At the heart of Cirque Mechanics (4/5) is a love story—but maybe not the one you’d expect. The company’s co-founders, Chris and Aida Lashua, have been creative partners and life partners for nearly 30 years. A decade of that was spent with the legendary Cirque du Soleil, in which Chris performed a BMX bike act and a “German wheel” act. Aida worked on the marketing and sponsorship side. In 2004, they brought together their business sense and creative sensibility to launch Cirque Mechanics, a unique venture all their own. And they’ve been delighting audiences ever since.
One thing that sets Cirque Mechanics apart—which won’t surprise you given the company’s name—is their mechanical ingenuity.
“We distinguish ourselves from many of the other circus companies, new circus or old,” Chris Lashua said in a 2023 interview. “We have usually some large-scale mechanical apparatus component that we build the show around, and that device can take many shapes. Usually the desire is to find a way to accomplish the work of circus, whether that’s to lift and fly an aerialist or transport a contortionist”
Their show at the Center for the Arts, Pedal Punk, puts a “Gantry bike” at center stage: a 22-foot, pedal-powered performance platform. “Decked out in Victorian hats, goggles, sleeve garters and meticulously groomed facial fair, the astoundingly fit and funny ensemble kicks classic acts into high gear… spoke-less wheels become hula hoops, a penny-farthing transforms into an aerial hoop. Metal bars invite climbing and contortion, and, of course, unicycle and bicycle tricks abound.” (TimeOut)
Pedal Punk is an astoundingly original and completely dazzling circus performance. We hope you’ll bring your whole family to enjoy what the New York Times called an “exceptional, evocative, eye-catching, ear-catching and, to keep the list short, engrossingly entertaining” show.