Cast member profile: Enrico Astegiano

Born in Italy in 1979, Enrico Astegiano discovered the world of the circus after doing a master's degree in molecular biology. He attended classes of aerial silks and static trapeze in Turin, Italy, and then in Brussels, Belgium.

He pursued his training in aerial acrobatics, first at ‘Espace Catastrophe’ and then at Fill de Block's ‘Atelier de Trapeze’. There he experimented with new aerial techniques such as the flying trapeze, cloud swing, hoop and especially the rope, which quickly became ‘his’ discipline.

His interest in movement and movement analysis also led him to follow various lessons in contemporary dance in which he found new ideas to integrate into his acrobatic work. This experience fuelled his interest in the functioning of the body and led him to Iyengar yoga. This technique refined his perception of the body and the ‘right and respectful way to use it’. With the same impulse he discovered Thai traditional massage, which he is still learning.

In January 2010 he met the dancer and choreographer Pál Frenák and became part of the team of Fiúk, a contemporary dance show, which toured France and Hungary. As well as performing, he also teaches the use of silks at the Circus School in Brussels and at Espace Catastrophe in Saint-Gilles, Belgium.

Alongside his acrobatic practice he is interested in rigging and its implications. Since he took part in a workshop at Aerisc with Thomas Loriaux and Fill De Block he has begun to realise diverse technical installations both for himself and others artists.