Next Door Circus Magazine Next Door Circus Magazine No.1 | Page 9

H

WIT
ERVIEW
INT

KANN
STIEN
SEBA

Seb asti
an Kan
n and N
‘Manor
atalie O
House’,
le
a n ew
to prem
contem inik are the a
ier in th
r
porary
e autum
a work
circus s tists of
shop in
how se
aerial te n of 2015. The
[please
t
y’re off
chn
inser t w
ering
open].
here an ique and imp
It’s their
rovis ati
d when
on
fir
exci ted
a
to m ee st tim e in Rig nd to whom i t ,
t you!
a and th
We talk
is
ed to S
ey’re v
ery
eb astia
got sta
na
r te
and the d in circus, w bout their sho
hat con
w, how
differen
tempor
h
can cir
ces b e
ary circ e
tween
cus.
Europe
us is,
an and
Am eri-

I’m an American circus artist,
from the (far) suburbs of New
York City. Growing up, there wa
cus around, so I joined a gym
s no cirnastics team and experiment
ed with gerry-rigged aerials in
garage. During the summers
my friend’s
I was part of a touring youth
circus called ‘Circus Smirkus’,
ly thanks to them that I got ser
and it’s realious about being a circus artist.
When I was getting started in
circus my onl y reference was
Cirque du Sol eil, and as an aud
member I was passionate abo
ience
ut it! For a long time, I though
t that was wh at I was going to
my career. When I started my
do with
studies at the National Circus
School in Montréal in 2009, the
work I was making was still ver
kind of
y demonstrative and showmanlike.
I was seventeen when I started
circus school. ENC was a high-p
ressure environment, and I wa
young and insecure, living on
s
my own for the first time in a
foreign country. I no longer felt
to make circus that maintaine
inspired
d the trademark Sol eil veneer
of perfection, and without con
deciding to make “contempora
sciously
ry” work I started letting more
vulnerability and doubt into my
mance.
perfor-

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