Circus adventure ends right back at home

Neil Forbes, a technician with the new Cirque du Soleil Dralion, has travelled the world. Photo / Brett Phibbs

When Neil Forbes' daughter ran away to join the circus, he didn't wave goodbye and wish her well.

Instead, the Kapiti Coast resident packed his bags and ran right after her, joining Cirque du Soleil as a sound and lighting technician. Mr Forbes is back in New Zealand this week with the circus troupe, but without his daughter Letitia, who has gone to learn new tricks of the trade at a circus school in Melbourne.

It's a story that has seen the family traverse the globe, and has finally come full circle, back to New Zealand, where it all began.

Many will remember Letitia as the schoolgirl star of Quidam, singing for thousands of fans when the troupe visited Auckland in 2004. She was 14 at the time and had been with the troupe for one year, after training at Cirque's headquarters in Montreal.

From Auckland, the tour headed north to Singapore and then on to the United States, which is where Mr Forbes and his wife flew to join their daughter.

"I found it very hard to have her away," said Mr Forbes. "We visited as often as we could but it was never the same. When our older daughter headed off to university, we decided we would join [Letitia]."

With a background in theatre, Mr Forbes was an experienced lighting technician and began helping the crew set up and dismantle sets.

When a permanent position arose, he applied for the job and officially joined his daughter as "circus folk".

Together, the family travelled the world with the Quidam troupe, performing in Dubai, China, Korea, Mexico, Portugal and Spain. But when Letitia left the tour, outgrowing her role as the young Zoe, Mr Forbes decided it was time to head home.

Fortunately, Cirque had another tour, Dralion, heading Downunder, which just happened to be short one technician.

And so, Mr Forbes finds himself back on home ground this week, after a year of touring Australia with Dralion, to the place where his family's circus adventure began. "It was so good to get off the plane and come home. You can travel a lot but there's no place like New Zealand."

Cirque du Soleil's Dralion opens at Alexandra Park Raceway this Thursday and runs until August 23.