Student actor takes the acrobatic stage

Samo has a multitude of extracurricular activities, many of which students of all different backgrounds take part in. Whether it’s music or sports, acting or art, it is common to find students enrolled in one or more of these electives. However, it is rare for students to be enrolled in such unique activities as Robbie Levis-Fitzgerald (’19). Levis-Fitzgerald, is an acrobat for Aerial Warehouse, a facility that offers lessons and classes for aerial arts and action arts to kids and adults.“[At Aerial White house], my specialty is the trapeze, but we try to focus on all the different apparatus so that we can step up if someone is sick,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. Levis-Fitzgerald has been regularly practicing acrobacy for ten years. In fact, he participates in acrobacy with fervent determination, rehearsing consistently between six to ten hours a week, and sometimes up to 20 hours when shows are around the corner.“We usually have a winter showcase (it’s at Barnum this year) and a spring show,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. “I’m part of the older kids, so I generally feature as a guest star to inspire the young kids and to show them what’s possible.”Although, Levis-Fitzgerald is a part of the older group now, when he was much younger, he was yet to be inspired by acrobacy. However, after attending an acting camp that took place within a circus, he fell in love with the art.“I had always been baffled by all the equipment up there, and one day, in the camp, we got the opportunity to try them out,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. “Ever since then I’ve been loving this sport.”According to Levis-Fitzgerald, he understands the rarity of his sport but is also very proud. He tells many people of his talent and invites his friends from school to watch him perform. However, while Levis-Fitzgerald is motivated in this domain, he is not sure whether he wants to make it a career. “I really like it but I’m not sure whether I want to spend my entire life doing that,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. “I will definitely continue it though.” In addition, his sport (like most) is very dangerous and requires an immense amount of skill, and sometimes even luck, to stay away from life-threatening situations.“One day, while we were performing outside, there was this rig that was barely planted in the floor. When I went to do my drop, the whole thing collapsed. It was absolutely terrifying,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. Although his parents support him in his endeavours, Levis-Fitzgerald admitted that his dad often gets nervous when he’s performing a dangerous trick. “He tells me that he always gets scared when I’m in the air after a drop,” Levis-Fitzgerald said.In addition to acrobatics, he also appears in a different medium of art: theater. He’s been featured as Reverend Parris in the recent production of “The Crucible” and walked on a globe in the 2014 musical production of “The Wizard of Oz.”“Acting plays a big part in my life and I love it. I was truly happy to be able to play in The Crucible,” Levis-Fitzgerald said.Ever since he was five years old, Levis-Fitzgerald has been in love with both acrobats and acting. He has even noticed that they share some striking similarities.“Acrobats and acting are very similar,” Levis-Fitzgerald said. “Sometimes, right after a jump let’s say, and you’re hundreds of feets in the air, you have to keep a smile and act as if you are calm and relaxed when in reality you are absolutely terrified. You have to take in a character in a way.”Although Levis-Fitzgerald played an antagonist in “The Crucible,” in real life he is a great character with a big heart and most importantly, great acrobatic techniques. In the future, he plans to keep his options open to other passions, but still continue acting and acrobatics.