Children in San Pancho Learn Cirque du Soleil Skills Sophie Hares - The Star
go to original April 20, 2015

The Acrobatic Bicycle is one of the biggest acts of Circo de los Niños, started by a co-founder of Cirque du Soleil.

In an old warehouse in a tiny town on Mexico’s Pacific coast, Cirque du Soleil co-founder Gilles Ste-Croix is holding tightly scheduled rehearsals before the launch of his latest production.

Like Cirque’s shows in Las Vegas, it features skilful acrobats, daring trapeze artists, stilt walkers and jugglers. The difference? All the performers are local children.

“When I see a kid who can walk on stilts the first time, the smile on his face is incredible,” says Ste-Croix, 65, who retired from Cirque du Soleil last year. “I wish this had happened to me when I was 8 years old.”

Ste-Croix, who has a house in San Francisco — a bohemian beach town known locally as San Pancho — raided Cirque du Soleil’s warehouses for old rigging and costumes for his Circo de los Niños. He badgered friends for professional lighting and projection gear. And he spends $50,000 (US) a year on the project.

The circus school started four years ago when 40 children signed up for the first show. It now has a permanent home in the renovated Bodega Circo warehouse where more than 70 children aged 8 to 17 learn acrobatics, juggling and trapeze.

“The children are learning what is theatre. If they’re going to juggle alone in the yard back home, it’s very different to going on stage, doing it in front of people,” says Ste-Croix.

Read the rest at The Star.