One of our youth circus students, Sadhbh, joined us for their TY work experience back in November. This June, Sadhbh was chosen as an ambassador for Cruinniú na nÓg ( alongside another Youth Circus Student, Molly). We’ll hear all about their experience as ambassadors later, but for now, Sadbh wrote about their time working at Circus Factory…

Take it away, Sabhbh!

Tuesday

I began my work experience at Circus Factory on Tuesday, the 11th of November. I came hoping to learn more about the space in general, how it is managed, and all the behind-the-scenes that go into running an organisation like this. I got exactly what I was looking for, and I feel I know so much more about Circus than I ever would if I hadn’t done my work experience here.

On Tuesday, there was a rigging inspection. It’s where someone comes in, in our case a lovely woman called Gill, who’s also a circus artist, and examines all the equipment in the space to make sure it is up to code and safe enough to work on. Equipment can either pass, be monitored or fail.

• Pass means that the equipment is perfectly safe and can continue being used.
• Monitor means that it’s perfectly safe and can continue, but will probably fail next year
• And a fail means that it needs to be retired and not used again.

Gill showed me her criteria for each rating. She said you need to monitor the main pressure points being used on the equipment for wear, and once a dent is 1mm deep, it needs to be retired. I also learned that the aluminium equipment often retires quicker than steel as it erodes quicker. I was told that in Circus Factory, we are trying to move away from normal carabiners and start using tri-locks. Tri-locks have an easier, often safer three-step locking mechanism, hence the name.

I finally saw what all the different equipment looks like, such as swivels, maillons, pulleys, anchors and safety eights. This has given me a much better understanding of the equipment I use on a weekly basis, and how it should be rigged to ensure safety. Chris (building manager) had an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of all the equipment and whether it was missing, retired or almost too old to keep being used. In school, we are doing a course on PowerPoint, Word, and Excel, so it was very helpful to see how they are used in everyday working environments.

During the rigging inspection, a genie had to be used to reach the equipment already rigged and in the ceiling. There were four lights on the genie that turned on when a corner was secured down. Laurie (Company Manager) showed me how that worked and how the machine worked as a whole. I helped move around the battery and charger while using the genie and then standing back so I could see what Gill was inspecting and what her score was for each piece of equipment. 

Sadhbh holding rigging equipment at Circus Factory

The last thing I did on Tuesday was shadow a youth aerial class. I observed how the teachers were able to get the kids’ attention and keep them focused on the task at hand. I helped manage a game of Silent Chess where the kids had to tap people from the other team to get them out, but only one person can move at a time, and no talking is allowed. We then moved on to teaching the kids some actual skills after warming them up. I was instructing some girls on what to do when they were in the air and helping them if they got confused or stuck.

Overall, Tuesday was a very educational day for me. It was incredibly useful learning about equipment and rigging, given that they are so important to the space and the work done here. I gained insight into the office work by organising and scanning receipts. I also gained experience in teaching kids and how chaotic it can be to keep them focused. All in all, I loved my first day as I had already learned so much about a workspace like Circus Factory.

Wednesday

Wednesday began with more office work. Meg, who works for the Circus Factory doing marketing, was showing me what I would be doing for the day. The main plan was to write another blog on my trip to the National Circus Festival of Ireland in Tralee for the company website, as well as this blog on my experience here at Circus Factory. I started making mind maps for my blogs so I could remember everything I had done and was in the process of doing. I sat in on a small bit of a marketing webinar Meg was listening to and learned small things about how to market circus to people.

I also read the beginning of a book written by Michael Gaulette, better known as Gromic. Michael had written about how, when advertising an act or a show to people, context is vital to the success of that act or show. Reading on taught me important ways to market shows to people and how context can ruin an amazing act or make a not-so-great act a smashing success. I really enjoyed this part of the work experience as it opened up different job options for me within the circus industry.

I was also able to meet many performers who were practising for a show or just training in general. I saw the behind-the-scenes of an upcoming show for this Saturday based on Edgar Allan Poe and his poem The Raven. Meg showed me how she edits videos for Circus Factory social media, and I loved seeing every aspect of the marketing for this company.

I began writing up my Circus Fest blog and stayed with that for the rest of the day until the Wednesday aerial class began and I shadowed that just like on Tuesday. The main focus of this class was trapeze and wall dance. I assisted Jordan with the trapeze, reminding students to keep their thumbs over the bar for safety and helping them while they were in the air with the next step to the routine. Once the class finished, I helped put away the mats just like the night before while the cool down was happening.

Wednesday was so helpful, showing me the behind-the-scenes office work that goes into keeping Circus factory running. I left with a much better understanding of marketing, specifically marketing performances and shows. I really enjoyed helping out with the aerial class, assisting the instructors wherever needed.

Sadhbh is an ambassador for Crunniú na nÓg 2026

Thursday

Thursday has mostly been spent writing this blog and keeping up to date with my computer skills on Google Docs. There are more receipts to be scanned and organised so that the finance side of the business can become fully digital. There is also a mixed circus class at the end of the day that I will get to shadow. This will be incredibly helpful as I will be able to see how different instructors approach different classes, especially in a class that is not focused on aerial.

On her work experience, Sadhbh got a rounded view of how Circus Factory operates, from rigging and teaching classes to finance management and marketing. We’re delighted to hear just how much Sadhbh enjoyed her week with us. We’re excited to see her continuing her circus education and who knows, maybe she’ll be working with us as a coach or in the office in the future!

Would you like to try Circus? We’ve got circus classes for kids, and classes for adults.