How a circus performer got back in the ring after losing her lower legs

Erin Ball had been performing as a circus artist for nine years before an accident in the woods in 2014 led to the emergency amputation of her legs below the knee. After learning how to walk again — a painful rehabilitation process that had Ball in the hospital for months — she was determined to return to her passion for circus performing.

I made a decision that I wanted to get out of the hospital and I wanted to live, and for me, living includes circus.- Erin Ball

In May 2016, just two years after her accident, the Kingston, Ont.-born Ball collaborated with fellow circus artists in the week-long Circus Sessions workshop at Toronto's Harbourfront Centre to choreograph her astounding first performance on aerial silks. During her performance, her prosthetic legs are removed and she dances, climbs and hangs from fabric 10 feet in the air.

In this segment, CBC Arts met Ball at a rehearsal for Circus Sessions 2016. She talks about her rehabilitation journey and about the freedom she's discovered in performing without her prostheses.  

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