Who are you?

Hey I’m Gorka, the diabolo magician from Spain.

Even though circus arts has been my individual self space for years, I love to use it as a powerful tool to connect, explore creativity with others and as a reminder that play keeps us alive.

What memory have you most revisited from a tour?

I think I revisited everything a few times already but definitely something that stands out for me was the odyssey to reach the Elementary School in Bokaw and how much they appreciated our efforts to make it happen and bring them so much circus joy. 

This journey with the military cobra truck is something I’ll never forget.

What areas or aspects of the tour challenged you the most?

In general I felt pretty comfortable due to previous experiences. One of the things that I found challenging, despite how glad it makes me feel, is the amount of kids we made happy; is the intensity of compressing 3 months of actions in one. 

Our schedule was pretty tight but it was worth the outcome.

On the tour what was your biggest achievement?

During the tour I handcrafted my own fire props with the domestic objects and tools that I could find. Like spinning stuff with a broom stick or a fire diabolo with cooking aluminium bowls.

The fact that they work out and I could perform with them without previous practice makes me feel proud of myself.

What was your kids show about?

Even though I arrived one day later than the rest of the team, I loved the theme they chose. A talent show competition including judges from the public. We all were playing rolls and interacting with each other while performing our act and then the judges (mainly teachers from every school) were rating us with numbers and emojis cards.

The show, which starts as a competition, ends as a cooperative acrobatic juggling act proving that together we can create beautiful things, rather than fighting to win.

What was your biggest breakthrough with teaching?

For me it was the reaffirmation of how kids’ brains can easily learn new tricks, mimic movement and improvise when they explore the world with their eyes, hands and bodies rather than screens and “smart” phones.

How did you fundraise for your tour?

Unlike the other members of the team I only had two weeks to prepare myself for this adventure due to a last minute call out, because someone dropped the project. So I had to cover the trip with my savings.