Genie Cartier: Performing with the Circus

(For Real!)

How did motherhood change your creative practice?

As a circus performer, my body is my creative tool. Being pregnant was incredibly difficult for me for that reason (and because it is just generally difficult). And then needing a C-section felt like a violation of my artistry. I didn’t know if I would ever go back to doing acrobatics— my body felt so foreign to me. But as I healed and started to feel like myself again, I realized that I should have had more faith in my own persistence and ability to carry on. All those years spent doing hours and hours of exercises made my body more adaptable than I could have imagined! Not only did I go back to acrobatics, but because my body had a rest from it during pregnancy and postpartum, I actually healed some longtime injuries and was able to exceed the level I was performing at pre-pregnancy. And I gained more confidence in my body, because I felt like I could do anything after the difficulty of childbirth. So ultimately, it made me more able to achieve my artistic goals.

(Genie performing as a child in China Town in 1997)

How does art enrich your life? How does being a mother enrich your art?

I can’t imagine life without art. I have always filled my spare time with it— both as a circus performer and as a writer. During the first month of my pregnancy (which also was during Covid), I completed NaNoWriMo for the first time and actually wrote a 50,000 word novel, despite horrific morning sickness. I don’t know if I could have done that had I not been motivated by the murkiness of my future lifestyle. I didn’t know if having a baby would rob me of any time for creativity, so I tried to get everything done that I could before she came. But then, I realized that managing time is all about priorities. And art will never not be a priority for me. It’s like air or water. So I decided that I needed to prioritize the art that I can only do while I’m young enough: performing acrobatics. I’m now touring a solo show about my life as an acrobat, which is even going to Edinburgh Fringe this year. And my daughter— who is already becoming a little circus performer herself— will understand the time I had to spend away from her when she’s older and has her own dreams to achieve. At least that’s my hope. And I hope she’s proud of me too! There’s a part of the show where I talk about her, and it makes me cry every time. People come up to me afterwards and comment on how real that moment is— and that’s because it is real. Nothing is more real than being a mother, it’s the deepest artistic well there is.

What inspires you outside of your genre?

I’m obsessed with movies, in fact at one time I wanted to be a filmmaker. Going to UCLA and realizing how harsh the film industry is crushed that dream. But I still feel very inspired by cinematic techniques, both in writing, and in performing and directing circus shows. I love the way great films reveal information through little visual codes, or create tension through what you’re seeing and not seeing. We live in such a visual society that it’s hard not to be drawn into striking aesthetics, and film is such a strong influence on how we view the world around us, even in real life.

(Teaser for Genie’s solo show)

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Genie Cartier is a San Francisco native with a nearly-3-year-old daughter named Zelda, who is a second-generation SF native! With a background in Chinese acrobatics and aerial rope training, she has performed a unique mix of acrobatics and hand-balancing on a folding chair all over San Francisco and Los Angeles, with companies such as Hubba Hubba Revue, Fishnet Follies, Circus Finelli, Picklewater Clown Festival, Literary Foolery and Machina Candeo. She was the co-creator and star of Genie and Audrey’s Dream Show!, an award-winning two-woman circus, which toured fringe festivals in 4 different cities and won the Best of Fringe award in San Francisco. In 2017, she co-founded Bow & Arrow Circus Theatre Collective, a small but mighty company that creates and performs original, high quality circus theater shows in the Bay Area and beyond. Her directorial debut, Dark Side of the Circus, a circus choreographed to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon, continues to run after tours in both Mexico and California. Her new solo show “the Curve” premiered in January 2023 as part of a residency at San Francisco Circus Center, and won the Best of Fringe award at SF Fringe 2023.

If you’re in the Bay Area, go watch a show and follow for updates @bowandarrowcircus on Instagram.

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