Stephanie Gasparoli

Aerialist

By Dominique Jando

Stephanie Gasparoli was born in Basel, Switzerland on January 17, 1976. In 1984, at age eight, she began training in circus arts at the Jugendcircus Basilisk, her hometown’s youth circus, which she attended until 1992. That same year, she participated in the Festival Première Rampe, Monaco’s international youth circus festival, where she obtained a Silver Medal. It was evident that Stephanie could have a good career as a professional artist, and in 1993, she joined the Ecole Nationale de Cirque in Montreal.

She graduated in 1998 with an original swinging trapeze act, which was performed on two parallel trapeze bars, one above the other, and made her debut in Canada with the short-lived Cirque Parasol. Still in 1998, she presented her new act at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris, and at the Circus Prinsessan Festival in Sweden, each time winning a Silver Medal. This marked the beginning of a brilliant international career: Immediately afterwards, in 1999, she was featured at the prestigious Circus Knie, in her native Switzerland.

She has since shared her time between varieté(German, from the French: ''variété'') A German variety show whose acts are mostly circus acts, performed in a cabaret atmosphere. Very popular in Germany before WWII, Varieté shows have experienced a renaissance since the 1980s. and circus, appearing in some of Germany’s leading varieté(German, from the French: ''variété'') A German variety show whose acts are mostly circus acts, performed in a cabaret atmosphere. Very popular in Germany before WWII, Varieté shows have experienced a renaissance since the 1980s. shows, as well as at Circus Kronebau in Munich (2000), and in Cirque du Soleil’s U.S. tour of Varekai in 2003-2004. A multi-talented aerialistAny acrobat working above the ring on an aerial equipment such as trapeze, Roman Rings, Spanish web, etc., Stephanie has also created an aerial hoopA heavy metallic hoop used as a variance of trapeze, usually with contortion moves. (Also called Cerceau.) act, a tissu(French) A double piece of hanging fabric, generally made of silk, used for an aerial act. (See also: Fabric, Silks) act, and an aerial contortion act on trapeze—which are all more suitable specialties for the European varieté(German, from the French: ''variété'') A German variety show whose acts are mostly circus acts, performed in a cabaret atmosphere. Very popular in Germany before WWII, Varieté shows have experienced a renaissance since the 1980s. and nightclubs where she often works.

See Also

• Video: Stephanie Gasparoli, swinging trapeze, at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain (1998)