Caytha Jentis: Fun Never Gets Old
Caytha Jentis is a New York writer, filmmaker and producer who started aerial hoop in her early sixties. She wrote the circus stage play Freedom for a Night and now produces aerial shows. We talk about her first aerial class, training with no dance background, swapping screenplays for circus storytelling, and why it's never too late to start.
Playing a Maenad in "Freedom for a Night", my circus stage play about the dangerous women of Greek mythology.
Introduction
I found Caytha while I was looking for people who came to circus later in life.
She has spent years writing, producing and directing films, including her comedy web series The Other F Word. Then, in her early sixties, she took an aerial class so she could write an essay about it... and kept going.
Since then she's written Freedom for a Night, a circus stage play about the dangerous women of Greek mythology. It had an Off-Off Broadway run and played the Philadelphia Fringe Festival in September 2026. She's producing aerial shows too.
I wanted this conversation for anyone who's had a class open in a tab for months and keeps telling themselves they've left it too late.
Her rally cry, she tells me, is "Fun Never Gets Old". I think you'll see why.
Let's dig in.
Starting Aerial Hoop in Your Sixties
Jess: What first pulled you towards circus, and what do you remember about your very first aerial class?
Caytha:
I was a fan of the New York City Neo Burlesque scene which includes aerial performers. After attending a “dirty circus” show, on a lark, and because I thought it would make for a fun memoir essay, I took a class. I remember getting very dizzy! It took an hour after the class to get my bearings back.
Jess: You told Call Me Adam earlier this year that you have "zero dance background" but didn't let that intimidate you. What helped you keep going in those early days?
Caytha:
I loved it as a challenge. I’ve never feared embarrassing myself! Plus, some of my friends play bridge and do puzzles to ward off dementia, I learn aerial flows! BTW – I took my first – in my life – ballet class last week.
It’s been a fun challenge to go from athlete clod to a little more graceful. It took me a year and a half to consistently point my toes – and would say I’m at 85% now. I love that I am getting stronger and more flexible with age. That said, I tend to lean into dynamic and strength forward skills more than splitty dance forward skills.
Jess: What does training look like for you now?
Caytha:
I do aerial classes regularly to learn new skills and flows, privates to work on dynamic skills as well as gym training which includes Barre and Pilates classes and strength and flexibility training. I’m now starting to learn Yoga arm inversions. Hmmm. Does that make me compulsive?
Cross training on straps, working on a back flag.
From Screenwriter to Circus Storyteller
Jess: You've spent years writing and making films. How has circus found its way into the stories you tell?
Caytha:
It’s more that stories found its way through circus. I came to a crossroads as a filmmaker and screenwriter. It’s become much harder to make any money in indie films and even harder to sell a spec script given the depressed state of the movie industry. I was fortunate to start making films during its heyday.
Being in my early sixties, I was ready to pivot. I had a body of work I was proud of. I initially started taking aerial classes to write an essay about it. I had written several essays about unusual experiences for women in mid-life like art modeling in my fifties. I did write the essay, and it was published, but I learned quickly that circus/aerial acts was also a form of storytelling.
I started with creating an act with an essay as a spoken word component. Then I wrote a circus stage play. It was a thrilling moment when I opened my screenwriting software that I thought I had retired to write a script to be performed through circus. That play enjoyed a successful Off-Off Broadway limited run and was recently at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival.
Jess: Is there a moment, on stage or in training, that you'll always remember?
Caytha:
After doing aerial hoop for only five months, I learned about a student showcase at the school where I train. I impulsively signed up. Remember, I don’t fear embarrassment. That was when I first learned that each act tells a story.
While I was still a beginner, our coach told us that it’s not about showing off skills, but about performance. My showcase act was to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” which spoke to my aerial journey. And I did have “… such a good time” and I leaned hard into performance!
Jess: What does the hoop give you that nothing else does?
Caytha:
As someone who was an athlete for most of my life, I love that hoop combines two of my passions – athleticism and creativity. Plus, it’s an incredible community. I have made so many great friends and we all support each other. That is less common in the movie business.
Winter show, performing to "California Dreamin'".
Jess: What do the people closest to you make of you flying around on a hoop?
Caytha:
They think I’m a little crazy but are impressed since I’m truly not “acting my age.” I feel ageless as an aerialist.
Jess: What's next for you, in the air or on the page?
Caytha:
I haven’t done much traditional writing these days but feel creatively inspired through aerial. As alluded, I started producing aerial shows on themes – once a producer always a producer. I’ve produced a handful of shows now. I was asked to produce a half hour aerial performance as part of a big Halloween Costume Ball in NYC. We are going to be doing an abridged circus version of “Nightmare Before Christmas.”
Aerial Oddity, from "A Little UnWell", a show a friend and I created for World Mental Health Day.
Is It Too Late to Start Circus?
Jess: What would you say to someone reading this who's quietly wondering if it's too late to start?
Caytha:
It’s never too late to start. It’s a very accepting and encouraging community. There are others my age and older enjoying aerial arts at all levels. What is wonderful about the circus/aerial disciplines – there are many ways to find success.
The 50+ show I co-produced and performed in. We are all over the age of 50.
Jess: And finally, velvet or stripes?
Caytha:
Stripes. But velvet is pretty cool too!
Outro
"Remember, I don't fear embarrassment."
She says some version of that twice, and both times it's doing a lot of work.
The bit I keep coming back to is her opening the screenwriting software she thought she'd retired, to write something to be performed through circus. All those years of writing and producing came with her into the air. Nothing got wasted.
And a year and a half to consistently point her toes, now at 85%. I really liked that she gave us a number.
If you've been telling yourself you've left it too late for that first class... Caytha has just taken her first ever ballet class. I think you're fine.
Resources & Links
Caytha Jentis: about Caytha on The Other F Word site
Freedom for a Night: Caytha's circus stage play about the dangerous women of Greek mythology, at the 2026 Philadelphia Fringe Festival (Philly Fringe listing)
The Other F Word: Caytha's comedy web series about women starting over in midlife (theotherfwordseries.com)
Call Me Adam: Caytha's interview about Cirque du Gold Standard, a circus night for performers over 50 (callmeadam.com)
More aerial chats on Bubble Bum Banter: Aino Emilia, Emma Poole and Ria Murphy, or browse the whole series.
Something Stripey
Caytha went with stripes, with a soft spot for velvet, so here's one with a bit of both. Royal Rainbow is rainbow stripes finished with purple velvet trims.