In 2019, Laura Jurkiewicz, a former Celebrity Cruises stunt performer and aerialist for the Venardos Circus, decided to start her own show.
Jurkiewicz, who is known professionally as Laura J., said she didn’t want to perform with someone else’s permission or validation.
“It’s liberating for me to realize a few years ago that I can be my own show,” Laura said. “It’s a quick message, but I feel like it’s an important one: No matter what anybody thinks or what you may think, if you want to do something, no matter how wild it is, go for it.
I’ve always done that. I’ve never been able to resist no doing that.”
Before the show began, an experienced performer and writer asked her why she wanted to have her own show. She said she wanted one because she’s strong and amazing. He told her that should be the show’s name.
“Throughout the creative process of doing hundreds of shows and coming up with ideas and trying things and failing and succeeding, I’ve leaned into that,” she said. “It’s become my brand.”
Laura’s journey to become a performer was difficult. As a child, she grew up poor in Ohio and didn’t have as many opportunities as more privileged children. As an adult, she said she didn’t pick an easy path in her career, but she feels it’s worth it.
“For me, it’s something I compartmentalize often,” Laura said. “I remember when I was kid, I always wanted to be part of the group of girls that were in gymnastics class. They would flip and tumble. I wanted to be a part of that group, but I didn’t get to go to those classes. I didn’t get to go to dance or ride horses or do the things that I wanted to do. If I had a childhood career in gymnastics, I don’t know if I would be here now. I’ve had this conversation with other circus artists that came from underprivileged backgrounds. Now, they pursue things that a lot of young kids and girls get to do when they’re little. Now, we do it as adults.”
After graduating from Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington, North Carolina, she earned a bachelor of fine arts in ceramics and glass blowing from The Cleveland Institute of Art in Cleveland, Ohio. In high school, she took a sculpture class every year. It’s what inspired her to attend an art school after graduation.
“That was the first thing that I was determined to do,” Laura said. “I worked hard and got every merit scholarship I could.”
Two months after graduating from The Cleveland Institute of Art, she couldn’t come up with any plans. A friend suggested to her that she should go to a yoga studio. After seeing an aerial pole and props in the corner of the studio, she asked the owner to show her a few tricks. Less than five minutes later, Laura was in the air spinning around like a dreidel.
“I didn’t realize that I could be the art,” she said. “I didn’t have to make art through a material process. That was a huge revelation for me. My path changed quickly.”
A year later, she trained intensely at Circus Warehouse in New York. After she completed her training, she found a coach in Florida, Csaba Szilagyi, a native of Hungary who is still her mentor and friend to this day.
On the Disney Channel show “The Suite Life On Deck,” actors Dylan and Cole Sprouse had the honor of pretending that they lived on a cruise ship as twins Zack and Cody Martin for all of the show’s seasons. For eight months, Laura did something the Sprouse brothers could only imagine. She lived on a Celebrity Cruises ship while working as a stunt performer and crew member. She sailed around the Baltic Sea and traveled to Germany, Estonia and Russia. While her life on the ship was more priviledged than the rest of the crew, she still had an obligation to attend emergency management and safety training sessions.
“I had a tiny room, but [it] was mine,” Laura said. “I had my own bathroom, so that was a high priviledge. I did an Atlantic crossing [stunt]. It sounds cooler than what it was. The ship swayed back and forth a lot. I only got seasick once when we were in rough seas. I was never nervous. I was never worried. It was great.”
Laura started developing Strong and Amazing before she worked for Vernardos Circus. From the summer of 2019 until early 2021, she worked for the circus as an aerial stramps and dance trapeze performer, but it wasn’t all glamorous. She had to work at the front gates and take tickets as well as set up the tent before each show and clean up after the show. She said it prepared her for Strong and Amazing both as a performer and a businessperson.
“I had to do a lot of things,” she said. “It built me up in a way that I don’t think anything else ever could. It prepared me for the reality of having a show on the road, especially a one-woman show. No one is doing any of it [Strong and Amazing] except for me. Every little detail, every stake in the ground…is me.”
Strong and Amazing will make its debut at the Sherburne County Fair this weekend in Elk River. Laura will perform on Saturday, July 20, at 12:30 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. She also performs on Sunday, July 21, at 9:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. The show is free as long as guests 6 and over pay for a $5 general admission ticket to enter the Sherburne County Fairgrounds.
Laura said she loves to spread joy at every show.
“I’m proud of my show,” she said. “I am excited to spread my message to everybody, which is to overcome people’s assumpions and physical adversity and to chase your dreams.”
Most Popular
Comments / 0