She offers the benefits
of balanced learning

By Jon Campisi
Times Staff Writer

t could be said that Lisa Appel was born with a sense of balance.
Hanging on the trapeze or standing on her head just came naturally to this Far Northeast native from an early age. But it wasn’t until later in life, after she was well-established in a profession, that Appel decided to make a career of her talents.
"This is just a culmination of me. I’ve been doing things like this my whole entire life. I just decided to get paid for it," Appel said during a recent interview.
Appel is the founder of Miss Lisa Inc., a one-woman business that specializes in educational programs and fun performances for people of all ages. Appel’s main target audience is people of the Jewish faith, particularly impressionable youngsters. She visits Hebrew-school classes and synagogues to teach religious topics through the use of circus arts.
But she also has been known to take on a corporate gig or two, and even taps into her teaching background to give acrobatic lessons to adults.
"It dawned on me that I went to college to have something to fall back on," Appel said, noting that while her undergrad elementary-education degree from Drexel served her well during seven years of teaching, she’s now really found her niche.
The 33-year-old Bustleton resident said she knew she had a gift when she began doing acrobatics at about 4 years of age. Ironically, she could never ride a bike or skateboard too well, but when it came to walking on her hands or swinging from a trapeze, she had what it took.
Appel’s business was incorporated in 2006, and since that time she has taken gigs primarily in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York area. But she does hope to branch out, something that may have been made easier with the contacts she cultivated during a recent trip to Israel.
Last month she spent three days in Jerusalem during the ROI Global Summit for Young Jewish Innovators. It didn’t cost her a dime to attend; the organization picked up the tab for her and 119 other people from 28 countries who have displayed a commitment to furthering Jewish teachings within their home communities.
"It was a huge honor to be there and to network with people," Appel said. "Hopefully, I’ll be expanding my audience greatly."
There are many things that led Appel to start her own business, but what really cemented her decision was when she was recruited to serve as a magician’s assistant at a show in Atlantic City. She felt in her element, wooing the crowd and relishing the opportunity to perform onstage.
A few months later she made her first pilgrimage to Israel, and it was then that she truly knew what she wanted to be doing.
When she returned to the States, Appel began taking acrobatics lessons to brush up on her skills. She even got a chance to meet and study with the Give & Take Jugglers, a well-known troupe of local performers whom Appel credits with helping her to expand her repertoire.
Juggling didn’t come naturally. But it was something she wanted to learn, since it would offer her a reprieve from other physically demanding acts.
"I learned that juggling was less taxing on the body than acrobatics," Appel said with a laugh.
One of the first jobs she landed was at Congregation Shaare Shamayim in her hometown. As the story goes, she just walked into the synagogue one day and approached executive director Jacques Lurie, asking if he had any use for her act.
"He asked if I could be a human dreidel, and I said, ‘Uh huh,’ so I was a human dreidel," Appel said, referring to the four-sided top used in a children’s game during the celebration of Hanukkah.
After that, finding work became somewhat easier for Appel. She has performed for students in the School District of Philadelphia, and her act won rave reviews from school officials.
"I was pleased with the way you introduced letters, sounds and the art of acrobatics," Kevin S. Carr, who oversees the Head Start program at the Abigail Vare Elementary School in South Philadelphia, wrote in an April letter to Appel that was posted on her Web site. "The diversity kept the children on task with your presentation."
Appel’s appeal stems from her unorthodox teaching methods. For example, during her presentation to the Head Start students, Appel read the children stories — upside down while standing on her head.
Her favorite age group is preschoolers and kindergartners — after all, her background is in elementary education — but she won’t shy away from performing for older students.
Appel, who proclaims herself as the "only person in the world using circus arts as a tool to teach," said her presentations go over particularly well with young people because they are interactive, often involving audience participation.
"I do a little skit, and then they get to try it," she said. "Even the best performance, a child doesn’t just want to watch. Learning isn’t a passive activity."
While visiting Israel, Appel had the chance to do street performances in Tel Aviv. Photos from her trip show Appel contorting her body to the backdrop of the ancient city.
To ensure that she remains flexible, Appel keeps herself on a fairly regular exercise regimen.
"I believe in taking care of your body," she said. "I don’t abuse my body. I want to do this for the rest of my life."
Her business acumen seems to be as finely tuned. Appel also has taken to offering lessons of her own, and she’s particularly proud of an acrobatic class for adults that she teaches at the Northeast Racquet Club and Fitness Center in Bustleton. Appel said students run the gamut, from martial artists and break-dancers to young women.
"And they’re learning, they’re actually learning," she said. "If there’s anything I can actually do, it’s teach acrobatics."
Asked if she has a desire to introduce anything new to her act, Appel said she’d like to learn to ride the unicycle. That might be difficult, given her aversion to bike-riding, but she’d like to give it a try.
Appel also is going to Gratz College and studying for her master’s degree in Jewish studies. She has been studying sign language, too, since she’d like deaf youngsters to experience her presentations.
"A lot of performers can do sign language," Appel said. "But if you’re a good actress, you can convey your message through body language."
Appel’s varied repertoire also offers a Holocaust-education program, particularly reaching out to schoolchildren whose knowledge of what happened may be limited. Acknowledging that pantomime and circus arts don’t come to mind as educational tools for such a somber topic, Appel said that rather than make the "acrobatics look as sad or as disgusting as the situation was, instead I share my artistic interpretation of what I’ve learned, understand."
Appel said she dedicates this aspect of her business to her grandfather and great-uncle, both of whom were resistance fighters in Poland and died for their cause.
Appel has come a long way from her days as a public-school teacher to self-motivated entrepreneur. Much of her time also is devoted to doing research, making bookings, designing costumes and establishing contacts.
But in Appel’s mind, it’s all worthwhile. She feels she is truly making a difference.
"It’s really easy to keep a child’s attention, anyone’s attention, when you’re standing on your head," she said with a smile.
And Lisa Appel is living her dream, one, it could be said, that started in the mind of a 4-year-old girl who became fascinated with acrobatics.
"It’s a dream come true to be able to do this." ••
To learn more about Miss Lisa Inc., visit www.MissLisaInc.com or call 215-264-0003.
Reporter Jon Campisi can be reached at 215-354-3038 or jcampisi@phillynews.com