Angie Holshouser’s Flying Circus

Angie Holshouser was 3 years old when she was bitten by the Aerial Antics Circus bug. Her first forward roll on stage, and the applause that followed, sealed the deal, and she’s been a part of what makes the City of Vero Beach Recreation Department’s performing arts program, which got its start 50 years ago, such a success story.

If you’ve never been to an Aerial Antics Circus performance, held at Saint Edward’s Gonzalez-Lobo Activities Center the first week of August, and seen youthful aerialists enthusiastically perform, you’ve missed something special.

While Holshouser, the director of the city’s Centerstage Acrobatic Complex, is no longer on stage performing forward rolls, she and coworkers Patty Howard, Alex Thomas, and Liz Matthews are standing in the wings making sure all of the performers have their time to shine in the spotlight.

Holshouser will never forget how it feels: the excitement, the sense of accomplishment, and how it shaped her future.

“I was a Jiminy Cricket, a little baby in the program when it was held at the Heritage Center, and I loved it! That was 45 years ago! As I got older I stayed with it, became a junior staffer, a part-time employee, then full-time.

“I love Aerial Antics—we all love it! Patty, Alex, Liz, and I do it all from top to bottom. We’re a team. We get together in a room, write the script, and design the backdrops, costumes, and choreography. I don’t know how we do it, but somehow or another it works.

“We have almost 200 kids in the program, and we have to find a spot for every one of them; that’s why we have two performances. It’s such fun and the kids are really great. In fact, some of the ones who were in the show years before are now back with their kids. It shows how much the program meant to them.”

“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” says Holshouser, who would still be tumbling, twisting, and turning on the ropes and silks if her body would let her.

Time takes a toll, but not on her enthusiasm for teaching acrobatics. “My favorite part of the job is being with the kids,” she says. “There’s nothing better than a child running up to you before a gymnastics class and saying, ‘Miss Angie, Miss Angie’ and giving me a hug. It’s the best!”

And that “best” begins at the Centerstage Acrobatic Complex at Leisure Square, where recreational and performing arts classes for boys and girls aged 3 to teenagers and beyond are held. Under the direction of USA Gymnastics, trained staff teach skills that promote self-esteem and a can-do attitude through positive encouragement.

The philosophy works. “Kids in our programs come from all demographics, from the homeless to beachside. For some we may be the one place they look forward to coming to,” says Holshouser. “We work on positivity, say ‘You’re doing a great job, keep it up.’

“Show times are the best. The moment the kids have been working so hard for is actually happening. The spotlight is on them, and their faces light up as they go through their routines.

“We high-five them off the stage, let them know we’re proud of them. And we are. I’ll always want teaching to be a part of my everyday routine. I truly have the best job ever.”