Isabella “Bella” Diaz’s profession is literally jumping through hoops. The Northalsted resident, who can harmonize with a guitar in hand and leap on poles, is touring with Chicago’s Midnight Circus this season.
You remember Midnight Circus in the Parks? The annual show that brings “elite level” circus performers to a Chicago park near you? The family-friendly and pet-friendly nonprofit has been bringing the circus, replete with acrobats, jugglers, contortionists, hula-hoopers, musicians and more — many of whom come from Cirque du Soleil shows or European troupes — to the masses since 2007.
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Diaz‘s smile matches an engaging sense of enthusiasm during a Humboldt Park performance in front of a crowd of parents and children, who just can’t seem to stop themselves from doing cartwheels, leaping from gazebo walls and dancing to the music as the circus entertains. Passersby on foot and in vehicle pause to see what’s taking place.
“With so many kids that come to the show, inevitably there’s like 50 children far away in the park starting to work on cartwheels,” said Diaz, who uses the pronoun they. “Or a kid that comes up to me and asks: ‘Can I show you something?’“
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‘Or I’ll see a kid sneak away from the audience, to do some handstands and to roll around on the ground. I’m like, ‘You go, kid,’” Diaz says.
This is Diaz’s new normal. The Austin neighborhood native came to Midnight Circus during the pandemic, but to watch Diaz in action, one couldn’t tell the performer wasn’t born to the stage. Diaz, a Western Michigan alumnus known for athleticism, laughs knowing everything has come full circle with performances in Chicago’s public parks. The former Level 10 gymnast (the competitive tier right before the Olympics) practiced and competed in those same parks as a youth, starting at age 3. Now Diaz is swinging to the beat as a circus performer.
“I’m definitely sold on the circus life,” Diaz said. “It has every element of performance that I was looking for.”
Growing up in Peterson, Harrison and Jefferson parks gave Diaz a foundation in movement. Chi Arts High School molded Diaz’s power and skill, so important to becoming a dancer. Diaz was invited to train at the Joffrey Ballet School. ChiArts changed Diaz’s trajectory as an artist, one where music and stunts feature prominently.
“When I joined the first circus show, my mom was like: ‘We all saw it coming,’ Because as a kid, I don’t think I knew exactly what circus was, but I knew what stunt doubles were and I wanted to be Evil Knievel as an 8-year-old,” Diaz recollects. “I’m going to do a bunch of stunts and falls. I actually tried to do that through the pandemic. I went to a stunt double school and tried to pursue that, but then the circus intersected and that’s just the path that I chose.”
Diaz was that child doing feats of derring-do on playground equipment, climbing on countertops (something still seen on occasion), surfing on grocery shopping carts at Home Depot, scaring staff … but not Diaz’s mom. The 27-year-old said it became obvious that learning how to fall correctly would be important.
“That’s why (Mom) put me in gymnastics,” said Diaz, who counts rock climbing as a hobby. “(She) was like, ‘This kid is gonna get themselves killed if they don’t figure out how to move their body correctly.’ My mom has always been very supportive and confident in my skills. She’s like: ‘She’s got this. If she’s going to fall, she’ll fall fine.’ She really prioritized our hobbies … that was her mission as a mom, to give us every single thing that we wanted, even though we didn’t have the budget for it, she made a way for it.”
Diaz went to Western Michigan University to study dance, which led to New York and working for the Pilobolus Dance Theatre, a place where Diaz started figuring out a performance niche: physical theater, acrobatics, movement and comedy. A four-year stint touring with Pilobolus followed, as did a brief appearance on the Virgin Voyages cruise ship as a performer. Also on Diaz’s résumé: performing in the 7 Fingers production of “Dear San Francisco.” It was while dancing with Pilobolus — what Diaz refers to as “circus adjacent” — that Diaz encountered circus folk. A performer mentioned Midnight Circus and the trail of intrigue was laid. During a trip home in 2020, Diaz saw Midnight Circus in Foster Park, volunteering with the group soon after, during their first pandemic year. And the rest is history.
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Jeff Jenkins, Midnight Circus’ ringmaster and executive director, said Diaz is an original.
“Bella is a director’s dream. A fearless, wildly talented performer with no ego and no attitude,” he said. “They stand out immediately in the ring, on stage and in life. And they do it with a confidence and kindness that is completely genuine and all too rare. As an artist … Bella is striking to look at, and then they start to move, and dance, and fly through the air, and play guitar, and sing … literally doing all these things with a mastery that only comes from decades of hard work and sacrifice. Midnight Circus has been defying gravity, bureaucracy, community disinvestment and myriad other challenges to bring a joy-filled, world-class circus to communities in every corner of Chicago for 16 years. You couldn’t ask for a better ambassador than Bella Diaz.”
Almost two years in circus, Diaz is still developing and growing. Chinese hoop diving, check. Feeling the “rug burning” type of pain while climbing and sliding down the Chinese pole, check. Diaz is also studying trapeze. Next challenge? Taking a love of music to the big top by composing some original tunes. Diaz is also thinking about starting a summer camp with their partner, a teacher going to school for art therapy, years down the road.
“I have this wealth of physical knowledge and music … my dream is to have a spot in the woods somewhere to teach children everything about the arts,” Diaz said. “I am always down to talk to kids in the community. I just want to be around to help; be in a show that goes to park districts where so much of my childhood and everything of who I am now comes from those park districts. I have dreams of going back there one day and doing more outreach.”
Midnight Circus in the Parks 2022 Open Air Tour runs through Oct. 16. On Oct. 8, the company will be in Kosciuszko Park at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m. On Oct. 15-16, the circus will be at Welles Park performing at the same times. Tickets are free, but must be reserved online to guarantee a seat.
