Greetings, young travelers, I'm glad to you stopped by. L'Ange de Ciel
receives very few visitors these days.
My name is Simone. How old am I? Who knows? My dear papa always told me,
"A truly great artist never reveals her secrets."
I'll tell you a few things. I was born in Quebec and am the daughter of
Chaunce and Aleah Beauvais. My father was a third-generation circus
performer: a Washington Trapeze performer. My mother was a beautiful
caramel-skinned contortionist from India. I'm not sure why she left India;
maybe it was idleness or boredom. All of us circus performers seem to be
afflicted with an incurable case of wanderlust.
Mama joined the circus were she met Papa. Papa fell madly in love with
her and they married three months after they met. Two years later, she died
giving birth to me. I know it seems strange for a woman in this modern day
and age to die in childbirth but weirder things have happened.
Mama's death broke my papa's heart. He left Canada, taking me with him,
and joined the Circus Boheme. He kept only one picture of his beloved; a
picture of her doing a triple fold during a performance.
Papa schooled me in the trapeze until he died, then I went to Canada and
studied with Carlos Dauvergne until I could do all that I can now.
I was built to be an aerial artist. My long legs, sleek and muscular
from years of training, help make movements truly beautiful. Carlos says I
have a natural grace when it comes to the air and that I seem more
comfortable in the sky than I do on land. I am advertised on the posters as
L'ange de Ciel: the Angel of the Sky. My specialties are the static trapeze
and the aerial hoop but I can also perform the Washington Trapeze and the
Spanish web. I am also working on learning the tissu with Carlos. He says
with my long, lean body; I could truly make a spectacular artist.
Unfortunately, I hear some whispers of discontent around here. I am
called prima donna for my insistence upon a trailer of my own; most people,
unless they have families, share a trailer. I hear them sneering as I apply
my makeup and as the costume maiden helps me put on my white costume. They
snicker when I make specifications for lighting and scenery. I'll admit I
am a bit picky but I just want to create an image for the audience to carry
in their hearts forever. Papa told me that my most important task as a
performer is to create an image so beautiful and achingly precise that the
audience, for a moment, becomes lost in a strange world.
Mr. Henrie is pretty nice. I'll suggest an idea and he'll work with me to
make it happen. Now don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean I always get what
I want; you should really stop listening to the flying trapeze troupe. For
some reason, they hate me most of all. I don't know what I've done to earn
their ire; I try to push it out of my head. After all there's a whole
audience of people waiting to see L'Ange de Ciel.
