Trapeze artist finds ‘Echo’ of her past with Cirque du Soleil

While some children dream of running away to join the circus, Louana Seclet dreamt of a life out from under the big top when she was young.

“I grew up in the circus,” Seclet said. “When I was young, I was more attracted to things I didn’t know.”

At 14, Seclet went into the family business, training with her father, Mathieu Seclet, on the Washington trapeze in her native France. Fifteen years later, the younger Seclet is on tour with Cirque du Soleil’s “Echo,” which touches down at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds April 8-May 11.

Besides performing on the Washington trapeze, which has a stand in the center for her to balance on her head, Seclet plays Future in “Echo.” Her character is a young woman who, along with her dog, explores the bond humans have with animals and nature.

“I’m doing the whole show as the character, and my act appears at the end of the show,” Seclet said from a tour stop in Brazil. “It takes endurance after an hour of performing.”

It also takes concentration to stand on her head on a bar high above the audience.

“The important thing is to have really good focus. It’s a balancing act,” Seclet said. “Then it’s about the tricks. … Your body knows what to do.”

A physical therapist as well as a trapeze artist, Seclet said the former informs the latter.

“It gives you consciousness about your body and how we could prevent some injuries,” she said. “As artists, we want to do this as long as we can, but we can’t know when we have to stop. For me, it’s security.”

An animal lover, Seclet first wanted to be a veterinarian but found that profession didn’t jibe with her circus work. Still, her appreciation of the natural world has been reflected in shows she’s performed in, inlcuding “Echo.” Her first circus gig after leaving the National Circus School of Montreal was as Mother Nature for Canada’s Wonderland’s Tundra show in Toronto.

Seclet said there’s similarities between that character and Future in “Echo.”

“The only difference is that in ‘Echo,’ my friend Dog is with me all the time, so I’m even more connected to the animals.”

Seclet originally joined Cirque in 2019 for “Under the Same Sky,” a show that never opened due to the pandemic. The show was reworked for “Echo,” but Seclet said her character didn’t change that much.

“It was more her appearance,” she said, adding that her character used to have a blue wig and extensive makeup. “That changed to have me more human. The dog stayed the same.”

During the pandemic, Seclet worked as a street performer and at a German cabaret.

“I really fought to still perform during the pandemic,” she said. “Germany was one place on the planet where shows were still running.”

When “Echo” came around, Seclet said, she was still smarting from the cancellation of “Under the Same Sky.”

“I had turned that page in my life. It was over,” she added. “I had to rethink that.”

The show premiered in Montreal in 2023 with Seclet still in the lead role.

“What’s interesting with the new production is that we have lots of old circus disciplines,” Seclet said, citing hair suspension and contortionism, among others. “My discipline is really old; (Kaye Washington) invented it in the 19th century.

“I’m super happy to be in a production that doesn’t let old circus disciplines die.”

Seclet is also glad that she decided to carry on in the family business.

“It’s so attached to my roots, to my grandfather,” who was also a circus performer, she said. “Under the big top is the best place on Earth. … When I was a kid, it was my daily life, but it’s the place I find magical.”

For showtimes and ticket information, visit https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/echo.