In a small village in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, one autumn morning, Marlène, a little girl with a bald spot, sees her first sunrise. On
September 29, 1992, her father Johannes gives her his surname, Vogele, which comes from Germany and means “little bird.” Back home, she discovers her family environment: she takes her first steps in a self-managed community. Juggling collective tasks (gardening, radio, cooking, sheep, pigs, medicinal plants, etc.) with her theater, dance, and music classes, Marlène still tries to keep up with her general studies at school. She spends much of her vacation with her maternal uncles (both circus performers) in the Southwest, where she discovers… the circus. In Graulhet, at the Pistil Circus, she takes her first swings—it’s love at first sight!
She dropped out of school at the age of 16 to set off on a journey, with the idea of eventually pursuing the circus arts. After another year of indecision—during which she spent a few months wandering through Christmas markets in Switzerland or working on a logging site in northern Germany—she finally mustered her courage and began her training in the circus arts. First in Brussels, where she took a few evening classes at Espace Catastrophe, then at the Balthazar School of Circus Arts in Montpellier. She then moved on to the National School of Circus Arts in Rosny-sous-Bois (ENACR) and later to the National Center for Circus Arts (CNAC) in Châlons-en-Champagne. During this extensive training, she strengthened her body, mind, and will, while holding deep within her the roots and values that shaped her and that never leave her. Sometimes so tough and sometimes so sensitive, it is now in the flight of her trapeze that she knows best how to set herself free.