SPOKANE - The first thing Emily Carragher said she learned in clown school was the proper way to walk.

"There's clown school?" a group of eight fifth- and sixth-graders excitedly asked the Cirque du Soleil "Varekai" performer in unison.

"Yep. There's even clown college," Carragher responded as the students practiced walking like either a boss or assistant clown. "Wow. You guys are too good at this, I think. Next time let's pretend I'm the clown and you're the kids."

On Friday, 24 students from Sorensen Magnet School of the Arts and Humanities were given a rare opportunity to learn the ropes from Cirque du Soleil performers like Carragher at the Spokane Arena. Fifth-grade teacher David Groth secured the two-hour workshop, which only happens on three tour stops a year, and selected a small group of fifth- and sixth-graders for the once-in-a-lifetime experience.

"The students got to see real human beings who are having a lot of fun with what they're doing while working really hard at the same time," Groth said. "It was every bit as magical as we dreamed it would be."

The students split into three groups of eight and rotated around the arena, learning various aspects of the show. At the first station, some of the students learned water jug drumming from Denise Dion while the other half worked on singing and choreography with Isabelle Dansereau-Corradi.

"I don't know who teaches singing at your school, but you kids are so good," Dansereau-Corradi said after the students performed the routine. "Bravo."

"We're pretty amazing, I know," Jameson Wasson, a sixth-grader, replied.

"Oh you are going to be an actor," Densereau-Corradi said. "It's very important that you do only what your heart tells you and follow that path. Ask your heart, not your head."

Michael Ocampo, head coach for the performers in "Varekai," told The Press that when his performers get the chance to interact with students, there's never a shortage of volunteers.

"They love interacting and getting the chance to connect with people from the cities they perform in," Ocampo said. "And working with kids from an art school is the perfect opportunity for them to inspire the next generation of artists."

Another benefit of working with students from a school focused on arts and humanities, he said, was that the performers were able to be creative with their lessons, rather than just teaching the fundamentals.

"And because they've done this type of thing before, there isn't that shyness we encounter when working with other students," Ocampo added.

Shyness certainly wasn't an issue when, after learning the art of clowning from Carragher, a group went to see Vova Pestov for their final lesson of the day. The expert juggler couldn't stop the students, some of them wearing shirts that said "Sorensen Juggling Team," from showing off their talents.

"No juggling," Pestov said with a smirk. "There's no juggling in this class."

"You told us there was," the students replied.

"It must be a conspiracy then ... Illuminati," Pestov said, barely containing his laughter.

After the excited group stopped giggling, Pestov spent 30 minutes teaching them how to take their juggling game to the next level. The lesson had sixth-grader Kennedy Karajack dreaming of one day being on stage with Cirque du Soleil.

"I really, really like juggling and doing acrobatic stuff," Karajack said.

"I couldn't really see myself doing it," said Jaya Miller, another sixth-grader. "But I love watching it all."