Today we are with Gibriele Colasante, circus performer and xerophyte plant grower, he started with the circus about 17 years ago and today he tells us part of his experience and how he merges his two hobbies.
Astrid:Where does your desire to do circus come from?
Gibriele: Well, I started doing circus about 17 years ago, when I met the National Circus Foundation thanks to a friend who took me I didn’t finish but there I started my career as a circus performer, then I went to Brazil, I spent two years in Brazil and it was there that I became more fond of it, I spent two years in Brazil and it was there that I became more fond of it, because I could travel and do what I liked, I could stop at any traffic light and I could generate income, and I could keep on traveling, that’s where I got more into the world of juggling, balancing, I started to train more, to do more research, to train myself more as an artist and that’s where I really got hooked on wanting to do this.
Astrid: Which techniques do you use the most and which do you enjoy the most?
Gibriele: The techniques I use the most are basic training techniques It’s a progressive thing, where I start training with a ball Then two, then three, and so on up to seven, which is the maximum number of objects that I throw I’m really starting to launch seven right now It’s been a long time since I trained like I used to, but now I’ve started to cultivate xerophytic plants But I haven’t had time to dedicate myself to the circus, but I still don’t give it up, it’s something
I’m passionate about, and I always keep it in mind.
Astrid: Have you participated in national events?
Gibriele: Yes, I have participated in several national events I have performed in several tents, in Portuguesa, in Táchira, Guanare I also participated in an event of trainers of circus arts in Trujillo, I also collaborated in raising the tent “Caramelos” (if I’m not mistaken) in Guanare (UNEARTE), have been few but if I have gone nationally thanks to the circus.
Astrid: Do you belong to any crew or artistic group?
Gibriele: yes, yes I keep a crew, PCS, they are dedicated to graffiti, a graffiti crew from caracas in which I participate and well, they are my brothers with whom I grew up in los teques, they are my friends in the struggle, with whom I work, with whom I plan projects, they also help me a lot with my work, I give them support and they also help me with my work, I really thank my brothers for all the support they have given me to be able to grow with my business and well with the circus I am not currently in any group, I always trained on my own, when I started it was with the Nuevo Circoy I did not last long, I left there, and since then it has always been on my own.
Astrid: Do you have any character that inspires or influences you?
Gibriele: I am very inspired by my friends, I am fortunate that two great jugglers that I know have always been my inspiration, they are Carla Barrios, a girl who plays juggling very beautiful, very similar to the style that I want to develop and the other person is Marco Ferreira who was my brother at the time he was here in Venezuela and we trained together all the time and thanks to him I learned a lot, he is a monster who is already at another level, he is no longer here in Venezuela, even sometimes I see his videos, Another inspiration that I have in the circus, I really like the contemporary circus of today, Tomas Albert is a Mexican who does manipulations with hats, I also love how he is developing in the circus with respect to the manipulation of unconventional objects which is the area that I want to dedicate myself, he is another person that inspires me a lot with all his artistic work, the staging I love how he develops it and it inspires me a lot.
Astrid: What other trades do you have outside the circus?
Gibriele: Well, apart from the circus I am also dedicated to the cultivation of xerophyte plants of cacti and succulents, my second hobby apart from throwing peloticas into the air (laughs) I already have approximately the same time of the pandemic that I undertook with the sales of cacti and thank God I have done super well with this business, I have had the opportunity to exhibit my plants in other states here in Venezuela and thanks to this I have been able to travel, I have brought plants from other countries, and well I plan to have a larger greenhouse in Los Teques, to start bringing seeds from outside also to have a unique crop here in Venezuela and start exporting plants to another place.
Astrid: Do you think your work can have a great impact on the cultural scene in your country?
Gibriele: Yes, of course if obviously the circus is something that is culture, generates awareness, empathy with the public, admiration, you always leave a seed that sooner or later will bear fruit and I feel that here in Venezuela there is a lot of need more culture and more interpreters who are really interested in leaving more culture to their country and with the same plants, I dream with reforesting many mountains and leaving a mark here in my country where I am from and with my work even more.
Thanks to Gibriele for allowing us to make this audiovisual, I invite you to follow him on his social networks.
Social media:
@cactus.colas
@gibriele
