Tag Archives: Nick Harden

And they’re off!

June 6, 2016

Max Clabaut

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-by Amber Parker

Nick & Wendy in New York City performing with Cirque Mechanics Pedal Punk

It’s nearly summer and there’s lots of changes around SANCA! Our P3 students are graduating, students of all ages are enrolling for new classes and summer camps, and some members of our community are leaving for the season to go on amazing adventures. Among those going on summer adventures are Cirrus Circus members Lyla, Lea, Anna, and Cheya, as well as coaches Nick and Wendy Harden. They are all heading to Circus Smirkus Camp, a youth circus program, for three months of training, performing, and immersion into traditional traveling circus life.

Circus Smirkus is in “the middle of nowhere,” as Nick Harden said when I sat down with him and his wife and co-performer, Wendy Harden, to talk about this incredible journey. Located on a 35 acre pasture in rural Vermont, Circus Smirkus camp is truly an experience of the old circus life. Replete with large, European style Big Top tents, Smirkus accepts approximately 30 students between the ages of 11 and 18 each year to enhance their skills in acrobatics, juggling, aerials, and performance for one month before beginning a 2-month tour all over the northeast.

Nick, who has participated in Smirkus camp in previous years, will be a main acrobatics coach for this year’s campers, and Wendy will be staying in the dorms with campers as their den matron. When asked what they were looking forward to most, Nick reported that, in addition to how rewarding it is to work with youth, having an opportunity to be immersed in circus culture (free from cell phone reception!) and carry on the tradition of the traveling circus is something he loves most about this work. And it is a lot of work! Nick says of their training, “We spend a month in rehearsal putting together the show, and then tour the show around the northeast for about two months. The kids are the show, there’s only one adult in the show. We spend three days in one spot, and then move on to the next town. We go to 10-15 different places and perform between 2-5 shows in each location, but no more than 2 shows a day. It’s a full circus, they have set up duties in addition to their performances. All together we call it 60 shows. In rehearsal we say, ‘remember, you gotta do this for 60 shows.’ ”

This is Wendy’s first year with Circus Smirkus Camp, and she’s excited to be with the campers during such a rich, transformative time in their lives. She says, “Something I’m looking forward to is the bond with all of the campers, or the troupers as they call them. Spending an entire summer with these 30 kids who are away from their parents for maybe for the first time, who are going into high school for the first time, having their first crush or have their first bout of insecurity… that’s a really rich time for these kids going in and out of adolescence and I’m excited to be around that, to bond with them and help them deal with those challenges.”

The campers, or troupers, at Circus Smirkus Camp are indeed entering into a rich time in their lives, a time that will only be enhanced by the supportive, creative, and talented team leading them on their circus tour. We’d like to wish the very best to Nick, Wendy, and the group of Cirrus Circus youth performers as they work hard, learn new lessons, and carry on the grand tradition of the traveling circus!

Who’s on that Unicycle?

January 7, 2016

Max Clabaut

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Nick and Wendy

You know them as Coach Nick and Coach Wendy, two friendly faces around SANCA that will help you enroll in the right class or learn how to stay upright on your unicycle. Wendy and Nick are also A Unicycle Built For Two, the duo circus act that blends the unicycle, acrobatics, and light-hearted romance, and last fall they were absent from the SANCA gym while they were on a national tour with Cirque Mechanics Pedal Punk.

Nick Harden started training in the circus arts at the Illinois State University Gamma Phi Circus under the direction and coaching of Al and Lin-Veronica Light. He has performed in a variety of acts including partner and group acrobatics, German wheel, juggling, Russian bar, teeterboard, tightwire, and unicycle. Nick finished college in 2008 with a degree in physical education. However, he had been bitten hard by the circus bug, and knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his days in the circus. He came to Seattle in 2009 to work at SANCA as the Assistant Program Director, a perfect marriage of his college degree and love of circus. While Nick was not focused on performance it wasn’t long before he found himself back onstage on the unicycle in SANCA’s Annual Spring Showcase.

Wendy Allen grew up flipping and twisting at a gymnastics center in Northern California. After getting a BA in Film and Digital Media from UCSC, Wendy was invited back to Northern California to teach tumbling with an after-school circus program. She loved it, and quickly decided she wanted more circus. In 2010 Wendy moved to Seattle and fully immersed herself in the circus world. SANCA quickly realized that Wendy needed to be more than a student and hired her to work in the office; it wasn’t long until she was asked to coach as well.

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Though a concussion had Wendy temporarily forgetful of the fact that she and Nick had just started dating, since 2010 they have been together, both as a couple and on the unicycle. Nick began training Russian Bar with Coaches Erica and Marta and in the summer of 2012 performed in Circus Bella on their California tour. Nick was in the Russian bar trio and with Wendy as a unicycling duo. The four of them had a fabulous time and, though they came back to work at SANCA again, performing had taken hold of their hearts.

Nick and Wendy continued to work on their duo act, performing locally in Moisture Festival and in SANCA shows, before leaving once more, in 2013, to tour the nation, this time with the Zoppe Family Circus. This was their first time being a part of a tent circus tour- living out of an RV, building and dissembling the circus as they moved from town to town. They loved it.

As Seattle had become their home and SANCA held dear in their hearts, they returned once more to live, teach and train in the Emerald City. They joined the IMPulse Circus Collective, adding teeter board and banquine to their skills and creating and touring a new show, Figments. In 2014 Nick and Wendy got married and bought a house.

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The adventures just kept coming their way! During the summer of 2015 they toured California with the Flynn Creek Circus, and though they had planned to return to coaching that fall, they were offered a chance to tour the nation with Cirque Mechanics Pedal Punk.

Learn to ride a unicycle: It really works your legs and core

April 3, 2015

Max Clabaut

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• Fitness • Life • Pacific NW Magazine • Wellness
Originally published by Seattle Times April 3, 2015 at 11:15 am

Unlike riding a bicycle, unicycles require constant tension in the legs, a lot of core and staying in your seat for balance.

SANCA instructor Nick Harden demonstrates a balance and a hopping exercise on the unicycle to Hannah Bittner, middle, and Aleksandra Kogalovski. (Benjamin Benschneider)

By Nicole Tsong
Special to The Seattle Times
AFTER 50 MINUTES on a unicycle, clutching rails and wobbling all over the place, I asked instructor Nick Harden if he promises people they will ride a unicycle on their own by the end of the 12-week session.
He smiled. “I don’t promise.” But you most likely will, he clarified.

After taking my first unicycle class, I could see why he didn’t make that promise. Nick’s skills as a teacher are lovely. My skills on a unicycle were decidedly not.

I went to SANCA (the School of Acrobatics & New Circus Arts) in Georgetown with fun, zany classes that unleash your inner child, generally alongside kids who pick up this circus thing fast. The unicycle class is for kids ages 8 and up. There was one other adult for each class I joined, and we were grateful for the company.

Before you can ride a unicycle, you have to get up on a unicycle. We worked at a set of rails lined up to make unicycling lanes. Each time I grabbed the rails to haul myself up, I wondered if it would get easier.
On the other hand, falling off your unicycle is not hard; luckily it’s easy to land on your feet.
Keeping your head up while sitting on the unicycle is also challenging. It’s tempting to look down to make sure the floor isn’t coming fast and furious.
After learning to get up and down, we practiced riding slowly between parallel rails, gripping the rails tightly. Nick mostly let us ride, while a much younger unicycle prodigy named Penelope rode around, grinning happily and without any apparent need for help.
Unlike riding a bicycle, unicycles require constant tension in the legs, a lot of core and staying in your seat for balance. It was tempting to stand out of the seat, and Nick kept reminding us to sit down.
We also practiced jumping the unicycle like a pogo stick. This was the one trick where adults had a weight advantage over kids. I was even willing to let go of the rails to bounce around.

We spent most of the class working on riding and trying to pick up speed. If we felt balanced, Nick told us to play with clapping our hands. He also encouraged us to go to the outer rail and hold just one instead of two. Surely that wasn’t going to be so hard, right?

Wrong.
By the end of the class, I was dripping sweat. My legs were exhausted from gripping to stay upright, and I was in even deeper admiration of Nick’s ability to jump rope on a unicycle.
I came back for a second class, hopeful that muscle memory would make it easier. I was right. Getting on felt easier, and holding only one rail became normal. I felt like I could even balance occasionally while riding.

Nick had us practice standing up balancing on the pedals, getting us accustomed to the various ways a rider must adapt to how the unicycle moves.
We practiced within the safety of the rails. Nick escorted each of us on a solo ride, holding onto his arm. While it was slow going, it was fun to consider some day I too could ride without assistance. Mind you, it will take a few classes to get there.

Nicole Tsong teaches yoga at studios around Seattle. Read her blog at papercraneyoga.com. Email: papercraneyoga@gmail.com. Benjamin Benschneider is a Pacific NW magazine staff photographer.