Juggling Life: Inside Cirque Du Soleil’s Newest Act

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Usually the phrase ‘go join the circus’ is meant as a joke. But when Gabriel Beaudoin’s mom told him this as a kid – it’s exactly what he did.

Growing up in Quebec City, Beaudoin was just like any other youngster: he spent hours playing video games. He would sit on the floor with his legs folded in front of him, and was so flexable his mom called him “The Elastic Man.”

“When I was young I was really troubled, as a kid with a lot of energy, always moving around you know?” said Beaudoin. “Always talking, always hyper. I have some hyperactivity problems.”

He needed to find a focus for all that energy, so like his mom inadvertently suggested, he went to circus school. He originally trained as a gymnast, but after an injury he discovered juggling and hasn’t looked back.

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“What I love the most about juggling – I’m a really hyperactive guy – and what juggling gives me is this calm,” said Beaudoin. “I can use my energy in a really specific way, and it teaches me how to focus really well. How to be in the present and in the right place.”

Beaudoin has a simple message for other kids who are hyperactive like he was.

“For all the kids at home who have problems with being all over the place all the time, if you want to find something to focus you, you can juggle, maybe you can do piano, but just find a passion,” he said. “That’s what juggling is for me. That’s the thing that gives me what I needed in my life to have the right path, and now I’ve got it and I’m passionate.”

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{ SOURCE: Seattle Refined | http://goo.gl/f2JGVI }