Michael Hirschbach (who was a founding father of the Bluenose Jugglers) has recently returned from an 18 month tour performing with the Cirque du Soleil show, Dralion, throughout the United States. He is currently working with the Cirque du Monde program of the Cirque du Soleil, teaching intensive workshops throughout North America.
"I studied for a year in Montreal with Mime Omnibus, and Gilles Maheu of Carbone 14, and have also done intensive circus studies in California, New York, and Montreal. My real theatrical education, however, began with my studies at the Ecole Internationale de Theatre (Jacques Lecoq) in Paris, from which I graduated in 1986.
For 6 years I was the Artistic Director, and one of the performers in Fool's Paradise, a circus arts trio specializing in complex juggling patterns, unicycling, and acrobatics wrapped around comedy. We performed mainly in the Maritimes, but also toured in the U.S., and performed for 2 weeks at the '88 Calgary Olympic Games. In Nova Scotia I founded the Bluenose Juggling Club, taught at Neptune Theatre for over 12 years, and at Halifax Dance, and Acadia University. Most recently I've run workshops for the Cirque du Monde program of the Cirque du Soleil in Los Angeles, and been a speaker at the San Francisco Circus Centre.
I've been interviewed by Peter Gsowski about playing the musical saw (a skill I learned for my first professional theater show), appeared on David Suzuki's The Nature of Things in an episode exploring laughter, and appeared (briefly) in a movie with Kelsey Grammar.
Before performing with the Cirque du Soleil, I toured my solo theatrical-circus shows for many years. These performances, which I conceive, write and perform, have been seen across Canada, the U.S., Europe, and in Singapore, most recently and memorably in the Yukon and Alaska. I've now performed thousands of shows, and taught uncountable workshops on 3 continents.