HER LIFE'S UP IN THE AIR

Mother and circus acrobat Serenity Smith Forchion with her daughter Evalina, who is 7 months old. By David P. Greisman Sentinel Staff
Published: Saturday, June 26, 2010
Life, for Serenity Smith Forchion, is up in the air.
A circus acrobat, she dangles from trapezes, weaves herself up and down hanging fabric, and flies around the world to perform these acts.
Work, however, keeps her well-grounded. She performs, at times, with her twin sister, Elsie Smith, or her husband, Bill Forchion. Elsie and Serenity run the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro. Bill teaches there, too.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Serenity said one evening in their studio, set up on the third floor of an old cotton mill. “We have crazy hours in order to make a living doing this. You have to work all the time.
“I have three businesses. I teach. I perform. We also build circus equipment. Add to that, we have a family, and my husband makes movies. If we didn’t work together, we’d probably never see each other.”
As the 39-year-old Brattleboro woman speaks, her youngest of three children, a 7-month-old girl, crawls on the office floor. Earlier that day, Serenity taught a class with the baby on her back, large curious eyes enraptured with contorted bodies practicing upon various contraptions.
Serenity was first drawn to the circus arts by the trapeze on a trip to the Caribbean.
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Serenity Smith Forchion hangs from a trapeze bar at the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro. Serenity was first drawn to the circus arts by the trapeze on a trip to the Caribbean.