Ep. 1: Satya Bella on Chasing Circus Dreams

INTRODUCTION

I first came across Satya Bella about 10 years ago when I was starting to chase my own circus dreams. I discovered that she had trained at the Beijing International Acrobatic School, and after reaching out to her on Facebook for advice, she generously shared guidance that completely inspired me. Her words gave me the courage to move to China and begin my own circus journey.

Ever since then, Satya has been a huge inspiration to me — not just for her skills with the hula hoop, cyr wheel, and juggling, but for her dedication, curiosity, and resilience as a performer. Her story is full of adventure, challenges, and moments of magic that remind us why we follow our dreams.

In this episode of Bubble Bum Banter, we chat with Satya about her journey from growing up in Fiji, discovering her passion for performance, training in China, and the moments that shaped her into the incredible performer she is today.

Jess:

Hi Satya! So excited to have you here. To kick things off, can you tell us your name, your specialty or skill, and three words that best describe you?

Satya:

My name is Satya Bella, my specialty is the humble hula hoop although I also dabble in cyr wheel, fire props, juggling and skipping. Three words that best describe me in this moment are exhausted, happy and grateful. 

THE SPARK / PERSONAL CONNECTION

Jess: And where in the world are you joining us from today?

Satya: I’m currently in Quebec City, Canada.

Jessica: I have to share — I first read about you about 10 years ago when I was chasing my own dream. I saw that you trained at the Beijing International Acrobatic School, and after reaching out to you, your advice really motivated me to follow my dream and move to China to train at the same school. That moment really stuck with me. Can you tell me about your journey and what it was like to train at that school?

Satya: Ever since I was a little girl I wanted to be a gymnast. But I grew up on a small island called Fiji and although it was an incredible place to live, it wasn’t a place for learning gymnastics. I guess I was really searching for what to do in life when I was a teenager, I didn’t really feel like I fit in anywhere and I couldn’t imagine myself in any of the conventional job roles around me.. I didn’t want to do university study, I really just wanted to get out into the world and travel, have adventures, meet people, learn about life and feel passionate about something.

So I set off on my own into the world as soon I finished school, and I was constantly drawn to artistic and interesting people doing all kinds of music and performance arts. I never really believed I could be one of them but I wanted to be around them and I genuinely loved training - it gave me so much peace to train and the feeling of achievement, working towards goals really resonated with me.. Before the internet was what it is today, you really had to find other people doing what you were doing, you had to befriend them, spend time with them and learn from them, or you had to invent things yourself and just learn from trial and error. Before I found hula hoops I was originally fire dancing and juggling.. I loved to juggle.. It was like a meditation, when you are juggling you cannot think about anything else, any distraction and you will drop the club..

I thought to myself, wouldn’t it be wonderful if I could just train all day long.. I met someone who told me that there were such places called circus schools - and they had just opened one in Australia - this was in 2001! I checked it out but the prices were out of my possibilities, I would have to go into a lot of debt, not to mention how would I pay my rent etc.. the application process was also a major hurdle since I had pretty much no high-end skills. So I quickly realised that wasn’t going to work out for me.. But one of the teachers at that school told me that there was a school in China and a school in Russia who accepted foreign students. This seemed like a fascinating idea to me.. so I went to both China and Russia to have a look at the schools.

China won me over, it was just so exotic, so foreign and fascinating. So I decided to give myself 9 months of training in China, it was very affordable at that time and such a crazy journey on so many levels. It was exactly the cultural experience I wanted at the same time giving me the time and the space to really see what my body could do and find out if I could actually become a circus performer.

Jess: Who or what first lit the spark for you — was there a person who inspired you, or was it more of an inner knowing?

Satya: There have been soooooooooo many people who have inspired me along the way. I’m constantly inspired by people! The world is full of incredible people!

Jess: Was there a moment when you thought, “Yep, this is it — this is what I want to do”?

Satya: Yes, It was the year 1999, I was a teenager and I saw some fire dancers on a beach in Thailand, it was before YouTube, before smart phones, it was the first time I had seen anything like that and I thought to myself, ’that is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen', and I imagined myself spinning that fire and I thought 'I want to learn how to do that’.

THE LEAP

Jess: I applied to the National Circus School in London twice, and both times I got rejected. I remember opening those letters with so much hope, and when I saw the rejection, it hit me really hard — I couldn’t even get out of bed for days. Have you ever experienced a rejection that hurt deeply, and how did you manage to keep going?

Satya: I don’t think many of us make it through life without experiencing the pain of rejection. It sux.. No-one wants to feel rejected but unfortunately it is a part of life, a part of growing up, a part of the human experience. At the end of the day we’re all just playing snakes and ladders.

I’ve definitely felt rejected in moments in my life but when I look back it feels like it was all meant to be, there is something to be said for 'when one door closes another one opens’.I think when we are suffering like that the key is to try to accept the situation, be content that you tried your best and have faith that there will be something else out there for you.

THE MAGIC MOMENTS

Jess: Tell me about a time you thought, “I’m exactly where I’m meant to be.”

Satya: Haha, I feel like that often, when I’m in a beautiful place, when I’m at an amazing event, when I’m with people I love and always when I’m with my dog!

Jess: What’s been your proudest ‘dream come true’ moment so far?

Satya: I think there have been quite a few along the way.. I’m so grateful for all the amazing opportunities I’ve had. I am naturally quite a shy person so although I’ve always loved to train, performing - stepping onto the stage was a big challenge for me. I suffered terribly with stage fright. I still get nervous sometimes, but I’m more familiar with the feeling now, it’s not crippling like before, I’ve learnt some valuable tools that work for me.. But I think I’m most proud that I kept putting one foot in front of the other..

Perhaps my proudest achievement comes from creating my own street show - a 45min one woman circus show, where I perform cyr wheel, hula hooping and crowd interaction, I’ve toured this show all over the world. It was absolutely terrifying when I first started, so many days, weeks, months of failure, wanting to quit.. and yet hoping against hope that it might work.. It was a wild ride!I wanted the lifestyle, the travel, the freedom to be my own boss, to earn a living doing something I loved.. But I was so terrified. So I’m really proud that I persisted through all those feelings.

LIFE ON THE ROAD

Jess: I know for me, as much as I love traveling and performing in new places, I start to feel homesick after a while. How about you — does your work take you far from home, and how do you deal with missing home or your people?

Satya: I really love this world, I still find travelling very exciting, there are so many places I love to be.. I guess I’m quite lucky because I feel pretty at home everywhere. I’ve come to accept that no matter where I am I’m always missing someone.. So I just try my best to keep in touch, hold my loved ones close to my heart and I just keep moving to try and keep visiting them all haha!

Jess: What does a typical day of training or practice look like for you?

Satya: Well it really depends if I’m on a contract or not.. In the summer I perform everyday, usually 3 x 45mins show, it’s a marathon, So I usually wake up early and take some quiet time, a cup of tea, meditation and some stretching or pilates to wake my body up and just check in with how it's feeling for the day. When I’m working a lot I also have to warm-up and cool down before and after each show so I don’t always have heaps of time for extra training. I’m a big fan of yoga nidra in-between shows, I feel like it helps to get a deep rest in a short space of time. However, in-between contracts I love to train, I love to push my body in all directions, to learn new skills, to create new routines, to play with new ideas.. I’m a big fan of structured training, I like to drill things.. I love to run sequences over and over again until they feel effortless. I’ve always been fascinated by the amount of effort it takes to become effortless.

Jess: How do you look after your body and mind to keep performing at your best?

Satya: I really enjoy my own little personal regimes within the chaos of all my travelling.. I genuinely love to travel and be everywhere but no matter where I am I love to wake up early, really early and train, I love to train, It gives me a lot of strength, calmness and clarity to have a couple of hours to myself in the morning, to check in with my mind and body. I change it up, sometimes I’ll do yoga or pilates or go to the gym and do strength training or barre training then I’ll often do a second training session in the afternoon with my hoops or my wheel and in the evenings I love to go dancing, salsa, bachata, afro-dancehall.

QUICKFIRE FUN

Jess: Stripes or velvet?

Satya: Ooooo, I like both

Jess: What’s one small ritual or habit that keeps you grounded?

Satya: I think practising gratitude keeps me grounded. Performance life is a wild ride, full of highs and lows and constant uncertainty. We just never really know what will happen next. But for what ever reason I chose this lifestyle and I continue to choose it so I try my best to enjoy it!

PASSING THE TORCH

Jess: What advice would you give someone standing on the edge, wondering if they should take the leap?

Satya: I think if your heart is calling you.. Go for it! If you put your energy into something you love, something good will always come of it..

Jess: Can we start this life later on, and should we ever have to stop? Or can we just keep performing until we’re glittery grannies and grandads?

Satya: I think the answer is different for everyone.. I think you can start anytime you want, whenever the passion/obsession catches you.. there are so many resources out there these days on how to transform your body and learn new skills.. There are so many different ways to present your skills as well.. It's really a lifestyle, it comes with pros and cons. There is definitely a lot of uncertainty in this lifestyle so it's not for everyone. There is also a lot of training and self care involved as well if you want to make it long term.. But it’s definitely possible..

FINALE / CLOSING QUESTION

Jessica: If you could leave one piece of circus wisdom with our listeners today, what would it be?

Satya: Just try to stay true to yourself and do what you do because you genuinely like to do it.. Don't try and guess what other people will like.. Don’t listen to the haters.. Your unique authenticity is what will be your superpower.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Satya’s story is a reminder that chasing your dreams often means embracing uncertainty, persistence, and a little bit of magic along the way. From Fiji to Beijing, from fire dancing on the beach to touring a one-woman circus show across the world, her journey shows us what’s possible when we follow our passion with courage and authenticity.

✨ Don’t miss next week’s episode of Bubble Bum Banter, where I chat with my beautiful friend Amanda Wesley — a hula hoop artist and all-round amazing performer.

If you’d like to see more of Satya’s incredible work, you can follow her on Instagram: @satyabella.