SILVER MEDAL IN PARIS!

On a field trip to City Museum when he was in 7th grade, Renaldo "Junior" Williams saw a performance of Circus Harmony. He came out of the audience, approached our director, shook her hand, looked her in the eye, and said, "My name is Junior, and I want to do that." And 'do that' he certainly has! Circus Harmony was just the start of his circus journey. For seven years, Renaldo, trained and performed with Circus Harmony's St. Louis Arches.  This past weekend, he and his partner, Naomi Pichon, won a silver medal in the prestigious Cirque de Demain (Circus of Tomorrow) competition in Paris!  

Renaldo and Alex with Circus Harmony, 2007	Renaldo and Naomi at Ecole Nationale du Cirque, 2013

While with the Arches, Renaldo presented acts in tumbling, partner acrobatics, aerial, juggling and equilibristics. He was also a choreographer with the troupe, creating some of their best Chinese hoop diving and adagio acrobatic routines. Renaldo was also part of the Ianna Sprit Riders bareback riding act, a partnership between Circus Harmony, Jennifer Buck and Circus Flora. After completing high school and a year in university, Renaldo decided to continue his circus education and was our first student accepted to Ecole Nationale du Cirque in Montreal.

He graduated in June 2013 and has already travelled to Dubai, Australia, Russia and France. This year, he and his partner, Naomi, will be touring with the world famous circus company  Les 7 Doigts de la Main. You can follow them at www.naomi-renaldo.com/ .

 Last week, Renaldo and Naomi competed at the prestigious Cirque de Demain (Circus of Tomorrow) in Paris where they won a silver medal!  Here is the video of their award-winning performance:

Renaldo and Naomi at Cirque de Demain

In an essay he wrote for a school assignment in 2007, Renaldo said, "Circus has given me a feeling of uncanny camaraderie that no other social group has made me feel. Circus has also been a major inspiration on my life teaching me perseverance, team work, creativity, focus and responsibility. It is sickening for me to think about where I would be without circus and the extraordinary experiences that have come along with it. It has not changed my life but made me who I am. I ran away and joined the circus; anything is possible." Indeed, it is. Bravo, Renaldo!

You can follow Renaldo's continuing journey at Renaldo<Naomi's Facebook page. 

Members of Circus Harmony watching the live feed of the competition.

If you've followed us for a long time, you may reember Renaldo's first journey to Paris to audition for a circus school in 2008. He stayed with our friend Caroline Simonds of the wonderful French hospital clown organization  Le Rire Medecin. She was in the audience in Paris for his award-winning performance! Also in the audience was famed circus author and friend, John Towsen, who has the fantastc physical comedy blog, All Fall Down. We greatly enjoyed their messages and posts in real time from the Festival in Paris!