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Run off 2 join the circus


Jane White interviews women who ‘changed their lives’. Here, Lucy Morgan
talks to Jane White about how she escaped from her old life.

 ‘I abandoned a high-pressure career.’       When I got there, it was hard work.
 Lucy Morgan, 38, a trapeze artist, lives I started classes at 8am and had daily
 in London. Lucy gave up her high- lessons in trapeze, choreography,
 powered job as a lawyer to enrol at acting, juggling and acrobatics.
5 circus school.45    After three years’ training, I got a
  job with the Harlequin Circus, a
    “By the time I finished training to be traditional British circus. We lived in
 a lawyer, I felt like I’d spent my whole caravans and were always on the
 life doing exams. I was 26 and had move, doing two shows a day. You do
10 been in higher education for eight50 it because you love it. It’s not
 years. My father is a lawyer, so it glamorous. Each night, I had to make
 seemed natural for me to study law. my way in the dark across the ring to
 I worked freelance on immigration find my rigging while avoiding the tiger
 cases for about 18 months but poo on the floor.
15 I couldn’t help feeling a little55    After 18 months, I met Suzy Barton,
 dissatisfied. my performing partner. We were cast
    I took up gymnastics after leaving in several fantasy films as flying
 school and practised throughout fairies, appearing in Merlin and The
 university. Then, a year after starting Tenth Kingdom. Owing to our double
20 work as a solicitor, I heard that60 act using silks - lengths of material
 London’s The Circus Space School strong enough to perform on, the
 held flying trapeze classes, so I signed bookings flew in for parties and events
 up. As soon as I got onto a trapeze, worldwide. We commanded £600 a
 I loved it. I swore to myself that I would night, comparable with the money
25 master this skill, or die trying, and the65 65 I could have earned as a lawyer.
 passion has been there ever since.    But in 2000, Suzy had a horrific
    I always skipped after-work drinks accident: she fell 20ft and broke her
 with the lawyers to practise trapeze, back. She’ll never perform again, and
 dividing my time between two worlds it certainly made me realise the
30 which couldn’t be more different.70 dangers of the job.
 Eventually, I was itching to get away    A couple of years later, the BBC
 from the courtrooms and police asked me and two others to perform
 stations, so I was thrilled to land a our silks act for one of its programme
 place at the National Circus School in interludes on BBC1 - I’m the woman in
35 Montreal.75 the middle of the screen. And I have
    But my family weren’t pleased. recently been involved in the
 I was giving up a good, safe career, choreography for the fifth Batman film.
 which I had spent years training for to I could go back to law, but that would
 run off to Canada and do something be just a job. Once the circus is in your
40 very dangerous. But I was [id:42915]80 blood, it never leaves.”