I lived on the circus train. A very small couchette-style room on the train. So your whole personal and professional life were one. They develop acts and skills and techniques there over a lifetime. And I think it really needs to be that way.
Circus performers are nomads, essentially.
I was about ten years older than the other clowns, who tended to be right out of high school and fueled by adrenaline. I had a car and furniture, friends back in Boston, and I also wanted to do other things. As much as I loved clowning and the excitement of the circus, I think I really wanted to do what I'm doing now in the field of dance and theater and to be my own boss. And also, I started developing my own work which I wanted to continue, rather than just be one of eighteen clowns in a huge extravaganza. For the last three or four years I've been making pieces on my own and with other people, thinking about establishing a dance company.