Circus

“Being on tour as a child was so much fun! The Circus became my Life-School!”

The Circus bug bit big one summer day in a beautiful park in Basel, Switzerland. Seven-year old Petra saw a children’s Circus show in a packed circus tent. She begged her parents to sign her up – and she immediately joined the troupe called Youth Circus Basilisk, a nonprofit circus company for school-age children and young people that travels through Switzerland during the summer school holidays.

Youth Circus Basilisk (continued)

Petra trained and toured with them for a total of 10 years. She took part in several duo or group acts like Fixed Trapeze, Flag Spinning, Spanish Web, Equilibristics, Acrobalance, Trampolining, Human Pyramids, Unicycle, Slackwire-and Tightrope Walking. Life on tour beyond performing was filled with abounding experiences as well, with the most notable ones being the many late-night swims in rivers and lakes (real scary!), the countless sleeping-bag races (serious!), making lots of money from additional street-performing, clothes swapping and even a special trip to Istanbul, Turkey, to perform and also meeting the mayor Bedrettin Dalan and selling him gummy-bears. The Circus became Petra’s School of Life!

At nineteen years old, Petra took her craft to a highly competitive Circus school by having been accepted into the reputable L’École Nationale de Cirque in Montréal, Canada. She trained with the unmatchable Victor Fomin, the Russian head coach of Aerial apparatuses.

It was during these formative years of training where she created an explosive and dangerous act called Cloudswing. Soon Petra was selected to represent Canada at the International Acrobatic Festival of Wuqiao, in China, where she won the Bronze Lion for her performance.

Petra had set the stage and was quickly recruited by the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil. She soloed in their touring show Quidam where she performed for over 2.5 million spectators in a 14-city tour.

“What I enjoyed the most was traveling from city to city in my car across the country. And what a marvelous and vast country it is, quite different from tiny Switzerland!”

Petra currently works as a Hollywood stuntwoman and actress. On her days away from the set she enjoys sharing her circus insights with children and adults at Le Studio, a Circus and Theatre school located in Los Angeles. She also enjoys teaching young acrobats from Le PeTiT CiRqUe, Le Studio’s humanitarian all-kid Cirque Company.

Show: La Galerie des Vertiges at L’Écôle Nationale de Cirque de Montréal

…and here on the Artistic Bike, with eight more kids riding along! …the wheels didn’t always make it.

À la Corde Lisse at 11 years old

At 13 years old, on a very strange bike we call “Hopser”. The axis of the back wheel is purposefully not centered, so that when you push down on it, it accelerates.

Posing for Schweizer Familie Magazine Shoot

QUIDAM, latin for “A Nameless Passer-By”

MAKE-UP | PERFORM | SLEEP | REPEAT

I believe that many things in life are intertwined! Here, I’m Co-starring on The Muppets as Miss Piggy’s Aerial Instructor!

International Acrobatic Festival of Wuqiao, China

Petra could not believe her ears when she heard her name being called to be representing the National Circus School of Montréal at the upcoming Acrobatic Festival in Wuqiao, China, with her Cloudswing act!!! She won Bronze! (The Gold medal went to the Bear act.)