Sabine van Rensburg (@circusbean) and Brin Schoellkopf (@brin_schoellkopf) are two circus artists currently working in the show Passagers from 7 Fingers. We met these two talented young artists through the artistic director of Passagers from 7 Fingers, Shana Caroll, who appeared in an earlier episode of Feisworld. Passagers (or Passengers in English) is opening in Boston on September 25th, 2019 and leaving the city on October 13th, 2019. Make sure to check out the show with your friends and...

Vladmir Lissouba (Instagram) and Connor Houlihan (Instagram) from the incredible circus show called “La Galerie” (The Gallery) from Machine de Cirque. Adam Leffert (Associate Producer of Feisworld Podcast) also joined us as a co-host after watching the show during the Montreal Circus Festival. Vlad is a Montreal native and Connor is from the United States. They are currently performing in Edinburgh, Scotland (as of August 2019). To check out the show, go to: Calendar from the company Machine...

Andrew, Kevin and Gasya Atherton are a family of circus artists working in the show PARAMOUR from Cirque du Soleil. After witnessing Varekai in the summer of 2015, I immediately reached out to identical twin brothers, Andrew and Kevin to join me on Feisworld. Since then, we’ve completed two projects together including the buildout of their website AthertonTwins.com (launched in 2015), and their brand new workout series called 10 for 10 (launched in 2018), the first gymnastics and...

One of the most requested episodes is here with Cirque du Soleil hand balancer, Instagram sensation, Gasya Akhmetova-Atherton (@Gasya on Instagram). This is not only one of the very few long-form content with Gasya, it is also a rare podcast interview with her. Joining Cirque at the tender age of 17, Gasya is now mother to two beautiful and adorable children - Kamali and Kaysen. Over the past 2.5 years, I’ve grown much closer to the entire family and watch the kids grow up. In between that...

Shana Carroll is a Founding Director at the 7 Fingers from Montreal, Quebec. She was a trapeze artist before becoming an acrobatic designer and choreographer at Cirque du Soleil. After interviewing a number of acrobats from Cirque, my listeners requested to learn more about people behind the scenes. Therefore I started researching directors, creators, storytellers from various shows. Shana jumped out at me, not only because she's been an integral part of many major Cirque shows, but also her...

Gypsy Snider is one of the Founders at 7 Fingers, a contemporary circus collective, where she works as a writer and choreographer. Gypsy has a unique childhood. Both of her parents are not only circus actors, but had their own circus as a family business, where Gyspy performed since the age of five. The show, Reversible, is an interactive experience "inspired by the soaring spirit and simple spark of human nature". Reversible represents the best of contemporary circus by shining a...

Eric Langlois is the Executive Director at the National Circus School in Montreal, Quebec. The National Circus School (NCS) is a school for higher education in circus arts, its circus curriculums also includes courses in dance and theatre. One of our own podcast guests, Anny Laplante graduated from there and since then she has performed with Cirque du Soleil and Circus 1903 in several highly reviewed traveling shows. The NCS is the largest North American school devoted to advanced circus...

Roman Tomanov (@romantomanov) was born in Moscow, Russia inside a circus family. His father was his coach. He began public performances at the age of 5. After immigrating to the US (and residing in Las Vegas at a young age), Roman has performed with the largest theatrical production company in the world, Cirque du Soleil. His most recent appearance is with KURIOS the Cabinet of Curiosities. Show notes, tools and resources: https://www.feisworld.com/blog/roman-tomanov ----- Learn more...

Anny Laplante is a "flyer" currently performing with Circus 1903 in a breathtaking act called Russian Cradle Duo. Russian Cradle Duo is a famously known circus act, where the aerialist being propelled is referred to as a "flyer" (that's Anny), while the one doing the tossing and catching is referred to as a "carrier" (or "catcher"). The flyer usually starts and ends by standing on the frame above the catcher. The flyer then swings holding on to the catcher’s hands, performs releases at the...

David Williamson is currently touring in Circus 1903,  a show from the producers of The Illusionists and the puppeteers of War Horse. It's a fun celebration of the golden age of circus. David isn't a trained ringmaster, but a professional magician. He has been featured on ABC's Champions of Magic, where he appeared with Princess Stephanie as he performed his miracles at different locations in and around Monaco. "THE CLOSEUP MAGICIAN IS THE SUPREME APPLIED PSYCHOLOGIST." "You know how people...

In this episode, I speak with Aerial Strap Artists from Cirque du Soleil, Andrew and Kevin Atherton. They are identical twin brothers born and raised in the UK. They were professional gymnasts for 17 years before transitioning to aerialists for Cirque du Soleil at the age of 24. In 2017, they were cast as headliner aerialists for the first Broadway and Cirque du Soleil collaboration called Paramour. This show is currently playing in Hamburg, Germany (as of September 2019). Learn more about...

Born and raised in Greece, educated and lived in the UK for 4 years, Eirini Tornesaki had been working with Cirque Du Soleil in the show KURIOS - Cabinet of Curiosities since January 2014, touring Canada and the United States.  Eirini is the original singer of KURIOS and performed the vocals on the soundtrack album recorded in Montreal and released in November 2014. When KURIOS came to Boston in May 2016, I was eager to see it live. The music hit me right away. I saw a petit, beautiful woman...

Hey it’s your host Fei Wu and you are listening to the Feisworld Circus podcast: Conversations with Superhumans. This podcast features interviews with more than a dozen circus artists from Cirque du Soleil, 7 Fingers, Circus 1903, Cirque de Machine. Their stories were so well received on our original podcast that we decided to create this new show for you to binge and mingle with these superhumans. They will expand your horizon and make you rethink our mental and physical boundaries....