MANY have dreamed of running away to join the circus, but for Tina Carter it was the logical next step in her career.

She trained as an aerialist and spent years performing in front of audiences all around Europe as well as organising her own shows, including one using a giant coat hanger in a clothing factory.

Now Tina, 42, is back in Whitstable and passing on her skills to enthusiastic students at the Community College, Whitstable.

She shared a few secrets with Jan Thom...

Your background is not typical of a circus performer, tell me about it.

My father was in the Army in Germany where I was born and so I went to boarding school in Devon from the age of nine. I hated it but it taught me to be independent and it was great fun going home. Up until I was 19, my family moved 22 times and when I returned from school to my parents for the holidays, I never knew where I was going, I loved that. My younger sister Kim boarded with me and my brother Damian was at another boarding school. Mum was heartbroken when we went back after the holidays. After that I went to Peter Symmonds sixth form college in Winchester and boarded there for two years.

I took a year out after that and then came to the University of Kent.

What did you read there? I had applied to do history and was offered a place, then I realised I didn't want to do something quite so highbrow, so I did drama and theatre studies. It was a four year course and in my third year I did an Erasmus exchange to Amsterdam.

How did that help your studies? I took an acrobalance course and specialised in street theatre. I got to know a lot of street theatre and circus people there. I returned to Kent in 1991 and finished my fourth year. That was when I met my partner Steve who was juggling outside the Tankerton Arms.

What happened next? Steve was running a juggling club in Cromwell Road at the time. I joined him and we turned it into Kent Circus School. We ran the school for two years and then ran away to join Zippo's Academy of Circus Arts.

Where was that and what did you do?

Funnily enough, Winchester where I had been at sixth form college. We learned many skills including erecting a big top. Steve had always wanted to learn the art of clowning and tightrope walking. I specialised in aerial work and realised it was what I was meant to do in life. I had been a competitive swimmer as a child and had good upper body strength. It just came naturally to me. Steve and I graduated from the school in 1994.

What happened next?

We remained working at the circus for a couple of years then joined Swamp Circus which was more contemporary. It was based in Sheffield but we travelled in France and the UK. After that we ran the academy for Zippo whose real name is Martin Burton.

How long were you there for?

A year, then we came back to Whitstable and bought our house in Bridgefield Road, Swalecliffe. I set up a company, Expressive Feat Productions and Steve started Four Fish Designs, making props and building sets. I wanted to create more expressive and contemporary work, linking my theatre roots with circus.

What sort of projects were you involved in?

I made one show called Does My Bum Look Big In This? that was staged at the Gulbenkian. A site specific piece was staged in a clothing factory in Ramsgate. It was called Identity - You Are What You Wear? We studied everything that went on in the factory and the performance included a sound track featuring factory noise like people cutting material and sewing machines. I used a big coat hanger in the show and performed aerial work on it. The staff loved it.

What else did your company achieve? I did a lot of education work including teaching young offenders through Alternative Curricular Programmes. It was often hugely challenging, but rewarding. Young people were trained in trapeze work and juggling and it would often lead to a mini-performance. I closed the company in 2008 because I wanted to do a PhD which I'm still doing.

What are you researching?

The links between aerial work and disability. Aerialists and the disabled may seem to be poles apart, but through my academic research into disability culture and circus aesthetics as well as my intensive work with disabled performers I am finding this not to be the case. I work with Cirque Nova, a disability circus company and a lot of my time is spent finding new and alternative ways of working with disabled children and adults. We have just taken part in the Liberty Festival at the National Theatre. My 80,000 word thesis must be completed by winter 2013. I am also teaching at Royal Holloway University, Cirque Nova and at the East 15 Acting School in Essex.

Tell me about your classes in Whitstable which are about to start?

I'm almost fully booked already and might have to start a waiting list. I will be teaching aerial work on ropes and silks. We will start with a 10 to 15 minute warm-up session incorporating yoga and pilates movement. The group will work in pairs, beginning with climbing, then conditioning and I will be teaching sequence specific aerial tricks , shapes and postures. I know numerous different ways to climb a rope. Throughout the course we will be building on the sequence of movement and by the end, students will have a routine. It's hard work but a thrilling challenge for them. Some of my students have gone on to become professional aerialists, including Christy Jay from Whitstable who is with Santus Circus.

What plans have you for the future?

I'm hoping to do a disabled project at the Circus Space based in London. My PhD is taking up most of my time but I'm hoping long term it will lead to a book.

What was the first record you bought? I think it was Do You Really Want to Hurt Me by Culture Club.

What was your first car? A Ford Escort called KOD from the number plate. She was very reliable and lasted me a couple of years. I now drive a Ford Fiesta.

Which three dinner party guests would you invite? Definitely Masterchef judge Gregg Wallace, who lives in Whitstable, and I would make sure he cooked because he always seems to be eating. I'd love to have Lillian Leitzel, a world famous aerialist who died in 1931. I would love to write a biography of her, and finally Buster Keaton.

I'm really hoping Gregg Wallace will read this and come along and cook for us.

For more details of classes contact Tina on 07973 480770 or visit www.airhedz.co.uk or www.exfeat.com