Jonathan Wells, a senior UNH theater and dance major, is tall and trim without an ounce of body fat. His dark features are striking, and his muscles are sculpted and defined, long and lean as a dancer's should be - except his specialty doesn't have anything to do with the ground.
He is a member of the Aerial Dance program at UNH, and he has been training to become a high-flying trapeze artist of the future.
His last performance with the Aerial Dance class was Wednesday night, but he hopes this won't be the end of his trapeze career.
"I am applying to aerial dance companies all over the country, four so far," he said. "I plan on spending the summer training at Nimble Arts in Brattleboro, Vt. with Serenity and Elsie Smith, who were performers with Cirque du Soleil for four years. And I hope to make it to a couple of big aerial conventions and workshops to meet people and get my name out there."
The aerial dance class started in the fall of 2003 by Gay Nardone, an associate professor and choreographer of the jazz and tap portion of the UNH Dance Company. The class is held three days a week as Nardone supervises the aspiring aerialists in the Newman Dance Studio.
Wells' passion started three years ago, when he saw a UNH Dance Company show. He was in awe of the performers high above the stage as they contorted their bodies around the ropes of the trapeze. He joined the following fall, and hasn't stopped since.
"I remember never being able to watch the dancers on the floor when people were on trapeze," Wells said. "I wanted to steal that attention, too."
Originally, he wanted something completely different. Wells, 25, has been a carpenter and a farmer for many years and came to UNH as an English major. After just one aerial dance class, he was hooked and decided to change his major, a move that didn't go over too well at first with his family.
"It took some convincing, but in the end my parents realized this was where my passion lay," Wells said. "Once they saw me perform a few times they were convinced. Since then they have been amazingly supportive, and actually have become huge fans of Cirque du Soleil."
Aerial dance has gained a lot of popularity in recent years because of Cirque du Soleil, the circus performance troupe from Montreal, Quebec, that has spanned the world and wowed thousands of audiences with its high-flying, high-danger shows. Cirque has permanent shows in Montreal, Las Vegas and at Disney World, as well as traveling shows and a television contract with Bravo.
They are not just a circus, but they take inspiration from the traditional circus performers, gymnasts and dancers. There are no lion tamers or elephant parades. Instead, their shows tell a story with the world's best dancers, singers and acrobats in elaborate costumes and make-up.
Wells has seen Cirque six times and plans on making his seventh visit in July. Cirque du Soleil, which is French for Circus of the Sun, is undoubtedly the "Big Leagues" of the aerial dance world.
"Aerial is growing by leaps and bounds," said Wells. "Cirque is probably the most widely known entertainment company in the world right now so everyone wants to get a little piece of that into their shows."
"If Cirque offered me a job, I'd drop everything and go," says senior aerial student Jessica Trout-Haney. Haney graduates in May with a double major in Zoology and German. She's heading to graduate school at Villanova, but has found an aerial dance studio in Philadelphia to train with.
Andrea Bonsaint, another senior, auditioned with Disney in Florida looking for a chance, but they didn't have any aerial work so she'll try again soon. She will graduate with a degree in civil engineering, and has an engineering job lined up in the fall, but would consider giving it all up to keep flying, she said.
A few recent UNH graduates have done aerial dance work after their careers in Durham were over, but have only received contracts for one show. Most just use it as another dance form to add to their resumes to make them more versatile in the performing arts world. Wells is the first aerial dance student to graduate with the full intention of pursuing a career in trapeze.
Surprisingly, Wells admits that he never lifts weight to build up for his passion.
"I've found that doing what I do now makes me strong but also maintains my flexibility," he said. "The last thing I want to do is put on bulk 'cause that would limit my flexibility. Plus I remember doing weights in high school and it was boring."
Luckily for Wells and the other students in the program, aerial dance is far from boring. It is thrilling, exhilarating and down right dangerous.
"I haven't ever gotten hurt doing this but I know people who have," Wells acknowledges, "and I hear about people being seriously injured or dying at least once a year. You have to always be careful and know what you are capable of.
"Being scared means you aren't completely in control," he explains. "Aerial can be very nerve racking. There have been times I've been 20 feet above a very hard stage floor with nothing but my hands keeping my in the air. I think you have to be aware of the danger and very respectful of it but you can't be scared."
Wells is not only strong enough to support himself on the aerial apparatus, but he often works with a partner. Sometimes he performs with women, yet other times he performs with men equal to his size and strength.
Bonsaint has been doing partner routines with Wells for three semesters. Each semester, they shock audiences with a daring piece. At one point, Bonsaint hung from one knee just from Wells' foot, as Wells gripped the bar of the trapeze above them.
"At first I was really scared," Bonsaint said. "It was hard to trust another person that much. But we kept practicing and we got comfortable with each other. Now, we're to the point where we can try different tricks and really wow the crowd."
"I've always trusted myself and all of my partners," Wells said. "I learned early on that you lose control when you are tired or not paying attention."
He once had an incident when his partner let go before he was ready, and he slipped a few inches, burning his hands down the rope of the trapeze. His heart stopped, until he realized he was strong enough to maintain the trick and get off the equipment safely.
"It happened way too fast to think," he remembers. "All I had time to do was grab the rope and stop myself. People talk about falling slowly and having time to realize that it's a bad thing but it wasn't that way for me. It was all over in a flash and then I got the rush of adrenaline after I had stopped."
While most students graduating from UNH have taken exams and written papers and hope that their education gets them a good job, Jon Wells can say that his UNH education taught him how to fly.
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