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Ambra and Yves perform at Circus Knie with "Golden Dream".
Circus Knie
During the day, they build sets, train acrobatics or stand in the ring. In the evening, they return to the same trailer. At Circus Knie, relationships are formed under conditions that are almost unimaginable outside the circus world. Four couples talk about their love between the daily routine of touring, applause and life in a confined space.
They travel around Switzerland together, work next door to each other and sometimes even perform together in the circus ring. At Circus Knie, relationships are formed under very special conditions.
Four couples tell us how they got to know each other - and why love in the circus is sometimes just as demanding as the show itself.
Laura and Valentin are getting married this summer.
blue News / Sven Ziegler
Laura manages the carpentry workshop at Circus Knie and joined the entire tour for the first time this March. Valentin from Nancy (F) has been working in logistics and backstage since 2019. They are getting married in a few weeks.
"We got to know each other during corona," says Laura. "It was at the end of February, beginning of March 2020, when it became clear that the circus wasn't going on tour. Valentin suddenly had very little to do in logistics and then came to the metalworking shop to help out. I was new to the carpentry workshop." Valentin adds: "Our workshop manager Thomas then kept scheduling us so that we worked together." Laura laughs: "By chance, of course."
They were both very shy at first, he even more so than her. The fact that neither of them could speak English well at the time didn't detract from things. "It just clicked, even without many words," says Laura. The two worked together and met up outside of work afterwards. The rest is history.
Until this spring, Laura was still working from the base in Rapperswil, while Valentin was on tour. "That was sometimes complicated: Who goes to see whom, when do you even see each other?" she recalls. "Now that I'm traveling with them, it's much easier. We live at our workplace - that's something special. You're never alone, you're constantly in contact with people from all over the world." Valentin nods: "In the morning you hear Buongiorno, Bonjour and Guten Tag. This diversity is really wonderful."
However, the fact that work and private life are so closely intertwined has required a sure instinct. "In the beginning, we sometimes took discussions home with us that didn't belong there," admits Laura. "Over the years, you learn to set boundaries. If there's a row, it lasts two or three minutes - and then we get back to work. You really don't have the time or energy to be angry with each other for long."
The love between the two has remained: The circus couple are getting married in July - with their own family and the circus family together.
Anna and Vitalii are putting together their first solo program at Circus Knie.
blue News / Sven Ziegler
Anna started in rhythmic gymnastics at the age of four, later switched to contortionist acrobatics and completed her first engagements in German variety theaters. Vitalii was a professional athlete in acrobatic gymnastics - including world and European championships - before joining Circus Theater Bingo. At Circus Knie, they are putting together their first joint duo program.
"We met during our third engagement in Germany, at the GOP Varieté Theater," says Anna. Vitalii adds: "For me, the switch to the circus was a conscious decision. Professional sport lacks emotion and dance - you don't get that there. That's why I joined the circus theater Bingo." They only came together on stage afterwards: "It was the other way around - first the relationship, then the duo," Anna clarifies. They have been together for almost five years.
They initially came to Circus Knie separately. Vitalii first performed a hand-on-hand acrobatic act at Knie. Anna joined the following year. Initially, they both worked as part of Circus Theater Bingo - with handstand acts, dance and live music. "Then Géraldine Knie suggested that we perform with Pegasus in big cities like Zurich and Lausanne," says Vitalii. "And that's when we realized that we wanted our own duo." Their first act together was at Circus Knie.
It is not always easy to work as a professional duo as a couple. "Sometimes it's even more difficult than with a partner you don't know," says Anna openly. "You take the work home - into a small caravan, with no room for individual retreat." Her recipe: clear separation. "What happens at rehearsals stays there. We don't take what happens at home to work. It sounds simple - but you really have to learn it." Vitalii says: "When I was still here without Anna, I sometimes felt very lonely. You live in a car and have no one to share it with. It's just easier together."
Both are looking to the future with an open mind: They have already received inquiries from other circuses and theaters. Their goal is clear: they want to develop their own duo further.
Kimberly & Nicol wow the audience with their shooting act.
blue News / Sven Ziegler
Kimberly was born in Spain, her family is Italian - and she is the seventh generation of a circus dynasty. Her husband Nicol comes from the fifth generation of a large Spanish circus family. At Circus Knie, Nicol shoots Kimberly with a crossbow - while she hangs in the air.
"We met for the first time at a festival in Italy in 2019," says Nicol. "But at a festival, you know a hundred people, say a quick hello - and that's it." What followed was a coincidence: Kim's parents run a circus in Spain and invited Nicol for the summer. "And it was there, in their family circus, that it all happened," says Nicol. Kim adds: "This feeling of love... it was there straight away. I really didn't expect it." In 2023, they married in a castle in Tarragona.
The fact that they both come from circus families makes a lot of things more natural. "Traveling is normal for us," says Kim. "When we come to a new country, we don't think: What will it be like? And if the family is far away, we just buy plane tickets. It's not a big deal for us." Nicol: "We have circus life in our blood. It brings us together - from the management to the technicians, everyone here really pulls together."
How their joint act came about has its own story. Nicol started archery during the pandemic - he also has an official shooting license. When Kim joined the parents' circus, she asked him: "What if you shoot while I hang in the air?" Nicol laughed at first - and then agreed. He was aware that he had also included an apple in the program for Switzerland: "Of course I knew the legend of William Tell. This act actually comes from this story - it's an important part of the program."
Trust is the most important thing, says Nicol: "I'm the first person to make sure that everything is right. If something doesn't fit, we stop immediately. It's my wife, so I can't take any risks." Nicol, who Kim says has little patience in his private life, is absolutely calm in the crossbow act. "Maybe I have two personalities," he says with a laugh. "One as an artist and one in private."
Ambra survived a serious accident and is now back in the ring with Yves.
blue News / Sven Ziegler
Yves performed on stage for the first time at the age of 6. Ambra grew up as the daughter of a great Spanish circus director - Circus Americano - and worked as an animal trainer, including with elephants. At Circus Knie, they perform as the "Golden Dream": painted completely gold, their acrobatics in slow motion. They have already won the Silver Clown from Monte Carlo.
"I met Ambra through a friend during a visit to her family circus," says Yves. "She was the circus princess, and yet we clicked straight away. Everyone thought it could never work - the director's daughter wouldn't go out with a traveling artist." Then things happened very quickly: after a month, Yves popped the question. "I spontaneously asked her if she wanted to marry me." Ambra said yes. Shortly afterwards, she got a tattoo - "Yves and Ambra" with a heart. "She'd been in relationships for four or five years - never a tattoo. That's when I knew it was something serious," says Yves. Eleven months after the proposal, they got married. That was almost twenty years ago.
The idea for the "Golden Dream" literally came from a dream. "Ambra woke me up one morning," says Yves. "She said: I dreamt that we were doing an act as fully painted golden statues, in slow motion. I said: Ambra, you're crazy - go back to sleep." But she didn't let up, and eventually they put the idea into practice. They trained five or six hours a day to transform their bodies into statues. And they tested dozens of different gold colors before they found the right one. "I told her: if we're going to do this, let's do it right. We had already built up our reputation with the other act - I didn't want to risk it," says Yves. They filmed a demo in twenty days and sent it off. Two weeks later, they received an offer from Circus Roncalli, and this year they are on the road with Circus Knie.
Nevertheless, the couple were at a professional crossroads several times. After years on tour, to Las Vegas, to Covid, they had almost called it quits. Then came a call from Hungary - a new engagement. "We looked at each other and our eyes lit up," recalls Yves. "We actually wanted to do something completely different, I was traveling as a personal trainer and Ambra was baking. But we looked at each other and said: let's go back."
Then there was a tragic accident: Ambra fell to the ground from a height of ten meters during a rehearsal. Broken back, both arms and elbows were destroyed. "We didn't know whether she would walk again," says Yves quietly. "I told her: that's it. We're going to stop." But Ambra wouldn't hear of it: "I told him that this is definitely not the end. I'll get better - and we'll carry on." And that's what happened: "After that, she did even crazier things," says Yves with a laugh.
At almost 51, Yves is beginning to wonder how much longer he wants to carry on. "Normally, with this kind of act, you stop at 40 - that's a lot. But I don't know exactly how long we'll carry on," he says. "We're doing year after year now, like a football coach. We've already signed contracts for the next two years - and then we'll see."
What drives him is the feeling during those seven minutes on stage: "You're standing out there in front of 2,000, 3,000 people. Your back hurts, you're tired - but when you go out, you forget everything. It's a cocktail of feelings that you can't explain. And if I stop doing it, I'll get old quickly. I know that."
Circus Knie is still performing in Zurich until June 7 and will then move on to Basel.
