About the show

Guillaume Dufresnoy

Born and raised in Bordeaux, France, Guillaume abandoned a possible career as an engineer or a math teacher to join the circus. After a short stint at the Conservatoire National des Arts du Cirque in Paris, where his future partner, Mireille, was also a student, Guillaume created an aerial perch act, named it Les Casaly, and went to perform in France Switzerland, Italy, Germany, and Finland. There, he and Mireille joined forces to work on a spectacular aerial cradle-casting act, under the guidance of Jean Palacy, one of the world’s foremost specialists in this difficult discipline. With Les Casaly, Guillaume won a Silver Medal at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain in Paris in 1986. Les Casaly performed their extraordinary act with Switzerland’s Circus Nock, with the French National Circus (Cirque Gruss) and, from 1987 to 1990, with the Big Apple Circus. They also appeared on American television in “Seven Wonders of the Circus World” and “Great Circuses of the World.” In 1991, they performed with the world-renowned Circus Knie in Switzerland. Following that season, Guillaume became the Big Apple Circus’s Performance Director until 1997, when he became its Vice-president and General Manager. Last season Guillaume assumed the reins of Artistic Director, both for the show and the Big Apple Circus' Community Outreach Programs. Dance On! will be the first show under his leadreship.