Kids inspired to run away with the circus

Student Cooper Malofie-Law age 11 skipping with Cirque/Quidam performers Kata Banhegyi and Mei Bouchard at Ponsonby Intermediate. Photo / Dean Purcell, NZ Herald

Auckland school children have been inspired to run away with the circus after a special show was put on for them by Cirque du Soleil performers this afternoon.

Kata Banhegyi and Mei Bouchard visited Ponsonby Intermediate today, showing off their circus skills which will feature in the upcoming show Quidam, which reaches New Zealand in February.

Banhegyi is a world-class skipper, who led a small group of students and one teacher through a quick jump-rope workshop.

Cheers from the school hall rang out as one kid after another successfully jumped through double-dutch ropes in the assembly hall.

Banhegyi and Bouchard then wowed the crowd with a short display, showcasing their skills as athletes and performers.

Children and teachers alike gasped as Banhegyi wove a skipping rope expertly around her body and between her legs, at one point jumping straight out of a handstand to start skipping again.

Afterward, all but a few hands were raised when the crowd was asked who would like to travel the world with Cirque when they grew up.

Quidam, which first toured in New Zealand in 2005, is back early next year and Banhegyi said she and the rest of the performers were excited to show a whole new audience the magic of the circus.

"There's a new generation who haven't seen it, so I think the people who have seen it as teenagers might now have kids of their own so they can bring their families along," she said.

Despite long stretches away from her native Hungary and the family she left behind, Banhegyi said she wouldn't want to have any other job.

"I love to perform, as you can see here today with the kids it's nice to make people happy," she said.

"The travelling part, it's amazing because you get to meet new people from different cultures, different languages, it's an amazing opportunity to travel the world."

The show would stick to the same story but new performers and a new venue meant there would be something fresh even for those who had gone before, Banhegyi said.