Most college students don’t have the necessary training or ambition to join Cirque du Soleil. But Elon University freshman Sophia Koh is not an average college student - she’s also an acrobat.
Koh became interested in acrobatics when she was eight years old, at a summer camp that had a trapeze. At the time, she was so small that she couldn’t even reach the bar.
“The counselor on the board had to put me on his knee and lean out with me so I could grab it”, she said.
But once she was able to grab hold of the bar, a passion for acrobatics was born.
“I realized how much fun I was having and just couldn’t stop doing it,” she said.
Since then, Koh has worked to perfect her craft by continuing to train at the same summer camp she first grabbed a trapeze on, and by taking a few classes at the Trapeze School of New York.
There are no types of competitions for trapeze. According to Koh, it’s an art, not a sport. So instead, she displays her skills in trapeze shows.
“That’s where you just fly your best trick and watch everyone else fly theirs,” Koh said.
Still, even though she can’t prove her acrobatic acumen through wins or statistics, Koh has reached a level of skill that few ascend to.
She is qualified to “pull lines”, meaning that she can be relied on to control the safety lines of others. She is also qualified to “catch” others. Catching, according to Koh, is when someone flies their trick across the trapeze, and someone is on the other “bar.”
“I’m qualified to be the person on the other bar who grabs you and you hold on to my hands while I hang from my knees and we swing together,” she said.
And in addition to all that, Koh no longer uses safety lines while she is on the trapeze.
Her father, Rick, attests to her level of skill.
“As a parent it is thrilling to watch Sophia fly,” Rick Koh said. “Her knowledge of the apparatus and procedures to use it safely are impressive. Her competence, confidence and love of the trapeze is infectious and it definitely makes a strong positive impact on her students.”
Unfortunately for Koh, she cannot do trapeze at Elon because the university not have the required equipment. She calls not being able to do trapeze while at school the hardest part about her skill.
Her ideal career would be in Cirque du Soleil, but Koh feels she won’t be able to attain it.
“I just don’t have the time to train extensively and commit to it,” she said.
As a psychology major, she has other plans.
“I might want do something with schizophrenic or autistic research, or maybe work in the cinema industry focusing on psychological thrillers,” she said.
Still, even if her future is in psychology and not acrobatics, it seems that Koh will always have fond memories of her experiences on the trapeze — especially without the safety lines.
“Being able to fly knowing there is nothing holding you back is the best feeling in the entire world,” she said.