A POLE dancing and aerial arts instructor has decided to prolong her life with the circus after spending eight weeks under the big top as a competition prize.

Talia Hawker, from Prestatyn, secured the placement with with Russell’s International Circus after successfully defending her instructor’s aerial ‘silks’– a form of acrobatics where the performer is suspended from large ribbons – title at the UK Aerial Performance Championships.

The 29 year-old, an instructor at the Elevation Aerial Arts School in Prestatyn, has now accepted an invitation to link up with the circus again for next its eight month season beginning in March – and her four-year-old daughter, Safia, will once more be joining her

Talia said: “I thought I’d go there and enjoy it, but I didn’t realise how amazing it would be. I wish I’d ran away with the circus years ago.

“It’s a different world. You’re in your own little circus bubble. I’ve found it really hard coming back to the real world and amount of people everywhere after spending eight weeks living in fields.”

Talia has since expanded her performance repertoire, adding ‘fire poi’ – a type of fire dancing while spinning flaming tethered weights–- to skills including dancing, the pole, gymnastics and her circus mainstay, the Spanish web, which involves acrobatic performance on a spinning rope.

She added: “I was really nervous and scared at first – not just for me but for my daughter too. I was totally changing her life.

”It’s massive for a four-year-old to be taken out of their routine and all around the country.”

Safia, a pupil of Ysgol Clawd Offa in Prestatyn, has also acquired some new skills on the road, including learning some Spanish from children of Argentine performers, in addition to being home-schooled every day.

Talia added: “She (Safia) was amazing on the trip and she’s already becoming a great little performer in her own right. We’ve really found a family with the circus.”