theater).

I decided long ago success for me was to make enough money to live my life by working jobs that I enjoy. I can happily say that is true for me now. That isn’t to say I am done growing or challenging myself. Just last year, I created a teacher training program to help teach new instructors all over how to teach aerial hoop in a thoughtful, safe, and well-designed method. I am never done trying to be better and learn more. I have often heard the saying “the day you are finally happy with your performance is the day you stop being an artist”. I’d like to tweak that a little bit because I love it when I’m happy with a performance, but I never stop thinking I can do better.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support?
Well, I love helping people learn circus, and helping you learn circus helps me pay my rent, so you can always book me for a private lesson at ESH Circus Arts (just ask for T). You can also commission a sewing project from me. A bag, a quilt, a pair of booty shorts. Spandex and leather are my specialties but for quilts, I usually stick with cotton. My brand is “Flying Stitch Labs” and you will get whimsy, and quality sewing.

I am also a performer with the Boston Circus Guild, so you can come to see shows we put on or hire us to perform at your company’s next event. I perform solo hoop and double bar trapeze. I am also one half of Tori and T Duo Trapeze, with my incredible circus duo partner Tori Markwalder. We can perform duo trapeze and make your events fantastic. For most of my information, my website is www.HoopArtist.com

Contact Info:

• Website: www.HoopArtist.com
• Email: HoopArtist@gmail.com (for private lessons)
• Instagram: @HoopArtist
• Other: www.FlyingStitchLabs.com

Image Credit:
Jon Beckley

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