Alexandre Lane: Co-founder & team leaderAlexandre Lane began his training at the National circus school of Montréal. He first discovered the Cyr wheel five years ago, when the discipline was just beginning to gain popularity in the circus world. Since that time he hasn’t stopped pushing the limits of its potential. His goal is to present organic, symbiotic performances with his wheel. Beyond all, the wheel represents the archetype of fluidity and pure movement. It allows him to intimately touch the public with his graceful lines and original movements. With this vision, he can focus throughout his creations on developing a dramatic atmosphere that is based on intensity and stage presence.
The innovative style he developed, as well as his expertise in Cyr wheel, allowed him to work with the department of research and development for new circus apparatuses at Cirque du Soleil. In 2012, he broke all the records of the International Circus Festival of Budapest winning the Gold Pierrot for his Russian cradle act “Chilly and Fly” and the Bronze Pierrot for his Cyr wheel act “Circonvolution Improbables.” It was the first time in history that a performer won two major prizes in one major festival. He also won the Alexander Grimailo Studio prize as well as the Palazzo Special Prize for “The most artistic in performance and style.”
Marco Paoletti: Co-founder & Technical/Artistic leaderMarco Paoletti studied philosophy at the University of Buenos Aires from 1999 to 2004. He was a recognized athlete and won medals in rugby, soccer and ski. Throughout his studies and sports, he was devoted to his passion for juggling. In 2005, he left Argentina and relocated to Europe to continue his development as a juggler. Since then he has traveled to 45 countries to teach and perform on stages around the world. In England, he won third place at the World Juggling Federation in 2006. Following these successes, Marco Paoletti created two variety acts “Meros Manotasos” and “Bounce” which were performed in Chamäeleon Varieté and GOP (Germany), dinner shows like Stille Kracht (Switzerland) and galas for Caterpilar, BMW, Topper, Adidas, TK and many others.
Marco’s approach to Cyr wheel is similar to his approach to juggling. For nearly two years, the wheel has been for him another object of manipulation. Marco recently finished touring Argentina with his one hour solo show “12 pieces of stuff.”
Ethan Law: Co-founder & Public Relation leaderFor Ethan, acrobatics has been a lifelong obsession. Exploring various disciplines such as trampoline, diving, capoeira, and breakdancing, for him a career in circus was a natural progression. In 2004 Ethan moved to San Francisco and spent two years under the tutelage of master trainer Lu Yi, former director of the prestigious Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe. To further refine his skill set, he continued his studies at the National Circus School of Montreal, studying Icarian games, Cyr wheel, and acrobatics.
Since graduation, he has been invited to perform for a plethora of events and festivals around the world including Cirque de Demain, The Young Stage Festival in Basel, and La Vie est un Cirque, all of which were televised. Ethan has also collaborated with many circus and varieté companies such as Palazzo Colombino, Cirque de Soleil (research & development), and The Box. He is presently working with the GOP Varieté in Germany.
Angelica BongiovonniPerforming has been Angelica’s life dream since her debut on fixed trapeze as the youngest circus performer in the L.A. Circus at the age of 7. She attended the National Circus School of Montreal, starting as an aerialist, but soon falling in love with the Cyr wheel. Angelica has a strong dance background and has done workshops with companies including Diavolo Dance Theater and Ledges and Bones, as well as workshopping at the prestigious ESAC in Brussels and with the Cyr wheel inventor Daniel Cyr.
Highlights include La Vie est une Cirque, Generating Company’s “No Sweat”, Circus Flic-Flac and festival Sol y Circo in Sylt, Germany where she won 2nd place, the audience choice award, and the Cirque Eloize engagement special prize. She joined Recircle in October 2011.
Yann LeblancYann’s attraction to circus began at the age of eight. A few years later, he performed with the verdun circus school at the Montreal Jazz Festival. He has participated in the Verdun Circus School’s pre-professional training, followed by two years of secondary school at the National Circus School of Montreal. He continued his studies with the 3 year Dec program to perfect his circus technique. Since then he has been a principal member of the Cirque Eloize’s Rain.
Yann brings a dynamic and physical energy to the stage. He places an emphasis on multidisciplinary performances. His specialities include juggling, hand to hand, acrobatics, teeterboard and cyr wheel.
Christopher Filkins trained for ten years in his youth as a competitive gymnast and ballet dancer. In 2007 he began spinning the roue and found the Venice Spinning Circle and later co-found Spinnovation with Sam Tribble. Over the last decade he has proven himself a singular driving force behind the development of the traveling rings as he developed a school of swinging called Clockwork. In 2010 his love of the roue Cyr led him to work with Toni Vighetto and Eros Biox on the zig. He has since become an adept zigroller. In addition to performing he teaches roue Cyr and zig in Los Angeles and builds roue Cyr under the name Brachiator.
Emilie Fournier grew up in a smal town near Montreal, Canada. From the early age of five, she started training artistic gymnastics; she was supported and encouraged to exel in a sport that would become one of her greatest passion in life. She pursued her athlete’s career on the national team until the age of seventeen to reach every athlete’s dream; the Olympic Games of Sydney in 2000. Shortly after ending her gymnastics career, she discovered the art of circus and distinguished that its marriage of both artistic expression and pure techical precision was the perfect symbiosis. Her obsession in finding immaculate technics and executions have driven her throughout all of her achievements in life.
Following her next passion, she joined Cirque du Soleil in 2002 as an aerialist with the show “0″ in Las Vegas. Three years later, her journey led her to a touring Cirque du Soleil show called “Corteo”, created by Daniele Finzi Pasca, where she perfected and mastered the russian cradle amonst some of the best acrobats. Parallel to her work, she graduated in 2011 from the University of Phoenix in Arts and Business. She now works with her partner Alexandre Lane in the aerial duo “Chilly and Fly”, which was awarded the golden pierrot at the prestigious international circus festival of Budapest in 2012. She is currently collaborating with ReCircle as the administrative leader and hopes to perform on stage with the collective in a near future.
Kamee AbrahamianKamee Abrahamian grew up between Cairo, Armenia, and Toronto, where she was trained in visual arts and classical ballet. She settled down in Montreal in 2005 and received an undergraduate degree from Concordia in both Film and Political Science. Upon graduation, she started producing the Blood Ballet Cabaret, which has toured internationally and continues to present shows regularly throughout Canada. In 2011, Kamee founded an art space in Yerevan called the Abrahamian Art Centre, where she occasionally curates shows and runs special art programs for under-priveledged children.
She is currently doing her masters at the European Graduate School (Switzerland). Her degree is in Expressive Arts (EXA) with a concentration in consulting and education. Her current specialization is in the digital arts, an approach to EXA that she hopes to refine in her thesis. She continues to develop her mixed media collection, which is being exhibited in New York and Yerevan. Kamee is collaborating with ReCircle as a project manager and is particularly interested in working with the collective from an environmental standpoint.
