Renee Kent was 39 when she felt the need for a physical activity to stay fit. It was then that she started aerial training with, perhaps, a secret yearning for the circus.

“You always hear that you should find a physical activity you enjoy to stay fit. This was it for me. I absolutely loved it. The confidence that comes from consistent training, getting stronger and unlocking new skills is incredibly rewarding. There are so many different avenues for growth, and progress feels endlessly satisfying when you put in the work.

It is more than four years since Matt Tonning and his brother Bob bought St. Catherine Church in Apponaug from the Diocese of Providence for $1 million. Matt didn’t have a plan for the church that he remembers from his childhood but he wanted to save it from being leveled and turned into apartments or worse yet, another shopping plaza.

Now the St. Catherine has brought Matt and Renee together.

It surely wasn’t what Matt had in mind, but Rhode Island Circus Space, the state’s only acrobatics school and studio, has moved in.

The new use is both remarkably fitting – almost serene – yet intensely physically demanding. The altar as well as the stained glass windows and the pews are gone. The organ is still there.

Some pews have found new homes. Matt gave some to the city for benches and to other organizations.

Matt and his brother manage Bluth LLC and have purchased vacant churches outside Rhode Island, but St. Catherine has special meaning because it was their family parish. Matt was baptized at St. Catherine.

He confessed that finding a use for the church and its properties has been challenging.

For Renee Kent, it has been a blessing in more than one way.

Where circus culture can thrive

Kent said circus training brought her a wonderful sense of community.

“The social side of classes, the collaboration, the teamwork – it all adds so much joy to the experience. I hope I’m creating a space here in Rhode Island where all those beautiful aspects of circus culture and community can thrive,” she said.

She trained and performed and within four years became a teacher. Covid put a damper on pretty much everything and by the time things began to normalize, studios had closed – and while there was an interest in aerial acrobatics, there was no place to practice.

Kent rented space that was extremely limited at the RSM Electric warehouse in Warwick and kept looking for something bigger and with the height she needed.

“We looked at a lot of locations,” she said. When she saw St. Catherine Church she knew she had finally come to the right place. Her studio blossomed from 400 square feet to about 3,000, with room to grow. A lot of work requiring multiple permits went into transforming the church into a safe place to perform acrobatics. The entire sanctuary floor is covered with thick padding to soften a fall and stanchions have been erected from which wires are stretched and hang.

Circus blood runs in the Kent family veins. Her son Ian, 19, “is an incredibly talented athlete and one of our instructors, and running the business alongside him has been a really special experience,” she says. Her daughter is also involved in circus and with a supportive husband. Kent says RICS has “become a meaningful connection point for our whole family.”

RICS has between 100 and 130 students and people who use the facility for practice. Kent estimates they range in age from 6 to 63 years old.  RICS has relationships with circus and aerial businesses in the region, including Dancing Loon in Central Falls, Aerial Arts Fitness in Connecticut, and CAT Studio in Swansea.

“There’s a strong sense of community and collaboration across the regional circus world, and we’re proud to be part of it,” she said.

When people start training, Kent said, “they think they’re going to fall, but that’s not a common occurrence.” It’s more common for students to become tangled, which can be tricky and requires careful work to undo. There’s always the mats to avert serious injury. Students also wear harnesses for the lofty maneuvers.

RICS students perform shows, and the church is available for private parties.

Kent sees her staff – many of whom she has known and worked with for more than 10 years – as an extension of family. She said that long-standing trust and shared history have created a very connected, family-like group leading the space.

“We operate collaboratively and are aligned as a staff with the shared goal of providing high-quality circus arts training and a facility that supports the growth of the industry,” she said.

Saving a church

Surely Matt didn’t envision high-flying performers when he made the decision to save the church, but he’s happy to see it being used once again. Of the other buildings on the property, he’s looking to convert one with seven classrooms into apartments.

In one way or another, people are coming back to St. Catherine.

St. Catherine Church opened in 1919, following a three-year construction period including delays due to the onset of World War I. In 1955, the church acquired a nearby home, which it remodeled in 1971 as a convent. The convent was sold in 1988.

By 2014, the modern religious vocations shortage led St. Catherine to share a priest, Fr. Pierre Plante, with St. Francis of Assisi Parish on Jefferson Boulevard. Plante retired in 2021. Coupled with declining Mass attendance and sacramental activity (only three marriages, eight baptisms and 13 First Communions were performed at St. Catherine between 2016 and 2019), knowledge of Plante’s impending retirement led Bishop Thomas J. Tobin to merge both St. Catherine and St. Francis with SS. Rose and Clement Parish. St. Francis was sold to Chesterton Academy of Our Lady of Hope.

Kent has performed publicly a few times.

“I may not have run away with the circus the way a younger version of me might have dreamed, but in a way, I’ve done exactly that. Ever since I started training, I imagined running my own circus business – and now I do.”