The Circus Place

While home for Thanksgiving, I went to The Circus Place for an hour of open practice time and had a great time! They have a great variety of apparatuses (not only aerial, but also tight rope, hula hoops, ladders, juggling clubs, etc…). During my open practice time, some of the other employees stuck around to practice their own things as well, so the energy in the room was great and they were also able to give me pointers. I’ll definitely be dropping in next time I visit my NJ family for an extended period of time, because this is the only circus place I can find in the area with ceilings high enough to practice drops.
This place also caters to children. I arrived a few minutes before the start of the hour and when I walked in, there was a kids event going on. The kids were super engaged and seemed like they had a great time watching and learning about circus!
The only reason I gave four instead of five stars is that it’s tough to get in touch with the studio and the website is difficult to use. I didn’t get a response after my first few attempts to contact (once through their online contact form and another time that I left a voicemail, but I’m a persistent person, so I arranged my gym time by calling the owner directly, via a phone number I received from another studio where she teaches. Originally, I was going to go to The Circus Place twice during my trip to NJ, but due to a snow storm, I called to cancel the first of those visits. I called to say that I wouldn’t make it due to weather, but went straight to voicemail. However, I later learned that the studio had actually closed during the snow storm on that day, but I wasn’t notified. Perhaps this was due to the fact that I was going to be a drop in student and wasn’t officially registered for the class, but I wish I had received a phone call. It all turned out alright though, but thank goodness I didn’t try to brave the storm, only to arrive to a darkened studio!

The Circus Place is a place that offers fun and fitness, whether you’re looking for a leisurely class or something more intense. The level of instruction is excellent, and there is a wide range of teaching styles, which means that a student can pick the aerial class/​instructor that is right for her/​him. The price is also amazingly competitve — worlds better than paying for a drop in in the city (which can cost you $ 35-​$ 60 per class!); also, few aerial schools in the tri-​state area offer session-​long classes. At The Circus Place, attending a session means that a student will come to class at a certain level and see an obvious progression of skill and fitness level as the weeks/​months go by. Finally, the fact that this school offers open gym drop-​ins for $ 12 for an active student and $ 18 for a non-​active student is excellent; again, the city is so expensive for open gym sessions! Plus, The Circus Place offers an open gym membership package — genius! All in all, a great place…