Sébastien Davis-Van Gelder
Acrobatic lifts, Porteur(se), Hand to hand
France - United States
Born in Puerto Rico to a French mother and an American father, Sébastien finds himself completely lost in Chicago after 18 years spent between the suburbs of Washington D.C., Latin America, and France.
After studying socio-cultural anthropology at the University of Chicago and working as a social worker for two years, the Franco-American man visits his maternal family. It is there that he discovers the circus and falls in love with it. Fascinated by contemporary circus, its performers, and especially partner acrobatics and the human body in all its nuances and possibilities, he decides to fully dedicate himself to the circus arts.
He begins training in acrobatic lifts in 2013 at the National School of Circus Arts in Rosny-sous-Bois (ENACR), where he meets a small Mexican woman who dreams of flying. Her name is Blanca Ivonne Franco. A Mexican and an American who meet by chance in France to make circus together—it could not be just a coincidence.
He spends the following years discovering the performing arts and the European circus world. He continues to swing this warrior through the air. She, in turn, carries him (and puts up with him): they catch each other more and more often.