By Colleen Flanagan, The Maple Ridge – Pitt Meadows News
A circus art master who spent three years with Cirque du Soleil, was back at Maple Ridge Secondary, teaching students techniques and skills on circus equipment.
All physical education classes at the high school, in addition to French immersion classes, were able to take part in the circus workshops that included aerial rings, silks, a trapeze, juggling, stilt walking, plate spinning, roller balancing, tightrope, and how to use a diabolo with a flower stick – taught by Benoît Ranger and his apprentice and circus coach Pascale Schram, who will now be heading the B.C. chapter of Cirque Jeunesse.
Ranger has been in the industry for more than 40 years acting as his character Ben Labarouette. He has also performed with Théâtre des deux mondes, and at Variétés de Radio-Canada.