Little do her students know Dr. Jessica Cail lives a double life as a circus stunt artist. The professor of psychology will be literally glowing this Saturday night while performing partner acrobatics among other things as a participant in Santa Monica’s Glow art festival.
“I do all this for fun; a happy person is a good teacher Cail said. You can only be cerebral for so long before you need to go bonkers and flip upside-down on something.”
Cail spends every Sunday from 2 p.m. until sunset at the beach with a group known as the Santa Monica Ringflyers whose mission is to maintain the true history and spirit of the original Muscle Beach location in Santa Monica.
“I’ve been focusing so much on teaching for the last year and a half Cail said. When we heard that Glow was coming for the second time and this time with open application we couldn’t let that chance go by without applying for it.”
The city of Santa Monica holds a completely free bi-annual all-night art festival called “Glow.” The event is modeled after the Nuit Blanche literally “Sleepless Night” or “Light Night” in French that occurs all over Europe—from Paris to St. Petersburg to Berlin. This year their open application process accepted a total of 20 exhibits with applicant origin spanning the globe. Cail along with stunt man actor and fellow Ringflyer Robert Chapin was among more than 100 local applicants competing for a mere 10 spots which each include a $2500 grant from the Santa Monica Arts Commission a division of the Cultural Affairs Office.
“Continuing the history of Muscle Beach means a lot to all of us Cail said. And that is why we are doing this.”
At Glow’s grand opening two years ago Cail and a large group of nearly 50 Ringflyers eagerly arrived at the festival as normal attendees hoping to get a chance to swing on the rings and use the equipment at Muscle Beach while admiring the art and enjoying the music.
“When we got there an artist had put a sail across the rings using it as an art palate and had chained them all off so nobody could play down there Cail said. And when we went to the other equipment he said ‘No no no don’t touch any of the equipment anywhere near my art because you’re interfering with my art.’ So we couldn’t play anywhere on the beach.”
Inspired by this incident Cail and Chapin knew what they had to do. A grant proposal was required as part of the application but Cail had a unique edge having organized several fundraisers at Muscle Beach benefiting the Red Cross victims of Katrina and the tsunamis.
According to the City of Santa Monica the point of these grants was to give priority to interactive projects that incorporate both the glow theme and the history and character of Santa Monica which Cail feels their group embodies.
“That’s us Cail said. We routinely bring people into our shows and every weekend people wander up to us from Iowa or anywhere and say ‘Hey! That’s really cool! Will you show me how to juggle?’ And we teach them slackline hula hoop poi spinning acrobatics or whatever they want to learn.”
The City of Santa Monica shut down Muscle Beach in 1959 because it was pulling people away from the restaurants and paid entertainment. However they are now beginning to recognize it as an important part of their history.
“It’s free fitness Cail said. It’s good for the city it’s good for the nation and we want to carry on that tradition.”
After many months of anticipation and crossed fingers Santa Monica awarded Cail and Chapin the grant.
“They said ‘out of all of these people here are some locals'” Cail said. “‘We want to give them control of their own beach while infusing their history and Glow together.'”
The group of Ringflyers that will be performing Saturday vary greatly in skill age and background. Although none are professional gymnasts a couple are world-class circus performers. There is even a woman in her late 80’s that they call “the Baroness” because she was once married to a baron. “There will be all sorts of characters down there Cail said laughing. I can’t wait!”
Their project officially dubbed “Muscle Beach Glow will span over 300 feet of beach area containing the rings, bars, ropes and other equipment, lit by 16 huge theatrical black lights circling the beach at different angles. All of the equipment will be lined with tape that glows under UV light. The equipment will be more than just glow-in-the-dark, actually emitting light and casting shadows. All of the performers will be painted up in day-glow wearing fluorescent costuming. There will also be extra tape available for anyone in the public to costume themselves with and join the circus.
You can hop in learn a skill climb the ropes swing the rings with plenty of people to help you Cail said. It’s an interactive glowing nighttime circus— like Cirque Du Soleil but you can jump on stage and learn stuff too.”
In addition to being sure the show is running smoothly Cail will be performing herself. She will be doing a little bit of everything including the rings Chinese pole slackline rope climb partner acrobatics a (light saber) sword fight and possibly even aerial silks despite injuring her shoulder during a ninja warrior course she was taking in Venice Beach.
“I’ll probably be in all white with my angel wings on and costume all picked out Cail said. I would love for students to come up and say ‘Hey Professor Cail! I’m from Pepperdine and I really want to learn that’ and I’ll hook you up. We’ll have a whole bunch of extra stuff for people to play with.”
In addition to the performances and stunts DJ Ian Forest a professional special effects artist handled all the technical aspects of their project and will be emceeing their show. Staying true to their history as well as the theme he will play a mix of music from the ‘30s to modern day.
“We’re one of the only projects that will have a DJ Cail said. And he’s great at electronica.”
“Two years ago the event drew a crowd of around 225000 people almost a quarter of a million people Cail said. The people and art everywhere with everyone interacting and the music playing— it was just an amazing night.”
Glow will officially run from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. but the stores and restaurants will be open till 4 a.m. with exclusive “Glow specials.”
“The city of Santa Monica instead of becoming a quiet place around one will be pumping till 4 a.m. at least Cail said.
In addition to Muscle Beach Glow there will be 19 other projects including a huge interactive DNA strand that will change colors depending on sounds and what the crowd is doing; a wandering glowing boulder, similar to a giant Roomba; and a lifeguard tower that will slowly be engulfed in glowing foam depending on the action of the tide.
There’s something about experiencing art interactively outdoors in the environment by the ocean with everything glowing instead of seeing it in a stuffy museum where you’re not allowed to touch it Cail said. That makes it more a party celebration of art rather than a stuffy don’t look at it; don’t touch it; study about it art.”