Cloaked in lengthy long fabrics with her head held high, sophomore Nikita Mallik soars above an audience demonstrating her acrobatic abilities.
Last year Mallik joined the Parker community as a freshman. Although born in Hyde Park, Mallik moved to Salt Lake City at age two due to her dad’s medical residency program.
Throughout her six years in Utah, Mallik learned to appreciate the outdoors. “I spent time camping in the national parks,” Mallik said. “That part, I do miss… But, honestly, I’ve grown up and have become more aware of who I am in the world.”
There were many new students in the class of 2028, yet Mallik still found that switching schools wasn’t perfectly seamless. “Since I’m new, it’s definitely been an adjustment,” Mallik said. “I think Bridge did a good job of acclimating the new kids, but it was definitely hard to jump into the social circles that had already been made.”
Mallik has managed to form strong connections with her peers in her short time at Parker. “She’s very trustworthy and loyal,” sophomore Sloane Trukenbrod said. “I appreciate how witty she is… I’ve never had a dull moment around her,” sophomore Khalia Lastic said.
Mallik spends her time out of school as part of an ensemble, Aloft Circus. Circus, which for many, triggers thoughts of elephants, unicycles, and contortionists, is not only a form of entertainment, but also a form of artistic expression.
Although the origins of Circus aren’t perfectly clear, considering different cultures have some overlapping forms of entertainment and traditions, it is generally accepted that Circus originated in ancient Rome. Back then, in the sixth century under the rule of Tarquinius Priscus, Circus was more of a sport. With acts referred to as Blood Sports, such as gladiatorial combats, mock battles, and chariot racing, this concept of circus has evolved over the years. For Mallik and her ensemble, it is an art form and a means of expression combined with physically demanding activities rather than plainly entertainment or sport.
Mallik specializes in aerial arts, and she most frequently practices and performs on the silks. Her other two main specialties are the trapeze and the lyra. These different acts can be placed into two general categories: Bars, and verticals. While lyra is in the bars category, ropes and silks are in verticals.
The lyra is a round ring that typically is suspended in the air for acrobats to perform on. “It’s very bruisy,” Mallik said. “Even for people who’ve done it their whole lives, or do it very often, you get a lot of bruises.”
The trapeze, in Aloft Circus’ case, is stationary. It doesn’t swing – rather, performers execute skills while the bar remains in place.
The aerial silks are lengthy pieces of fabric that are suspended from the ceiling. In Mallik’s case, considering Aloft Circus uses an old church for their practice and performance space, she has the opportunity of hanging roughly forty feet above the ground.
“The adrenaline is very real. There are some times, especially when you’re really, really high up, you’re doing a drop that requires you to fall down,” Mallik said. “You’re just looking down, and you’re just like, ‘how did I get here?’ Then, I close my eyes and I let go.”
Being as invested as she is in circus has its struggles. The time commitment doesn’t leave her with much flexibility and limits space for other activities, yet Mallik continues with her engagement in Aloft Circus.
Mallik maintains her dedication to circus. She’s grown up surrounded by this specific culture and people. “It’s been such a big part of my life for a long time,” Mallik said. “I just really enjoy doing it and enjoy the people I’ve met through it. It’s a great community.” She continued by saying that her ensemble is, “very tightly knit. There’s only twelve of us.”
Every year, Aloft Circus develops and performs a show. This show is not solely led by the instructors but by the members of the ensemble, too. “We build a show together every single year. Putting that show together is just one of the most rewarding parts of it,” Mallik said.
The camaraderie is what has kept her coming back year after year. “You do circus to create something beautiful – to create something meaningful. To work together,” Mallik said.
“There was a moment a few years ago – the theme of the show was space. We had all of these star machines… it was 11p.m. We were all tired, all lying on the ground, and they turned the machines on. Then, it lit up the whole space, and it was so beautiful. The feeling of all of your hard work paying off and doing something that makes the people watching feel emotions… you can’t really trade that for anything else.”
