F
ive years ago, Cyrus Luciano had a day job and a lot of outdoor hobbies. “I was into typical Reno mountain sports, climbing, kayaking, skiing, things like that,” he said. One day, he picked up a Cyr wheel—a steel or aluminum ring that a performer stands in to spin or roll. He found it a lot of fun, and he wanted to practice it more seriously. “I realized there’s no place in Reno to spin in a Cyr wheel,” Luciano said. “I was doing it everywhere I could, on tennis courts, sidewalks.” He began dreaming of opening a facility where he and others could practice his newfound skill. “After some thought, I came to the realization that wouldn’t be a sustainable business model, to just do Cyr wheel,” he said. Around that time, he met Keisha Thrift at a climbing gym, where she worked. She taught him partner acrobatics. He taught her Cyr wheel. “That was the deal that started it all,” Thrift said. “We both started off with academia. We were set on this path to do the corporate thing Keisha thrift left a for eight hours a day, job in the cannabis industry and is now every day.” program director for Their path took a acro enso. sharp turn. They looked at facilities like the San Diego Circus Center and the Movement Sanctuary in St. Petersburg, Florida, for inspiration. They searched for a space to rent in Reno, maybe something in the 3,000-square-foot range. Eventually, they found the former Anchor Auctions building on East Fourth Street. Its 9,400-square-foot interior was a lot more space than they’d planned for, but the commercial rental market is tight, and they hadn’t found a suitable space in their original size range. “We decided to just go for it,” Luciano said. The directors’ dreams expanded to fit the space. They added dance to their list of core disciplines, and they looked around town for instructors in other specialties, too. Luciano and Thrift signed a seven-year lease, and now they’re the owners of Acro Enso, a new acrobatics and circus arts gym. It soft-opened in March, and a grand opening is scheduled for April 6.
With the
greatest of ease
Reno has a new circus arts and acro gym Story and photoS by KriS Vagner k ri s v @ne w s re v i e w . c o m
14
|
RN&R
|
04.04.19
They plan to offer classes in yoga, Pilates, clowning, stilting and martial arts. As of last weekend, the gym was transitioning from an empty warehouse to a wide-open space with long streaks of sunlight, thick mats for acrobats, and an enormous vinyl dance floor. Soon, the proprietors said, one long wall will be lined with mirrors, there will be a small workout area with dumbbells and squat racks, and the entry lounge will be decorated with seating, cubbies and a wall mural by local painter Bryce Chisholm. Later on, maybe in a year or two, they plan to install ceiling equipment for aerial dancers. “We’re going to be a fullspectrum fitness center,” Thrift said. “We’re aiming for up to 20 classes a day. … We have open playtimes, three-hour blocks where you can come in and do your thing, play independently, work with a personal trainer, work with your kids.”
Family values As Luciano’s six-year-old daughter ran giggling around the huge, empty expanse, he and Thrift explained that it’s important to them to create a gym that’s friendly to families and nurturing to children. “We’re pairing our children’s classes next to our adult classes,” Thrift said. “So, you can come in and start a class—let’s say a belly dance class, if you’d like—while your child does ‘Acro Tykes.’” The adult class and youth class will start and end at the same time. She figures this will attract parents who’ve waited on the sidelines during a kids’ class, then had to find a babysitter so they could take their own fitness class. When it comes to families, Luciano and Thrift didn’t just consider convenience. They were also thinking about some values they hold dear—like cooperation and play. Luciano recalled a conversation he’d once heard between a parent and Daniel Cyr, developer of the Cyr wheel. The parent asked Cyr what advice he had for a young person who wanted to be a professional acrobatic. How should they be training? “Daniel stopped them,” Luciano recalled. “And he was
