William Thomas
I am a circus artist specializing in ground acrobatics.
I trained as an acrobat at ENACR (Rosny) and CNAC (Châlons), graduating in 2009.
My training also included Korean cradle and Chinese pole acrobatics. Upon graduating, I founded the Cie BAM collective, which combines these three disciplines in the show SWITCH. The aim was to create a "hybrid circus" piece, blurring the lines between disciplines and blending diverse practices (construction, singing, rhythm, etc.). The overall tone was one of nonchalance and the antithesis of decorum (perhaps even provocation?). This production toured from 2009 to 2013. The collective comprised circus artists, lighting designers, and musicians.
This led to the creation of "willygoodwood" trio with tightrope walker Natalie Good and musician Jeremy Manche ("deadwood"). This creation relies as much on the presence of live music, which acts as a third element, as on our circus disciplines in a "classic" act format. This show toured from 2011 to 2016 in Europe and regularly in Latin America.
Then, from 2017 to 2019, the site-specific pieces "Cairns" were created, followed by "Erosion" and "SoLo(S)" for the theater and big top.
These pieces, like the previous ones, give music a prominent place in the creation and performances, featuring the artists "deadwood" (guitar/blues/noise loop) and "eleanor shine" (violin/electronic vocals).
This triptych is a work based on two axes: a sculptural installation with suspended stones and the "raw" presence emanating from a circus practice.
The sculptural work of the three pieces was inspired, among others, by the artists Andy Goldsworthy and Tadashi Kawamata.
The work on raw presence or the "primitive" aura, linked to physical practice, was primarily an experiment on stage, but also largely inspired by the writings of the philosopher and tracker Baptiste Morizot.
From 2019 to 2022, I continued to share and question my practice by developing "acrobatic research laboratories." I still regularly participate in various professional training programs (CNAC, LIDO, Fratellini Academy, etc.).
I am invited as an outside observer/acrobatic observer to various companies: "Le Groupe Acrobatique de Tanger," "Le Troisième Cirque," "El Nucleo," "La Conserverie," etc.
I began collaborating on several projects with the Yohann Bourgeois Company, which ended abruptly after a year.
From 2023 to 2026, I developed sound and physical improvisation projects exclusively for site-specific performances, collaborating with various singers who are also instrumentalists (Coline Linder, Julie Lobato, Charlotte Guerain). The aim of these projects is to move away as much as possible from any codified form of performance, to offer an audience a shared moment of listening, to let things unfold before them and within them, and to collectively sharpen each person's sensory perceptions of the world.
I am now forty-one years old and continue to find joy in my acrobatic practice, developing it in a multifaceted way.
In recent years, I have enriched my practice with dance, which takes many forms (with a particular affinity for urban, upright dances, including waving), and several "dance percussion" workshops with Leela Petronio. Out of curiosity, I also dabbled in clowning during a stunt training course with instructor Ami Attab. These "forays" into related practices delight me and continue to cultivate my appetite for exploring physical expression based on honesty, subtlety, sensitivity, and simple humanity.