Just the trick

Mathieu Cloutier, one of the seven stars of Traces, ran away to join the circus at 18. He hasn't looked back, he tells Shane Gilchrist.

Mathieu Cloutier, one of the acrobatically inclined performers in cirque show Traces, has done more than his share of gruelling training over the years. However, of all the tasks he has had to juggle, he regards learning the piano as one of the toughest challenges to his co-ordination.

Montreal-based company Les 7 Doigts de la Main's production combines various feats of acrobatics along with elements taken from urban environments, such as skateboarding, basketball and parkour, as well as theatre, dance and a soundtrack that ranges from the alt-rock of Radiohead to hip-hoppers Blackalicious.

''When you go to a circus school, you learn certain skills, your 'act','' Cloutier explains via phone from a Christchurch hotel earlier this week as the touring entourage prepared for the South Island leg of a New Zealand tour that includes three shows at Dunedin's Regent Theatre next week.

''But with Traces, you do your act plus you do Chinese pole, hoop diving, skateboarding ... you learn a whole bunch of other stuff,'' Cloutier says, adding he was given three months to learn piano from scratch to a level at which he would be comfortable playing to thousands of people.

First performed in Montreal, Canada, in 2005, the show is now in its third iteration, having played more than 1200 times to audiences around the world. It has gained awards including the Off Broadway Alliance in New York for Best Special Event, the Conseil des arts de Montréal prize for the best tour in Canada and the United States in 2012; Time magazine's ''Top Ten Plays and Musicals'' and the Hairline Award at the Edinburgh Festival, which also named it of the five best productions (out of 2000) in 2007.

As for plot, Traces is set in a makeshift shelter after an unknown catastrophe. Inside, the seven characters, believing they could be living their last moments, explore life to the fullest, hoping to leave a lasting mark (hence the title). The Montreal-based company behind the show, Les 7 Doigts de la Main (''the seven fingers of the hand'', a twist on the French idiom, ''the five fingers of the hand'', used to describe distinct parts moving towards a common goal), set in motion its idea of a human circus in 2002.

Out of this collaboration of choreography, writing and performance has emerged a range of concepts, including Loft, La Vie, Psy and Sequence 8 as well as Traces. Also, Les 7 Doigts de la Main has developed a range of special events, including being involved in the Royal Variety Performance and ceremonies at the Turin (2006) and Vancouver (2010) Winter Olympics.

''Les 7 don't really do auditions. They take people they think will fit,'' Cloutier, who was recruited for the show in 2010, says.

''At the time my partner and I were working in Germany doing some cabaret and they came to see our show, liked what we did and we hung out for a couple of nights. Then they asked if we wanted to be in the next version of Traces.

''We went to New York for a year, as well as Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles ... a whole bunch of cities. We also toured Europe and now we are in New Zealand.''

Cloutier, whose CV includes special events for Cirque du Soleil, Les Grands Opéras de Québec and more than 275 acrobatic shows at Seabreeze amusement park in Rochester, New York, grew up in Gaspe, Quebec, where he favoured ice hockey until he developed an interest in circus skills in his late teens.

At the age of 18, he successfully auditioned for the Circus School of Quebec, where he spent three years, specialising in acrobatics, rollerblade and diabolo (a juggling prop consisting of an axle and two cups or discs).

''We trained eight hours a day, six days a week. It was pretty intense. But it was not so much like school; it was fun.

''I've been working in circus since I left. It's a pretty good life.''

''I wasn't into gymnastics when I was young, though I did jump around and try to do flips. I never trained to do that until I entered circus school. I was 18 years old. I had met a guy who was searching for a partner. I thought 'why not?'. I trained with him for a year, then I did the audition for circus school and got in. We then worked together and now we are together in the show. It's pretty awesome.

''When we left school, we did three months in the United States in an amusement park, then went to Germany for some cabaret work. Then I got the job in Traces.

''For me, the show has so much going on. It was really exciting [to be invited to join]. It is the ultimate challenge for a circus performer. There is a lot going on; it is 90 minutes packed with cool stuff.''

Asked if his Traces role might open a few doors in future, Cloutier pauses, clearly contemplating a response:''Not really. In circus, people hire you on the basis of what you can do, not what have done.''

Having signed a three-year contract to perform Traces, Cloutier is comfortable in the knowledge he has a full-time job for at least another six months, during which the show will head to Montreal, then France and Russia, before returning to Canada.

The hectic touring schedule means there is not much chance for a holiday. Time off is generally dependent on when the show is not being performed. There are no understudies waiting in the wings. Still, sometimes breaks are not of one's own choosing. The world of human circus is no different from professional sport. Injuries, in Cloutier's words, are part of the game.

''I was out for four months last year because I fractured my wrist. Another guy has had surgery on both knees. We train hard, but we know it's not so good on our bodies.

''We eat well and try to sleep well. We arrive two hours before a show to warm up. Some days we try to train; some days we do stretching, or play piano or play football or just rest. There's no set routine we do every day. The show itself is a pretty good workout.''

At 27, Cloutier has a physique well-accustomed to the rigours of acrobatic workouts. Though ''super-hard'' on his body, the dexterous feats remain achievable. Still, he realises there will come a time when he will have to reset his ambitions.

''As long as my body will support me, it's what I'm going to do. But when you grow older, you can be the 'base'; instead of doing the flips, you help others do them.

''There is always other stuff you can do. You could become a director.''

Or play the piano.

Catch it
Traces will be performed at the Regent Theatre, Dunedin, on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, September 12-14.