A lot of teens spend their days gazing and admiring celebrities on the social media platform Instagram.
But 13-year-old Lila Woodard doesn’t need to dote over famous people. She is one.
The La Colina Junior High School student has more than 30,000 followers on Instagram, and is known around the globe as one of the rising young stars in the world of contortionism.
She can twist her body into just about any position imaginable, fold herself into a tiny box, and shoot arrows from a bow with her toes — while doing a handstand.
She’s not your average child athlete.
With a high, angel-like voice, the young teen has been practicing contortionism since she was a toddler.
She started just like most other kids. She tried ballet and gymnastics at the age of 3. When she was 6 years old, she saw people on TV and YouTube doing flexibility tricks, and she wanted to try it.
“I wasn’t good at first, but I did notice that I had a little bit of natural ability,” Lila told Noozhawk.
At age 9, her older sister was playing in a softball tournament in San Diego. She saw a girl with Le Petit Cirque fold herself into a box as part of the opening ceremonies for the event.
“At that moment, I knew I had to do that,” Lila said. “I hadn’t seen any Cirque de Soleil shows before that. I didn’t know that kids did this. I didn’t know anyone did that.”
She and her family found the group’s studio, took a private lesson with the Los Angeles group, and eventually joined them. She’s been practicing and performing ever since.
She travels to Los Angeles three days a week after school to train. From there, she picked up foot archery. She bought a bow from Ventura and trained in her backyard. The circus acts are what she loves the most.
“I mainly just focus on the contortion, and the beauty of just being able to fold yourself in half,” Lila said. “Some see it as kind of creepy, but for me it’s just kind of to inspire people with what I am able to do.”
Both of her parents are educators.
Her mother, Lyndsay Woodard, is a teacher at Laguna Blanca School. Her father, Bill Woodard, is the principal at Dos Pueblos High School.
“We are super proud of her for finding her passion and committing to her unique skill that’s given her such amazing opportunities to travel the world performing at such a young age,” her father said. “She’s as dedicated as any athlete in a traditional sport, spending countless hours training.
“But she also loves the artistry and creativity that comes with the Cirque de Soleil-style circus performing. And of course, I always have a conversation starter at parties when I explain that my youngest daughter is in the circus.”
Lila already has experienced the world in a way most people never will.
She performed at the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway, headlined by singer John Legend, in front of 10,000 people. She was a gold medalist with her foot archery act at the 2018 World Championships of Performing Arts, and earned silver medals in contortion and aerial.
Her success, however, comes with sacrifice.
“The training is so demanding,” Lila said.
She trains in Los Angeles and at her home. She has a modified school schedule, getting out at lunchtime, then doing her homework before she trains.
“I have to be super-dedicated and devoted,” she said. “From a very young age, you have to grow up really fast to be in these high-pressure situations.”
While many young people have social media accounts for a hobby, for Lila, it’s part of her business. She has to maintain social media accounts, which are run by her mother, in order to be visible and booked for shows and events.
“For me, the toughest thing is having to be on your A game every second of pretty much every day,” Lila said. “You are always in the public eye.”
Even traveling is difficult. She must bring her bow and arrow, swords for karate, knives for juggling. She gets questioned a lot at airports.
Although some of the positions she puts herself in look painful to the average person, Lila said all that stretching makes her body loose.
“Because we’re bending and everything, we’re actually less prone to injury,” Lila said.
Sometimes performers get a sore wrist from handstands, but injuries are rare, she said.
“We’re very safety conscious,” Lila said.
Lila, who doesn’t eat meat, said she loves the circus and wants to perform as much as she can. She loves telling a story on stage.
“For me, it is balancing that athleticism with the artistry, telling that story, because that’s what makes a difference to the audience,” Lila said. “They just don’t want to see act after act, trick after trick. You want to make the sad man happy, you want to make the child laugh.”
In addition to living her circus dreams, Lila is also an activist. She is a junior spokesperson with the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation.
“Even more important to us is that the opportunity to perform with Le Petit Cirque at the Nobel Peace Prize Concert inspired her to strive to be an ambassador for peace, something as she is growing older she wants to continue,” her father said. “So whether she continues on to Cirque du Soleil or decides to stop tomorrow and pursue something else, she’s learned so much about the world and about herself.”
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
