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Roll Glide
CLASSIC CITY ROLLERGIRLS GEAR UP FOR A NEW SEASON
By Rosemary Scott news@flagpole.com
The Amazing Acro-Cats
FELINE STARS TAKE CENTER STAGE
By Noah Rawlings arts@flagpole.com
winter comes to an end, the peo
ple of Athens are ready to roll into
a new season, and the city’s roller derby
squad is no exception. The Classic City
Rollergirls are preparing for what they hope
will be their most triumphant season yet.
The Classic City Rollergirls are currently
in the midst of their bi-yearly bootcamp,
which is open to the public and serves as
a way to assess talent and train new mem
bers. More experienced
and serious members
will make up the com
petitive “A Team,” and
members who seek to
participate in a more casual capacity will
make up the “B Team.”
Though the girls plan to skate into their
newest season with their usual confidence
and overall bad-assery, the team will look
much different than last season. Due to
team transfers, retirement and the chaos
that is everyday life, around 18 members
have left, leaving the Rollergirls with about
25 members overall, which is five less than
they need to make up both teams.
derby is nothing like the 1970s roller girl
trope that once saturated the media. “Roller
derby is an intense sport that has complex
details and rules,” she says. “It’s certainly a
real sport and should be recognized as one.”
For those who are unfamiliar, here’s how
roller derby works: There are two teams with
five players in the rink at a time. One mem
ber of the team (the jammer) must attempt
to pass four players (the blockers) to score
a point. The players
are allowed to push
one another out of the
way, which is where
the sport’s rough
reputation comes in. The players cannot use
their heads, elbows, forearms, hands, knees,
lower legs or feet to block opponents.
Though roller derby certainly isn’t for
the faint of heart, Cleland says the sport
doesn’t have to be so serious. With a hus
band and three kids to look after, she says
roller derby is one thing that is all her own.
“Roller derby can be anything you want it to
be,” Cleland says. “It can be exercise, a net
work of fantastic women, stress relief, an
P icture cats jumping through hoops, cats
walking on tightropes, cats playing the
cowbell—in short, a traveling cat circus.
The Amazing Acro-Cats are returning to
Athens, where they will be performing at
the Morton Theatre on the evenings of
Friday, Mar. 13 and Saturday, Mar. 14.
Acro-Cats was started in Chicago in 2006
by Samantha Martin, a longtime animal
trainer. Prior to forming this feline festi
val, Martin ran a circus comprised of rats,
suitably titled “The Amazing Acro-Rats.”
As it turns out, the rat circus did not sell.
breaking things.” Such human-cat miscom-
munication leads some people to give their
cats up. It disincentives others from adopt
ing rescue cats, who may face squalid living
conditions or euthanasia.
Thus, Acro-Cats strives to show that
cats are trainable, and trainable using only
positive reinforcement techniques, like
associating the movements of tricks with
receiving treats. Just as one might teach a
dog to sit, one can teach a cat not to scratch
furniture, or to run to their crate during an
emergency, or to, erm, ride a skateboard.
After a couple bootcamp
sessions, I was hooked.
B'easy knocks a jammer out of bounds during a bout against Ohio Roller Derby in Columbus, OH on June 29,2019.
Luckily, the girls are only in the midst of
Week Two of bootcamp, which takes place
every Saturday through Mar. 21. There’s
still ample time for newcomers to join, and
more experienced skaters may be permitted
to expedite the bootcamp process.
Team captain Angie Cleland, known to
fans as Violet Konduct, says she had no idea
what she was getting into when she joined
the roller derby four and a half years ago.
“I went to an open skate at one of the rinks
and someone gave me a flyer, so I thought
it was just a way to get some good exercise,”
Cleland says. “After a couple bootcamp ses
sions, I was hooked.”
The Classic City Rollergirls have made
a name for themselves over the years, but
roller derby isn’t just an Athens thing. It
is one of the fastest growing female sports
in the world, with co-ed and male teams
emerging as well.
Cleland wants to emphasize that roller
escape... We welcome anyone in any capac
ity they want to participate.”
The Rollergirls’ needs don’t just include
A team members, but referees, casual
skaters, non-skating officials and donors.
Cleland says the team’s biggest goal for
the season is to train and grow the newest
members’ skill sets and retain those mem
bers for seasons to come.
The Classic City Rollergirls’ next game,
called a bout, will take place on Saturday,
Mar. 14 in Charlotte, NC. The next home
bout is scheduled for Saturday, Apr. 4 at
Athens Arena, 280 Commerce Blvd., off
Atlanta Highway.
To find out more information about the
rollergirls, donate to the cause or see the
full season schedule, visit classiccityrol-
lergirls.com. To become part of the team
or see if roller derby is your thing, go to
the rollergirls bootcamp every Saturday
through Mar. 21. ©
Cats, on the other hand... People loved it.
First, there was an Animal Planet feature
in 2011, then, a New York Times spotlight
in the summer of 2015. In the fall of 2015
came the peak of Acro-Cat fame, perhaps,
with an appearance on “The Late Show with
Stephen Colbert.”
In 2017, Martin relocated the Acro-Cats
from Chicago to Griffin, GA, drawn by the
state’s burgeoning movie industry (for
which she trains animals) and the more
cat-friendly climate. However, shortly after
her move, Martin was diagnosed with can
cer and had to put Acro-Cats on hold for
most of 2018. After a bumpy but successful
period of treatment, Martin is now can
cer-free, and Acro-Cats have been back on
tour since 2019.
Entertainment is at the core of Acro-
Cats, but Martin puts the show to benevo
lent purposes. Acro-Cats donates part of its
proceeds to local animal shelters, incorpo
rates rescued house cats into the show, and
arranges for the adoption of foster cats and
kittens. (Since 2009, Acro-Cats has helped
foster some 250 cats.) In conjunction with
these aims, Acro-Cats also propagates new
perspectives on cat behavior, training and
sociality. “People should raise their cats
more like they raise dogs,” Martin claims.
It is a commonplace, Martin says, that
“you don’t just put [a dog] in a doghouse
in the backyard and then throw food at it
a couple times a day,” but when it comes to
cats, “people leave out a bowl of food, and
they buy a few toys for them, and then they
wonder why my cat doesn’t care about me,
or, oh, my cat’s destructive, oh, my cat’s
“Not only can cats be trained, they should be
trained,” Martin says. “Who’s going to leave
behind a cat that gives you a high-five when
you come home from work?”
On a practical level, then, Acro-Cats
simultaneously provides a zany form of
entertainment and a service to cats and cat
owners alike. Like many forms of animal
entertainment, though, anthropomorphism
underlies Acro-Cats. Acro-Cats shows
animals doing what humans do: playing
instruments, wearing clothes, skateboard
ing. When we anthropomorphize, we are
liable to level the difference between an
animal acting out of pure volition and an
animal acting for a treat. The two need not
be mutually exclusive: a dog may come to
enjoy playing fetch or hunting only after
being trained to do so. But, as you are likely
to notice from watching an Acro-Cat closely,
cats aren’t intrinsically interested in pawing
a piano or walking on their hind legs. They
would probably rather chase bits of yarn, or
scratch their paws against your rug—things
they don’t need to be taught. This isn’t a
hefty ethical problem, but it may lead us to
substitute understanding animals for being
entertained by them.
That said, if audiences enjoy the anthro
pomorphic aspects of Acro-Cats, they will
not ignore the specificity of the cats them
selves. Martin notes that some of the best
Acro-Cats moments are when the perform
ers deviate from the script, when they dis
play their full-fledged cattiness: “Sometimes
they come out, they stretch, they groom.
And then sometimes they just leave the
stage”©
MARCH 11, 2020 | FLAGPOLE.COM 9
DORRIS STATE AUSTIN
