30 years on, flying trapeze partners, Brent and Laurence, continue to change lives

In Cambodia, they have Phare, The Cambodian Circus. In South Africa, they have the Zip Zap Circus. Both have similar goals – the former provides jobs for Cambodian youths in the performing arts, the latter, “inspiring and empowering kids for life” – which is why they are both part of the Global Alliance of Circus Schools.

Zip Zap Academy: Kids at play in the campus in Woodstock, Cape Town.

Thus when I was in Cape Town, I decided to visit the Zip Zap campus and to meet the two founders, husband-and-wife team of Brent van Rensburg and Laurence Estève, both flying trapeze artists, who started Zip Zap in 1992, when the fourth generation Capetonian Brent returned to South Africa.

Their story is as unconventional as it comes. Brent, who started performing on the flying trapeze when he was 10, had had an accident while performing in Europe, broken his left ankle in nine places, dented his skull and broke his back “but that led me to my wife, so it was all worth it,” he told me with a glint in his eye.

He met Laurent running circus workshops for Club Med Holiday Resorts. “I taught her to fly and we flew together. When I asked her to return to South Africa with me, she said yes,” said Brent.

Returning home, Brent looked at his old neighbourhood with new eyes. “It was a poor white neighbourhood, where the poorer white people lived. But when I was born (in 1961), it was a multi-racial neighbourhood but somehow things became segregated.

“Zip Zap was never a planned thing. People were leaving the country, Mandela had just been released, there was talk of war and we thought we could help make a difference by using circus which we know to bridge gaps between the haves and have-nots.

“We thought, why don’t we stay for a while to see if we can do something.”

More than 30 years on, Zip Zap has grown into a non-profit organisation, which has 15,000 beneficiaries, alumni in 41 cities across 21 countries, and has performed in 22 countries and 41 cities. It has a total enrolment of 2,600 kids in nine programmes. It runs workshops with under-served schools for beginners aged 7-12, and has outreach programmes for kids between four and six.

The pandemic was a challenging period, when performances in its main venue, the Zip Zap Dome, had to be cancelled. These performances, popular with travellers to Cape Town, contribute about 50% of its annual income.

This year, it begins a professional touring show, MOYA, across five countries in the next 16 months – Canada, Dubai, Doha, Minneapolis (USA) and France. It is funded by foundations, government grants and corporate donations. It has 10 employees, all of whom are full-time performers.

Brent’s career as a full-time trapeze artist finished on a high when he was 38. He performed the highest flying trapeze act in the world, setting a world record, when he “flew” between two buildings in Johannesburg in an advertisement for insurance company, Samlam.

Watching the video with my heart in my mouth, I asked him how he felt during the moment when he had to let go of the rope, before catching the hand of his partner. “You can’t even think, you switch off for those seconds, it’s called being in the zone,” he said. “Generally, it’s about feeling, not thinking. Only when you get back to the platform do you then feel your hands burning.”

Asked how he felt after the feat, he said, “I would have done it for free. It was a good way to finish my career.”

He confessed though the addiction to adrenalin took some time to wean off. “I think my withdrawal lasted five years and in that time, I did everything from sky diving to rock climbing. I wanted to get the feeling of flying.”

Today, he gets satisfaction from watching “the kids grow and get better”, he said. “They feel good about themselves when they achieve something, I know what it feels like to do the first trick, and when they are appreciated by the audience, that’s something else.”

Said Brent, “The challenge is always finances, raising funds. Our costs are about 22 million rand a year and climbing.”

ZipZap is currently fund raising to build a new performance hall to replace the Dome, which is being demolished.

The day I was there, the campus was filled with the sound of children’s laughter, as they rolled, jumped and tumbled together, a constant inspiration and reminder to Brent and his team as to why they are doing this.

“It’s giving kids a second chance, to dare to dream,” said Brent.

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Me with Brent van Rensburg and Melanie Portman, operations manager, at Zip Zap Academy.