Fitness Clubs
Centre of Gravity West
Centre of Gravity has brought its take on circus training to the west end with the opening of its new facility in the Sterling Road lofts. Its arrival marks the beginning of some healthy trapeze competition, since the lofts already house Cirque-ability, a similar aerial, acrobatic, and fitness facility. But the folks at Centre of Gravity are confident they'll make their mark on the west end, considering the success they've had with their east location, plus the 40-foot loft ceiling they now have at their disposal.
I decide to check out the new digs about a week after the opening, and find myself faced with handfuls of little tumblers who are trying futility to perfect the perfect cartwheel. Don't worry kids--I've never gotten it down. Instructor Kalen Davidson leaves the mats and comes to the tables where a couple of parents have gathered to view, and tells me a bit about Centre of Gravity and its plans for the new space.
"The great thing about here is the ceilings," he says. "You won't find heights like this anywhere in Toronto."
I ask a naive question about harnesses during practice and instruction, and luckily Kalen is polite and doesn't laugh at my very-apparent alarm.
"What we do is develop your strength on the ground," he says. "People who maintain certain lifestyles--those who do yoga, fitness activities--they'll find it's actually pretty easy to transition to some of the activities we offer here."
While the full adult roster for the west Centre of Gravity is still being fine-tuned, Kalen says it will include classes for programs such as aerial arts, flexibility training, and even juggling and clown training. "It will be pretty similar to what we have at the east location," Kalen says.
Classes for kids will run as young as four years old, and circus instruction packages for beginner adults generally run under $200 for 16 classes. The west end facility, like Centre of Gravity East, will also offer open gym from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday to Friday for people to drop in and go at for just $5. Subsidization by Circus Without Borders, Kalen tells me, is what keeps the price tag so low.
During our conversation my eye can't help but wander to the back of the gym, where a presumed professional is toying with a suspended gold box frame, pulling at what looks like knotted silks off the bottom. He hoists himself up, and flips from upside-down to on his side, then a variety of other ways that make me nauseous just by watching. Centre of Gravity may be a well-reputed place to first learn how to tackle aerial hoops, but it also strikes me as a great place to catch a quick, informal show.
Writing by Robyn Urback. Photos by Jesse Milns
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Then we arrive to find nothing ready for us because there was a ball hockey game in their prior to our party that ended when we were supposed to be starting.
We had 20 six year old boys and they only have us two staff - meaning that there were only two stations set up to do the circus activities. You can imagine how well it went over having only two kids in an activity while 18 of them were to sit quietly and wait their turn?!? It was chaos. The whole party just involved boys "waiting around" which translated into running around and boredom. The poor parents who stuck around with us ended up having to police children the whole time.
There was face painting and balloon shaping offered for the kids, but with only two staff it took forever - with no activities for the kids waiting their turn. Additionally, because there was another ball hockey game starting when our party ended (no gap of time in between), one of the two staff members spent the last 15 minutes of our party cleaning up the circus equipment while the other one staff had to do twenty balloons. At that point the kids and parents were done with waiting around for their turns again (patents chasing down rambunctious bored boys!).
Plus all of the ball hockey players came in and were in the party waiting for their game.
The whole party was out of control, boring, and very overpriced. We have held and attended many children's parties for our two children and their friends, and this was by far our worst experience.
We tried for a couple of weeks to negotiate a discount or partial refund - and they cashed our cheque while we were still trying to "negotiate" and then just stopped talking to us. Took our money and ran, so to speak. Horrible customer service.
Please don't support this place - they don't deserve your business. If you want a circus party in the west end, there is another circus school in the same building who seemed much friendlier when we spoke with them. We regret not having tried them instead.