Starting circus training just before her 54th birthday was not something Hazel Palmer had ever imagined doing.

In fact, until a coach at her regular gym suggested she try aerials, she did not even know circus was something an ordinary adult could learn.

Curiosity won out and, in 2022, she signed up for her first lyra class, an aerial discipline performed using a suspended hoop.

“All I remember thinking was, why do they have to put it up so high?” Palmer recalled.

“As if hanging from a bar isn’t hard enough, this one is curved, it swings and it spins, and somehow you’re expected to climb into it and do all these fantastic things.”

Four years later, circus has become a significant part of Palmer’s life. She specialises in aerial straps and is a performer and producer with Sydney’s 50-Up Circus, a not-for-profit organisation creating opportunities for people aged 50 and over to learn circus skills and perform.

Palmer became involved with 50-Up Circus after founder Mary Wyer came up with the idea in early 2024, initially creating an opportunity for older people to showcase their circus skills.

With support from Sydney Trapeze School, Wyer organised the first 50-Up Showcase and contacted aerial schools looking for performers. Palmer received an email through the school where she was training and decided to take a chance.

“Saying yes felt like a big step into the absolute unknown, but I’m so glad I did,” Palmer said.

“That first show was the beginning of something much bigger.”

Since then, 50-Up Circus has developed a core performing community ranging in age from the early 50s to mid-70s, with performers who took up circus later in life.

The organisation has also established dedicated 50-plus classes facilitated by Sydney Trapeze School and taken introductory circus activities into the community through workshops.

For Palmer, the journey did not stop with lyra.

She soon tried aerial straps and was hooked, although she quickly discovered the discipline presented an entirely new set of challenges.

Straps require considerable strength, control and trust in your body. Palmer has learned to spin, invert, support her body through one arm and hold shapes high above the ground – skills that initially seemed impossible.

“One of the loveliest things about circus is that ‘I could never do that’ gradually becomes ‘I can’t do that yet’,” she said.

“You work on one small piece at a time, sometimes for months, then one day your body understands what you’ve been asking it to do.

“There is enormous joy in that moment, not because it came easily, but because you know how much patience, persistence and support it took to get there.”

Taking those skills from training into a live performance brought another challenge.

Palmer described her first performance with 50-Up Circus as “terrifying and exhilarating”, saying stepping onto a stage required trust in her training, herself and the audience.

Yet it was the audience reaction that helped her see performance differently.

“You do something that once felt impossible; the audience sees something they may not have imagined an older person doing; and a spark passes between you,” she said.

“They aren’t only applauding the circus skill. They are responding to the courage, work and possibility behind it, and you feel that energy coming back.”

Palmer is now preparing to return to the stage as part of 50-Up Circus: The Rewind at the 2026 Sydney Fringe Festival.

Inspired by Countdown and the music and television of the 1970s, the show brings together aerial and ground circus with plenty of colour, costumes, music and humour. Palmer and Wyer are co-producing the show, which aims not only to entertain audiences but also to challenge expectations about ageing.

For Palmer, however, circus has become about much more than what happens on stage.

“Circus has made me much less willing to accept the limits society casually places on older people, particularly older women,” she said.

“We hear so much about decline as we age, but far less about our continuing capacity to learn, become stronger, take creative risks and surprise ourselves.”

Palmer said circus had taught her that acknowledging ageing did not mean automatically accepting incapacity.

“It’s not about pretending age doesn’t exist,” she said.

“Circus has taught me not to confuse ageing with becoming incapable. We can respect our bodies and work intelligently while still being ambitious, visible, creative and adventurous.

“Getting older doesn’t mean we have to keep making our lives smaller.”

The physical challenge is only one part of what has kept Palmer coming back.

“What has surprised me most is the depth of connection,” she said.

“Circus may look like an individual achievement on stage, but very little of it happens alone. There are coaches, training partners, riggers and fellow performers behind every act.”

She said performers encourage each other through first attempts and celebrate the small breakthroughs, while understanding just how much work can sit behind a skill that lasts only seconds on stage.

That sense of belonging is something 50-Up Circus now wants to make accessible to more older people through dedicated classes and community workshops.

For anyone in their 50s, 60s, 70s or beyond who looks at circus and immediately thinks they are too old to try it, Palmer has a simple response.

“Give it a try. You don’t need to know what you’re capable of before you begin. That is what beginning is for.”

Circus does not necessarily mean climbing high into the air or attempting dramatic aerial tricks. Palmer said it could be juggling, balancing, spinning a plate, trying a low trapeze or simply discovering a different way to move.

“We’re often told that staying healthy as we age means going to the gym or attending a conventional falls-prevention program. Those things are valuable, but they aren’t the only options,” she said.

“Circus can help develop strength, balance, coordination and confidence while you are playing, laughing, learning and connecting with other people.”

Her advice is to find a properly supervised beginner class, arrive with curiosity and allow yourself to be new at something.

“You may discover physical abilities you didn’t know you had, but you will also find laughter, friendship, confidence and maybe even rediscover a part of yourself that you had quietly put aside,” Palmer said.

“It’s never too late to run away with the circus.”

50-Up Circus: The Rewind will be performed as part of the 2026 Sydney Fringe Festival. For performance dates, tickets and more information, visit the 50-Up Circus events page.