Blanca Franco was born on July 30, 1989, in Chihuahua (Chihuahua State, Mexico), where she discovered her passion for movement through capoeira. She decided to pursue a bachelor’s degree in social communication and moved to Monterrey to continue her studies, but she soon realized that it was the performing arts that truly inspired her.
In 2009, she began an artistic training program, pursuing a bachelor’s degree in contemporary dance at the Monterrey Higher School of Music and Dance. At the same time, she was a member of the Clave Sol Danza company and participated in the Latin Danza 2010 project, funded by the 2009 Financiarte grant. Through this project, she discovered her second passion after the circus: salsa.
In 2010, she discovered the circus as a profession and decided to move to Barcelona to begin training in the circus arts at the Rogelio Rivel School, where she discovered hand-to-hand, her new passion. But she was unable to practice it due to a lack of a partner.
In 2012, she continued her training at the National School of Circus Arts in Rosny-sous-Bois (Enacr). During her first year, still without a partner, she tried her hand at a solo discipline, the swinging pole, which she enjoyed but found unsatisfying. Thanks to a cultural grant from her country, she carried out a project in Mexico and, together with six other artists, created a show that was presented in Chihuahua. A wonderful surprise came along in the form of Sébastien Davis Van-Gelder. A Franco-American passionate about aerial lifts who was also looking to get started in hand-to-hand. At the end of her second year at Enacr, she decided to repeat the project in Mexico, this time with nine artists—a great opportunity for the new duo to work together on a project outside of school, at the little Mexican girl’s house. They began a genuine relationship that grew and strengthened, and decided to continue their training together at the National Center for Circus Arts (CNAC) in Châlons-en-Champagne. Why? To nurture and share the desire to lift and be lifted by one another, without any rules—just for the sheer pleasure of it.