Here’s a fascinating tidbit. In the 1400’s, something happened that enabled the explosion of art, science, and learning that heralded the European renaissance: the invention of the printing press. For the first time, information could be more easily and widely distributed, enabling scholars and scientists to build upon the discoveries of others. In short, they no longer had to reinvent the blasted wheel on the daily – they could piggyback on the knowledge of others. This kind of sling-shotted things forward, and POOF! Renaissance.

Now, why on earth did I share this with you? Cause we’re gonna chat about a potentially combustible subject: the self-taught circus artist and teacher.

Surprise – I’m (Partially) Self-Taught!

OK – yes and no. When I began my circus journey a bazillion years ago, coaches were few and far between. I moved to CA, and then to Montreal in pursuit of training. Thing was, aerial fabrics were still in their infancy, and everything was a little wild west. Everyone was trying to figure out what the hell to do with this apparatus, so vocabularies were MUCH smaller than the glut of moves we have now. I got a great start in technique and safety, but there was a lot – A LOT – of figuring stuff out, both on my own and with my coach.

Nowadays, you can’t throw a stick without hitting a silks teacher in the head – oh, if I’d had the resources we have now! There is so, so much I wouldn’t have had to figure out the hard way, and a lot of frustration I probably could have sidestepped. I didn’t see my self-taught stuff as a badge of honor, I was desperate for trained eyes on it to make it better. Training and education lifts us up to another level. Even now, I’m ALWAYS looking for better – better technique, better transitions, better cuing, better business practices, etc. Education is a GOOD THING, and we’re never, ever, ever done. Never ever. Even master coaches are never done (and if they say they are, watch out – hubris and rigidity are setting in – ugh).

The Good

Being self-taught can absolutely have it’s advantages! You get really good at breaking down how things work, because you have to. There’s also a certain sense of freedom – with fewer “rules” to hem you in, you can often explore an apparatus or movement style in an incredibly fresh way. In fact, I’d love to see this spirit seeping a bit more into mainstream work.

The Bad

I’m going to just go ahead and dive in in my usual candid way. There are some real and serious drawbacks that cannot be ignored or casually brushed aside.

At the forefront is safety. When we have to cobble information together, while simultaneously evaluating EVERYTHING for trustworthiness, it’s a lot; we often miss the mark. From questionable DIY rigs to inadvisable movement progressions, this misinformation matters. Major falls, preventable repetitive stress injuries, rigging failure – it all matters. I often see the following all lumped together:

• Questionable rigging
• Poor or inappropriate matting
• Students trying large progressions such as drops with little – or dangerous – technique
• Crappy habits that will take YEARS to undo (easy example is a big old swing back with the legs before a straddle inversion on silks)

All of this is fixable with education! But. Many of us in the educational community have had really negative experiences with self-taught students. My guess is that, when you have to rely on your own understanding of everything for a long time, information and critique can sound like judgment. There’s often push-back as the student actively resists instruction, and this tends to go far beyond the good-natured tackling of accumulated poor habits. Self-taught is frequently translated in our community as “resistant to information” or arrogant – it doesn’t have to be that way.

The Ugly

The USA sometimes has a funny relationship with education, have you noticed? For some, education is seen as “elitist”, somehow suspect. I’ve seen this point of view raise it’s head a number of times in people who are “proudly self taught”.

So, do you need to be ashamed of being “self-taught”? Not at all! The question is, are you determined to stay that way? If so, why? I think it’s easy to romanticize the rebel, the one who’s “bucking the system and living the dream with no training and screw you sheeple, I’m going to do it my way and I don’t need anyone to teach me how!”.

But, what if I told you that you could live the dream and totally do you AND get better by incorporating information from excellent sources? I think it’s really foolish to eschew info and wisdom from experts in your field. Far wiser to sort through EVERYTHING they have to offer, acknowledge where your weaknesses lie, and shore them the f*ck up.

So, if you’ve got awesome coaches and community, amazing! I’m not talking to you. But, if you get most of your training from instagram and youtube, I want to strongly encourage you to seek out excellent instructors (many who will do online coaching with you if there’s no one in your area!), and get with the education. Because self-taught is a place you pass through, not a place you build a condo. Love and pull-ups, Laura