Circus Marcel

Leuven, 25th of October 1976 Tobe Wouters is born at 6 o’ clock in the morning. Nine years later he joins the music school where he starts with the trumpet and euphonium to discover the bass tuba at the age of 12. After one year at the academy of music in Ghent, he transfers to the academy in Antwerp and plunges into the professional music scene when he’s twenty. Various orchestras (Nieuw Vlaams Symfonisch Orkest, Opera Royal de Wallonie,…), adventures with Think of One and many other bands, wanderings through theatre (Theater Luxemburg, De Vertelcarrousel,…) brought him to Circus Marcel.

A new adventure for Tobe and his tuba…

At the age of 13, Joppe Wouters takes his first circus lessons with Circus Estropov, which is linked to the Steiner school ‘De Es’ in Antwerp. Shortly afterwards, he joins the Antwerp academy of circus arts ‘Kay Fou’ where he takes on juggling, the unicycle and ladder balancing. After secondary school he passes as if by a miracle the entrance exam of the ‘Ecole Supérieure des Arts de Cirque’ in Brussels. He starts as a juggler but ends his education with a degree in teeterboard acrobatics. In 2003 he rebuilds a Lada Niva into a multifunctional acrobatic device called ‘Joplada’ which he will use in more than 350 shows in 10 different countries.

From the age of 15 onwards he learns to weld and turns into an expert on design and realization of circus equipment.

Together with Chloé Vancompernolle, he decides in 2007 to start ‘Circus Marcel’. Besides his acts with the Russian Swing and the Korean cradle he’s also the technical and administrative manager.

Jan Willem Maes fell in love with the circus at the age of 22. Not sure yet about the seriousness of his feelings he starts with the teacher’s training at the Ecole de Cirque de Bruxelles’. It turns out to be a true passion as he works his way up as a trapeze artist at “l’ Atelier de Trapèze” in Brussels and later with ‘Tout Fou tou Fly’.

In 2003 he decides to found his own company: Cie les P’tits Bras’ which, through his show ‘One… Two… Trieee…’ earns him world fame in Belgium, France, Poland, Spain, Austria, Senegal, Peru and Zimbabwe.
Now the time has come for a new adventure, with a real tent: ‘Circus Marcel’.

As a four year old, Chloé Vancompernolle takes dance classes at ‘Danses & Cie’ in Tournai which takes her to Poland to star in ‘Marie-Antoinette’. Eleven years old, she discovers the trapeze at ‘Mômes Circus’ and travels to Germany and China with the trapeze act ‘Elodie & Chloé’.

After her training at the ‘Ecole Spupérieur des Arts du Cirque’, she represents Belgium with her swinging trapeze act at the ‘Festival de Cirque Francophone’ in Egypt. After a dazzling career as a trapeze artist at ‘Les Araïs’, she takes the plunge and founds together with Joppe Wouters the new circus ‘Circus Marcel’. Besides acrobat and trapeze artist, she’s also the administrative manager and above all the driving force behind this giant project.

Anna Buhr is born on 16th of February 1978 in Paderborn – Germany. After her training at the ‘Ecole Superieur des Arts du Cirque’ in Brussels, she starts her career as an artist on the vertical rope with various companies. She performs with ‘Les Oisseaux Fous’ and is co-founder of the Cie Acouphène. She also works with Théatre du Préau, la Cie Cahin-Caha, La Cie de la Valise ,and more recently, with Cie la Manoeuvre. In 2007 she joins the crew of Circus Marcel.

She specializes in vertical rope and works around movements both on the ground as in the air.