Agathe and Antoine met in 1978 at Annie Fratellini’s National Circus School. He was learning comic stunt acrobatics, she was a tight-wire artist. In order to join her on the wire, he began tight-wire walking and would soon become one of its most talented artists. Together they created a duo on the rope and in 1983 they were awarded the silver medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. They then joined different troupes, working with traditional circuses (Roncalli Circus), modern circuses (Cirque du Soleil) as well as with theatre companies (i.e in Quasimodo by the French Théâtre de l’Unité).

In 1990 they take part in the show La Volière Dromesko with which they toured throughout Europe for 4 years.

In 1993 they received the Grand Prix National du Cirque and decided to focus their research on the use of their artistic discipline in theatre situations. They created the duo Amore Captus, a show in which the wire – this 12 mm wide stage – symbolises the fragility and the complexity of a love relationship. In 1996, they found the company Les Colporteurs.

At seven he was already juggling with oranges and with high hopes of one day depending as much on his hands as others on their feet. At ten he entered a circus training course, in the course of which he discovered the diversity of circus arts and met Dominique Montembault which brought him into contact with “el Circo Bidon” with its caravans and its horses, its parades and shows. At 17 he did the round of the circus schools, from Chambéry to Châlons passing by Châtellerault and Rosny, where he made encounters crucial for his career, and came to specialise in tight-wire acts. He took part in the final show of the 16^th promotion of Châlons’ National Circus school : Kilo – directed by Thierry Roisin and Jean-Pierre Laroche. He met up again with Christopher Huysman who he had already met during his apprenticeship, in the creation of Human. Antoine saw in him the tight-wire clown he was seeking for A wire in the snow and invited him to join the company.

Sanja started circus in a small school for leisure activities in Finland : The Turun SIrkus Ry where she taught herself tightrope-walking. After her A-levels, she joined the Superior Circus School of Finland at the Turku Academy of Arts and took her circus teaching degree in 2003. In The same year, she came to France to join the Centre National des Arts du Cirque in Châlons where she specialised in tight-wire dancing and obtained her diploma in 2005. During her studies, she took part in professional shows, notably Louisiana Circus by the Finnish group Circus Aero, directed by Maksim Komaro. Antoine met her during an audition-workshop organised by his company. He was deeply moved by her poetical presence and the instinctiveness of her technique and naturally asked her to participate in A wire in the snow.

At the age of 6, he entered Annie Fratellini’s National Circus School and he attended multidisciplinary lessons until he met his teacher and master Manolo Dos Santos, to whom he owes his love for the wire and his skills. At the age of 18, he was awarded the gold medal at the Festival de cirque de la première rampe de Monte-Carlo and the silver medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain. Soon after he joined different groups with contracts over longer periods with the Canadian Cirque du Soleil (2001), the German Knie Zirkus (2002), the French Arlette Gruss Circus (2003), the Paris Cirque d’hiver (2004). He took part in cabarets as well as variety-shows in Germany. His high skills in acrobatics on the wire led Antoine to offer him a new type of experience. He joined les Colporteurs, giving up for a time his work as a solo artist.

She began with the Smirkus Circus at 11 in the States. At 18 she joined the Ecole Nationale du Cirque at Montréal, where she specialised in the tight-wire. After that she worked with well known circuses such as the Cirkys Cirkor (Sweden), the Cirque du Soleil (Canada) the Big Apple Circus (USA). She won the silver medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in 1998. Today she also works as choreographer and assistant to the direction of the Cirkus Cirkor projects. When Antoine first saw here, her virtuosity gave him the impression that she was floating above the wire. It was then quite natural that he should think of her for the project A Wire in the Snow.

As a child he was performing with his family in several circuses in Switzerland. He made his first crossing of the wire on his father’s shoulders. In the 80’s his parents founded the Cirque Monti, in which he took part in all the shows. At 16 he set off for an apprenticeship in different circus schools and worked with Rudy Omnakowsky and Gilles Charles Messances. He then became interested in other circus disciplines, notably the straps leaving aside for some time the wire, until his encounter with Ulla Tikka who became his partner for a duo tight-wire act. Then, in 2003, with Ulla Tikka, he founded the company F-ART whose performances mixed circus, theatre and dance, and were presented in theatres and at festivals. Antoine was also looking for a duo act on the wire for his project. Antoine was deeply touched by Andreas and Ulla’s act. He read into it something of his own story when he shared the wire with Agathe, a story he wished to evoke in his own show. It was then natural that they should become part of his project.
http://www.f-art.ch
http://www.installation08.ch

She discovered the circus in a school in Finland at the age of 11. After passing her final school exams she set off on a six month tour with the Swedish Circus Cirkör company. She then decided to specialise in the art of the tight-wire and went for several months to the Annie Fratellini’s school before entering the Berlin National Circus School, where she obtained her diploma in 2000. For several years she has presented her tight-wire act in various circuses, the Cirque Monti (Switzerland), Cirkus Cirkör (Sweden ) and Finland. It was there she met Andreas Muntwyler with whom she has since founded the F-ART company. Antoine was also looking for a duo act on the wire for his project. Antoine was deeply touched by Andreas and Ulla’s act. He read into it something of his own story when he shared the wire with Agathe, a story he wished to evoke in his own show. It was then natural that they should become part of his project.
http://www.f-art.ch
http://www.installation08.ch

Boris is pianist, keyboard artist, and guitarist. He has followed many different tracks. He regularly composes for audiovisual projects and in the near future will be doing so in films. He performed as musician in “La folle et véritable vie de Luiggi Prizzoti” an Edward Baer play. He has played in the orchestra of the Boule Noire (Fred Pallem) and the Sunatural Orchestra, been associated with the Sacre du Tympan, and accompanied singers such as Alain Chamfort or Gaspard Lanuit. Recently he has recorded Kent’s forthcoming album, and will produce the next album for Vladimir Anselm

http://www.myspace.com/borisboublil

Antonin is the spokesman for WAS and is a Percussionist. He obtained the First Prize at the Paris Conservatoire where he had a classical training. At the same time he studied African percussion and more specifically drums. He worked with Filao from 1997 to 2000. He is also part of the Surnatural Orchestra, TTPKC et Le marin or Gaspard Lanuit and composes for theatre plays. He has signed the music for Joël Pommerat’s production Cet enfant en 2006 and is working on this show’s next production.

http://surnaturalorchestra.free.fr/…
http://www.tousdehors.com/
http://www.myspace.com/gaspardlanuit

He is the composer for WAS and it’s lead player. He is a saxophonist and multi instrumentalist. He obtained the First Prize for the Paris Conservatoire and the Concours International de Jazz of la Défense sector of Paris. He has an impressive tally of joint-ventures such as with Marlolaine Babysidecar, Musiques à Ouïr, the Sacre du Tympan, the Patrice Caratini Jazz Ensemble, Louis Sclavis, Yvette Horner, Bernard Lubat, Arthur H or Jane Birkin, and he also composes for the television and the cinema.
http://wildmimi.net
http://www.myspace.com/wildmimisaxo

After studies which should have led her into the world of Embassies and Consulates, she stopped off in the Ivory Coast in 1994 and met the theatre company Ymako Teatri , with whom she gained her first experience in theatre. She came back to France in 1998 to work in the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris and in the Festival d’Avignon. In 2000 she moved to Marseille, where she met Les Colporteurs. She started as assistant for the administration and then took every opportunity to get closer to the creative aspects of the work, and in 2003 Antoine asked her to assist him in creating Diabolus in Musica. They continued working together to create A wire in the snow and On the road…. From 2004 to 2006 she also accompanied the Anatomie-Anomalie tours with the company Anomalie. Recently, Proserpine (alias Caroline Obin) has called on her for an outside view of her new musical creation.

After various experiences within the Centre National des Arts du Cirque from 1986 to 1996 (PR, Communications, Direction) she became part of the street theatre company Transe Express, running it for 6 years and travelling around the world. In 2003 she joined Anomalie, a company she had already worked with in Le Cri du Caméléon, during her time with the CNAC. As Administrator, she developed, directed and promoted their projects until October 2005.
Since 2006, she is responsible for promoting A wire in the snow and continues to work with Les Colporteurs as Promotion Manager for its new creations.

As a creator of poetic/technological objects, he sees himself as bringing architecture to the stage, and vice versa. In turn stage constructor, creator of scenic equipment or performer, he resolutely studies the principles for producing ingenious and unusual constructions. It is he who created the scenic concept of the Collectif AOC, the auto-ascending floating systems for llotopie or the incredible architectural creations for Berdaguer and Péjus. He is now recognised as having a research activity and is developing, in conjunction with various universities, an amazing poetic form of construction considered to be a new scenographic language.
http://patrick-vindiminian.over-blog.com

After very “brilliant” studies, he decided to take up electronics, his passion since he was thirteen years old. But after a short spell in industry and fault location, he realised that this was not where his future lay and turned towards the world of live shows, finally joining the Cirque du Lido. It was here that he met the people with whom he would spend the next ten years on the road, the creators of the street theatre company “Okupa Mobil”. He then thought he had finally found his vocation, left the theatre, took a course in naturopathy, moved to a different region, started a family and opened a practice, all in the space of four years. But the travelling bug caught up with him, and he took on the job of lighting manager with Les Colporteurs. Since 2006, he has been responsible for the lighting of A wire in the snow.

Her father being a musician, she moved around a lot in her childhood and learned her trade on the job, including lighting design and assembly, stage management, then administration of concert tours. In 1993 she obtained a diploma in theatre administration from ENSATT and worked for two year with Polyfolies (the producers of Quatuor and other musical and comic groups) where she furthered her training in administration. In 1996, she moved to Marseille where she worked for the Dansem Festival whilst also collaborating with several dance companies, notably Camionetta (Hélène Cathala and Fabrice Ramalingom). From 1999, she was responsible for producing and promoting Les Colporteurs’ projects, and accompanied their move to the Ardèche where they set up in La Cascade, Maison des Arts du Clown et du Cirque. In October 2007, she became the Administrator of the company.

He was born in 1978 to the tune of a guitar and spent a part of his childhood in the world of travelling clown performances, going from village to village in gypsy caravans pulled by a tractor… At the age of 20, he went on tour for six months in Scandinavia with the circus troup “Les Oiseaux Fous” and “Circus CirkÖr”. He came back to France with his sweetheart and their son-to-be… It was at this stage that they joined the Cirque Désaccordé, with which they still work. He met Les Colporteurs whilst they were playing Filao at the Printemps des Comédiens and he was working with the Footsbarn Theater. The two big tops were set up side by side and joined by a cable: Antoine, the tight-wire artist, crossed over it. Eight years later, he once again crossed the path of Les Colporteurs and Antoine asked him to design the lighting for a A wire in the Snow and On the road.

He originally trained in the area of cultural mediation and implementation of projects in Nîmes, whilst working at the same time on a voluntary basis for many other events. But he soon became interested in the technical side of performances and the mounting of big tops, finishing his training in general stage management in 2007. In the interval, he had worked in stage management and organisation in West Africa for the Festival du Désert in Mali (2004), the Festival sur le Niger in Mali (2005, 2006), the Semaine de la Culture in Burkina-Fasso (2006). On his return to France, he gained further experience in the Clissodière Festival (contempory music, 2006), Le Printemps de Bourges (2007, 2009), Les Eurockéennes de Belfort (2007) etc. He worked on tour management for musicians: Pierre Lapointe, Rodrigo & Gabriela for Uni-T Production, big top management for the Jacques Rivette film “36 vues du Pic Saint Loup” and the technical management of the company Escale, until he met Les Colporteurs. He became their Technical director in December, 2008.

She trained as an illustrator in the Ecole des Arts Décoratifs de Strasbourg. Serigrapher, she was offered a residency as a visual artist for three years in the Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Créations Industrielles (ENSCI).
She replied to a call for tender from the Centre Pompidou for the exhibition “La Révolution Surréaliste” and worked successively on the signage for 6 exhibitions in the museum, and then on 2 other exhibitions directed by Patrick Bouchain in La Villette.
Recently, her work has mainly focused on the design and the creation of graphic identities in the fields of music, theatre and the circus – postcards, posters, cd’s, micropublishing, books, stage sets and web sites. (Surnatural Orchestra, Maison de la Poésie-Paris 2006, Centre des Arts du cirque/Cherbourg, Les Colporteurs, L’éloge du poil de Jeanne Mordoj, decors painted on the walls of the Atelier du Plateau, …)

http://www.elogedupoil.com
http://surnaturalorchestra.free.fr/…
http://atelierduplateau.free.fr/