The Starr family stars in the Y Circus Fantasy

Read part 1 of 2 about this year's Circus Fantasy: Great Y Circus ‘Fantasy’ kicks off 83rd season, May 2

When you do circus at the Redlands Y, “circus becomes family” is often repeated by recurring performers. So too for the Starr family, who not only cherishes the Y Circus family but became a family because of the Y Circus.

Megan Starr performed in her very first show in 1989. Her best friend did circus and that’s how she joined too. Megan’s parents helped out in the 1990s when the circus performed in Prospect Park. Her dad did security by horse around the park, and her mom volunteered with the organization behind the circus, Community Circus Arts Cooperation (CCAC).

“We met in circus,” Megan Starr said of her husband, Phil Starr, who also started performing in the late 1980s. Phil’s two best friends got him involved.

For decades, Megan and Phil were just friends in circus, went camping and hung out. “We were friends until we were 30 and started dating,” she said. Their circus family was at their wedding.

“These are our people,” she said. Her father recently passed away, and their circus family were the ones helping out, taking care of their kids while they were dealing with the loss.

The couple’s four kids — Charlie (11), Jakob (9), Kenzie (7) and Luke (5) — didn’t have a say about whether they were doing circus when they were little, but as they grow up, they make their own decisions and all of them want to be involved.

“I’m 11, so this is my 12th year [performing],” Charlie said with a big smile. She was 6 weeks old when she got on stage as a tiny octopus.

“Circus attracts good people, and those are the people I want my kids to grow up with,” Megan said. Circus has given her “another place to call home.”

“It’s a one-on-one interaction where you build trust in relationships that go far beyond your normal social structure,” Phil Starr added.

The teamwork they learn in circus is much more intense and interdependent than, for example, team sports. “We have to work together in every facet of it to build a pyramid,” Megan said. “The base could take one tiny step and the whole thing crashes down,” Charlie said. “You have to trust everyone underneath you.”

Being the base in advanced acrobatics has, for Megan, been one of her proudest moments. “Realizing the things my body could do, that I could hold two people on top of me. It was hard and I didn’t think I could do it,” she said.

Growing up in circus, Megan performed in many different acts, though her favorite act was webs. Her oldest daughter tried webs for the first time last year. “That’s my favorite act too,” Charlie said. “Climbing up and spinning — there’s nothing like it,” Megan said. “When you spin by your ankle and you can see everybody. The adrenaline. I loved it.”

Megan and Charlie think everyone should come visit the circus.

“Chances are if you’ve lived in Redlands, you are going to look out there and you will see at least one person you know doing something you didn’t know they could do,” Megan said. She works as a teacher at Beattie Middle School, and her husband is a lineman for Southern California Edison. “It amazes me that people still in Redlands don’t know about the circus.”

You can see Megan with her two youngest kids, Luke and Kenzie, in Circus Essentials and Mini Acro. Jakob Starr performs in the unicycle and juggling acts, Charlie Starr is in the trapeze act, and Phil helps in various acts.

They especially encourage people to come to the opening shows.

“The first show has so much energy. Everybody is so excited,” Megan said. “It’s so much more fun because when you get up there, you’re nervous but it also makes you push harder,” Charlie said. “So that’s probably one of our best shows.” 

List of circus directors at the Great Y Circus:

1929-1968, Roy Coble, founder (No Circus performances during WWII)
1969-70, Dave Umbach
1971-1972, Ann Sackett
1971-1986, Warren ‘Woody’ Wood
1986, John Biddick
(The Great Y Circus went dark in 1987 and 1988)
1989, Danny Castoldi and Pete Wray
1990-1995, Jon Garrett
1996, Mike McGeary and Sid Cawile
1997-2004, Pete Wray
2005-2008, Melanie Ramiro
2009-2012, Robin Stein
2013-2016, Tanner Greenhalgh
2016-2017, Jenna Guzman-Lowry, interim director
2018-present, Emilie Gleisberg. (Classes outside, no show during the pandemic years ‘20 and ‘21).

 Circus performing terms:

Acro: acrobatics including balance, agility and motor coordination.
Acrobalance: A floor-based acrobatic art that involves balances, lifts and creating shapes performed in pairs or groups. A performer on the ground doing the lifting and supporting in an acrobalance formation is often called the base, while a performer being lifted or tossed can be referred to as the flyer.
Aerial silks and hammocks: A type of performance in which one or more artists perform aerial acrobatics while hanging from a fabric. The fabric may be hung as two pieces, or a single piece, folded to make a loop, classified as hammock silks.
Aerial straps: By wrapping the strap ends around hands and wrists, the performer performs holds, twists, rolls and maneuvers, requiring extreme strength and precision similar to men's rings in gymnastics.
Chinese pole: Vertical poles on which circus performers climb, slide down and hold poses.
Cradle: A performer hangs by his or her knees from a large rectangular frame and swings, tosses, and catches another performer.
Diabolo: A juggling or circus prop consisting of an axle and two hourglass cups or discs derived from the Chinese yo-yo. This object is spun using a string attached to two hand sticks.
Lyra or aerial hoop: Is a circular steel apparatus (resembling a hula hoop) suspended from the ceiling, on which circus artists may perform aerial acrobatics.
Risley: Is any circus acrobalance posture where the base is lying down on their back, supporting one or more flyers with their hands, feet and/or other parts of the body; spinning a person or object using only one's feet.
Spanish web: A rope hanging from above, used to perform aerial acrobatic maneuvers while spinning. The rope is usually spun by another person, the ‘Web Setter’, who remains on the ground holding the bottom of the rope. Can also involve use of hand and foot loops at various heights.
Stilts: Poles that allow a person to stand at a height above the ground.
Swinging ladders: An equilibristic circus skill where four or more people perform acrobatics on specially made ladders.
Teeterboard: An acrobatic apparatus that resembles a playground seesaw. At each end of the board is a square padded area, where a performer stands on an incline before being catapulted into the air. The well-trained flyer performs various aerial somersaults, landing on padded mats, a human pyramid, a specialized landing chair, stilts, or even a Russian bar.
Teardrops: Similar to lyra except you grab a teardrop shaped hand loop as you hang.
Trapeze: A short horizontal bar suspended from two parallel ropes, used for acrobatic stunts.
Wire: Tightrope walking is the skill of walking along a thin wire or rope. 

About Circus Fantasia

The performances of 2025 will run from May 2 – 18
Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Address: 500 E. Citrus Ave., Redlands, CA 92373.
Phone: 909 798 9622

Website: www.ymcaeastvalley.org/programs/circus/
Tickets: $22. Younger children are free if they can sit on an adult’s lap.
Tickets are available at the Redlands Family YMCA front desk.

All ticket proceeds benefit The Great Y Circus, supported by Community Circus Arts Cooperation.