Entries Tagged 'circus' ↓

cliff handstand on 3 chairs

Balancing on three chairs and performing a handstand on the edge of this cliff face, extreme artist Eskil Ronningsbakken takes his balancing feat to the limit.

Pictured here almost 1,000ft above the ground at the edge of the Flydalsjuvet cliff in Geiranger, Norway, the daredevil faces certain death with one wrong move. …

Mail Online –

(via BeastSkills.com on Facebook)

Port-au-Prince government getting Cirque tents

Several large circus tents previously used by Cirque du Soleil are on their way to Haiti to be used as a temporary headquarters for the Port-au-Prince government, according to the man donating them.

The self-contained tents would replace government buildings destroyed a month ago by the devastating earthquake that killed at least 200,000 people, Nevada real estate developer Tom Schrade said Thursday. …

The tents have 33,000 square feet of interior floor space, including heating and air conditioning systems, interior and exterior lighting, toilets and 900 padded chairs, Schrade said. …

CNN – Donated circus tents could shelter Haiti’s government

Conrad Hilton and the Clinton Foundation are transporting the tents.

(via Cirque Tribune)

who is hand balancer Artur?

This guy is as good as they get in Acrobatic Gymnastics. But who is he?

UPDATE: Cirque’s Stacy Clark confirms this is Artur Bezkorinnyy, a graduate of the Kiev Circus School.

Click PLAY or watch Artur on YouTube.

(via Lost Art of Hand Balancing)

Cirque – LOVE trampoline act

A glimpse at the cool cops chasing hippies trampoline act in the Cirque du Soleil’s Beatles show LOVE.

It’s much tougher than it looks.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

Posted by Marceline Goldstein from Cirque Casting on Facebook.

crazy gymnastics on a pole

I’ve never seen anything like this.

It’s part pole dancing. Part contortion. Part Chinese pole. A bit of hand balancing. Even some tumbling.

And check out the extreme dismount!

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

This is called Mallakhamb.

… a traditional Indian sport in which a gymnast performs poses and feats while hanging from a vertical wooden pole or rope. Mallakhamb also refers to the pole used in the sport. …

Here’s the rope version. It’s like Silks with a rope. Painful!

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

(via Cirque Tribune)

dead fly circus

I got this email today.

1. Collect some dead flies from the office windowsills.

2. Put them in the sun to dry for one hour

3. Once they are dry, pick up a pencil and paper… Let your imagination run free

What to do when you are bored at work …

Thanks George.

acrobatic dance troupe – STREB

Dory Dynna linked to a highlights reel. Very cool … but they seem to fall down, a lot. ☺ He’s got tickets to see them in Vancouver as part of the arts festival held in conjunction with the Winter Olympics.

Promotional video for STREB with highlights from Wild Blue Yonder, STREB VS GRAVITY, Cirque du Soleil and the David Letterman Show

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

… “It’s a mixture of slam dancing, exquisite and amazing human flight, and wild action sport,” says Elizabeth Streb, the daredevil founder of the Brooklyn-based STREB Extreme Action Company. …

Streb, an exuberant 60-year-old with spiky black hair, has won a MacArthur “genius” award for her work with the company she created in 1985. She remains fit a decade after she stopped performing her own choreography — so physically demanding, each move is calculated mathematically to avert catastrophe. …

read more: Daring dancers ready for Olympiad

crazy BIG AIR from a Russian Swing

ArtSportsWorld is in Colorado Springs.

Click PLAY or watch the insanity on YouTube.

I’ve still not heard of a bigger gymnastics foam pit, 50 x 25 feet, 8 ft. deep.

related post – getting BIG AIR at the world’s largest tramp club

Thanks Nancy.

gymnast Anna Li – flies through the air with the greatest of ease

At Woodward Gymnastics Camp, advanced gymnasts regularly try some difficult trapeze stunts, flying from Rings to Horizontal Bar. And back.

UCLA gymnast Anna Li is the best female gymnast I’ve yet seen try it.

Click PLAY or watch Anna on YouTube.

(via Live.Breathe.Love Gymnastics)

gymnast stunt doubles

UCLA Gymnastics is well known for having their athletes go on to careers in the Circus after graduation. Less well known is how many girls go on to stunt work.

UCLA magazine posted an excellent article on Bruin gymnasts getting work as doubles on TV and in the Movies.

Five former UCLA female gymnasts work on Make it or Break It.

Natalie Padilla ‘08, Jordan Schwikert ‘09 and Ariana Berlin ‘10 perform as stunt doubles for some of the lead characters; Tasha Schwikert ‘09 plays a gym-nast on the show; and Karin Silvestri-Coye ‘98 serves as the show’s gymnastics coordinator. …

2008 NCAA Champion Tasha Schwikert

2008 NCAA Champion Tasha Schwikert

… Other former Bruin gymnastics stars who have found stunt work in Hollywood include Dee Fischer Murphy ‘96 and Kiralee Hayashi ‘00 …

Heidi Moneymaker, has been doing stunts full-time since 2001 …

Read the article – Stunts and Circuses

Related – cool new ad for G2 (Gatorade) features Chellsie Memmel on Bars

Update – check the comments for more information on stunt work gymnasts

Cirque du Soleil unveils Viva ELVIS

Preview performances for Viva ELVIS, the newest Cirque show, will begin Friday, December 18, 2009.

Viva ELVIS, a harmonious fusion of dance, acrobatics and live music, is a tribute to the life and music of Elvis Presley. Nostalgia, modernity and raw emotion provide the backdrop for his immortal voice and the exhilaration and beauty of his music.

I’ve not seen any official trailer as yet, but here are some clips.

Loving that latest trampoline act.

In related Cirque news, the Chinese government just announced a 50km bridge to be built connecting Hong Kong and Macao with the mainland. This will be good for Macao business, including the Cirque show Zaia.

There’s nothing confirmed regarding the future Cirque show to be fixed in Dubai. But Cirque du Soleil says it is unaffected by the recent financial crisis there.

Acrobatic team from Ghana

ALABI BORTEY emailed some photos of their Acrobatic team from Ghana.

Impressive.

Ghana-contortionist

Ghana-contortionists

Ghana-acrobats

Cirque holiday video

New Cirque du Soleil video – A Holiday Gift Beyond Imagination.

Just to get you in the holiday spirit.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.