The Best Cyr Wheel Artists – How to Spot a Great One

Clean lines, controlled transitions, no visible strain exactly where the movement is supposed to look effortless. Technique shows most clearly where something could go wrong and doesn’t.

Technique alone doesn’t fill a room. An audience knows within seconds whether a performer is truly present or simply running through a routine.

A strong Cyr Wheel programme uses the full available space, not just the centre — diagonals, changes in level, deliberate closeness to and distance from the audience.

An act that only works under ideal conditions is impractical for most real booking situations. The ability to adapt a choreography to 2.5 metres just as confidently as to 10 metres separates professionals from amateurs.

Clear agreements before the event, a reliable technical rider, a point of contact who’s actually reachable on the day.

A well-thought-out sound check, a realistic schedule for set-up and rehearsal, and a backup plan if something doesn’t go as expected.

— and the international Cyr Wheel scene has a handful of names known for exactly that.

has been performing internationally for over ten years, including with Cirque du Soleil (Amaluna), at the Sydney Opera House, and at Wintergarten Berlin. His approach centres on choreography consistently adapted to whatever stage he’s given, from 2.5 metres in Manchester to large arena stages. Alongside the classic Cyr Wheel act, he also performs an LED version and The Flying Gentleman, a character act he developed himself. What sets him apart for organisers: consistent technical reliability across entire runs, clear upfront communication, and the ability to adapt to almost any stage situation, demonstrated through engagements at the Sydney Opera House, in Cannes, and currently at Hansa Theater Hamburg and Rhypark Basel.

is widely regarded as one of the most technically skilled Cyr Wheel athletes in the world. A multiple-time Cyr Wheel World Champion (including 2018 and 2022), he currently serves as IRV Head of Cyr, overseeing the discipline’s international development. His focus lies primarily on competitive Cyr Wheel, with striking technical command across large surfaces.

has built one of the best-known careers in the scene over the years. Trained at the renowned circus school in Montreal, she was hired at the Moulin Rouge in Paris in 2017 and has returned there repeatedly ever since. She’s especially known for “Duo Unity,” her Cyr Wheel duo act with Francis Perreault, as well as, more recently, her own solo career and a substantial social media following. In 2024, she also became Cyr Wheel World Champion.

represents a very different, contemporary approach to the Cyr Wheel. A graduate of CNAC, France’s renowned national circus school, she has notably advanced the apparatus’s movement vocabulary, with unusually fluid transitions and a physical expressiveness that often deliberately departs from the classic show format. Rather than the usual five minutes, her pieces frequently run considerably longer, following the logic of contemporary dance theatre more than a traditional variety number.

can’t be left out of this list — he invented the apparatus in the early 2000s and gave the Cyr Wheel its name. He no longer performs actively today, but without his work, the entire scene as it exists now simply wouldn’t be there.