Meet Ana Cruz | Circus Performer and Instructor

We had the good fortune of connecting with Ana Cruz and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Ana, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
I was born in Miami, Florida and moved to New Jersey when I was 11 years old to be closer to family. My father had passed away when I was 8 years old and my mom was struggling to raise me as a single mother. Having two Cuban parents, I was raised in a loving and loud household. We ate a lot and danced a lot. But when my father took his own life, my mother decided to move us closer to her extended family in New Jersey.

Losing my father at such a young age made a huge impact on me and my upbringing. My mother hyper-focused on working multiple jobs and I was left to my devices. I turned to partying and substances to try to quiet the trauma that I had never faced, and didn’t want to start to face at that point. I cycled through lots of therapists and psychiatrists, hoping to find an answer as to why I am the way that I am. It took me about 20 plus years to realize that I had to be the change I wanted in my life. I moved to Colorado in my mid twenties and started to make changes. I became more active, became vegan, picked up hula hoops, and decided that I wanted to fulfill my life-long dream of becoming a performer..

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Shortly after I moved to Boulder in 2013, I saw some hula hoopers with wireless headphones on the Pearl Street mall, known as the Silent Disco of Boulder. I started attending these weekly events and picked up a hula hoop for the first time. Although it was a struggle at first, I received some great guidance from the owner of the silent disco and my hoop mama, Jodi Frank Evans. I was quickly hooked to hula hooping and never put them down to this day. After a few years of recreational hula hooping, I decided that I wanted to take it to the next level and start performing. What started as a side job quickly became a full-time career. I quit my 9-5 and decided to make this my career.

Things were going really well until February 2020, when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. When I received this diagnosis, I thought my life and career were over right then and there. My neurologist was wonderful and encouraged me to continue doing what I love to do. It was a very difficult transition for almost two years. The pandemic hit and I was stuck at home re-learning my body and looking inward. I was so low that I almost gave up my passion for performing altogether. Slowly but surely things started to open up and I returned back to working as a circus teacher and performer. Now, I own my own circus entertainment company called Elevated Circus. We hope to bring high-scale circus entertainment to Colorado and beyond as well as employ local artists on livable wages.

I am so grateful to be doing what I love to do, regardless of what obstacles life throws my way. I want others to read this and hopefully be inspired to push themselves to their fullest potential, regardless of what others may think.

It has certainly been an uphill battle to continue performing and instructing after being diagnosed. Having an auto-immune disease means that you cannot plan for your flair-up days and hope that they align with your busy show days. My body does what it wants when it wants and my job is to be gentle with myself and be prepared for any possibility.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
I would take them to Watercourse, one of my favorite vegetarian restaurants in Denver. Then, we would go for a hike, probably to Mount Falcon because it has the best views for not too much work for those sea-level lungs. Then, we would go to one of the many burlesque shows happening in Denver; there’s a lot to choose from every week!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Along my path to success, I had many supporters, mentors, and guides that helped me achieve my goals. I consider the Boulder Circus Center to be my circus home because that is where I got my start. I attended weekly flow movement jams on Wednesday evenings for several years until I was asked to join the management team and run the weekly jams. I ran these jams for about 4 years before the pandemic brought them to a halt. Currently,, I am a youth circus instructor at the Boulder circus center and teach circus to 5-15 year olds. I also want to mention Staza Stone, who was a huge conduit to my aerial and performance journey. She not only gave me custom-tailored private lessons for about 3 years, but she helped me become a better performer with her guidance. I wouldn’t be the performer I am today without her amazing guidance and patience with me.
Lastly, I want to mention companies such as Mesmerie Entertainment, Circus Foundry, and Starry Night Productions for giving me opportunities to excel in my career and fine-tune my performance style.

Website: Www.ElevatedCircus.com

Instagram: Www.instagram.com/anamalhoops

Facebook: Www.facebook.com/anamalhoops

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYkDCscR0IKtvHi09A9i1bA/videos

Image Credits
Robert Olsen Photography, Gina Schettini