American Circus Educators Magazine Fall 2017 (Issue 2, Volume 10) | Page 32

One of the major goals of Back
Pocket is to raise awareness
in the United States that
circus performance is not only
entertainment that should be
accessible to all audiences, but also
should be recognized as a major art
form throughout the U.S. We look
forward to the future opportunities
for circus performance in the U.S.,
and we hope we can help make
them happen.
I started circus when I was 10
years old in Paris. I did also several
years of gymnastic but I never like
the competition spirit, so circus
definitely won. Then I just kept
training as a hobby until my skills
level was high enough to go to a
superior circus school, then be a
professional artist.
In working for Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia
these past two years, I have learned
that I am able to challenge myself
and push my limits way further than
I’d ever imagined. The creation was
demanding—learning to do treadmill
hoop diving on a turning stage in a
bird costume is no small feat, and the
upkeep to stay fit and healthy to do up
to 10 shows a week is a continuing test
of my physical and emotional strength.
But overall, I feel like I have proven
myself to be much more resilient than I
previously imagined.
MICHAEL HOTTIER began circus
at the age of 10 in Paris, France. He
later attended the National Circus
School in Brussels, where teamed up
with Maya and another partner to
create “Trio Anneaux,” a hoop diving
collective. Along with performing for
Cirque du Soleil and Circus Monti,
Michael is also a proud winner of a
gold medal for his act in Cirque de
Demain, a circus festival in Paris.
Michael is one of the cofounders of
Back Pocket.
Touring with Cirque du Soleil is a
beautiful and intense experience.
The company has a very specific and
personal aesthetic, and it taught me to
polish my work as a performer. I had to
think of what can I bring to this specific
show and how can I serve it in a style
that is not mine.
Circus arts are evolving quickly
with different forms that are more
and more interesting. Back Pocket,
as a both European and American
identity company, can hopefully
grow support for the cultural and
circus world of America. With
artists from both continents and a
common will to evolve our art, we
wish to be part of a movement that
will stimulate the United States to
recognize and help circus arts as
much as it is in Europe.
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I started circus at the age of 10 at the
San Francisco Circus Center. I was
sent to St. Paul, Minnesota when I
was 13 to perform a triple trapeze act
called Tryptich at the AYCO festival. I
also participated in the AYCO festival
when it came to SF a couple of years
later. I grew up performing around
the Bay Area with the San Francisco
Youth Circus until I was 18, when I
moved to Montreal to pursue Circus
Arts full time. 4 years later I graduated
from L’Ecole Superieure des Arts du
Cirque (a circus university in Brussels,
Belgium), and have been performing
professionally throughout Europe,
Canada, and the United States since
2012.
MAYA KESSELMAN is was part of the
youth circus at the San Francisco
School of Circus Arts (now known
as Circus Center) for 8 years before
moving to Europe, where she gradu-
ated from L’Ecole Superieure des Arts
du Cirque in Belgium in 2012. She has
performed as part of a hoop diving
trio called Trio Anneaux with various
circus companies and festivals
worldwide including Circus Monti,
Cirque de Demain, Young Stage, and
The Nikulin Festival in Moscow. She
recently joined Cirque du Soleil’s Lu-
zia and has been traveling with them
for the past two years. She is one of
the cofounders of Back Pocket.
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