Nov 106 min read

Steve Caveagna

Steve Caveagna, a 32-year-old Italian artist, is the fifth generation in his family to preserve the circus tradition. With his brother, he was born and raised in the circus. He started his journey with the diabolo at the age of 11 while performing in Switzerland with Circus Knock. He fell in love with the diabolo and was mentored by Alexander Xelo, a renowned diabolist. Currently, he is performing with Circus Vargas in the USA. His act, Steve & Jones, is a modern musical routine with his brother that combines comedy and diabolo tricks.

1. How did you start getting into diabolo?

I was 11 years old and we were performing in Switzerland with Circus Knock. We performed with Alexander Xelo, who was the most popular Diabolist back then, probably the best one too. There was Pierre Marchand, who was a performer, and Alexander was more technical in those days. I completely fell in love with him, with his style, and especially with Diabolo. I bought a diabolo myself in Switzerland, which was like a trend, whereas in Italy, nobody was interested in diabolo. After noticing my interest, Alex taught me a few tricks every week because he understood I had a big passion for it. We ended up doing an act together at the end of the tour. We did a special performance; it was an iconic memory for me. [I should have a video somewhere]

2. Where are you currently performing?

Now I'm performing in the USA. We are touring all around California with Circus Vargas, which is the most important circus in California. It's one of the most renowned circuses right now in America and probably in the world. We performed all around America with Ringling Brothers for about three years and then we spent five years with Vargas touring all around California.

3. Can you tell us about your act ?

Our main act that I do with my brother is musical. The routines are a modern version of what the old-fashioned clowns used to do, with my brother acting as the serious one. He wants to play music, and I am a modern Auguste who likes it. I interrupt and disturb him, and there is a conflict trying to take the audience on my side. Finally, we end up playing together, with my brother coming to my side, and everybody is happy. I play the trumpet, my brother plays six different kinds of instruments, including a digital saxophone which sounds a bit like the Daft Punk sounds.

4. What makes a good performance in traditional circus?

Try to understand what you want. Some people may want to only do diabolo, but for us, diabolo is only a part of our routines that we present in the show. The audience already knows our characters, and they already kind of have sympathy for us. It's a surprise when you show the serious side.

I think it's important to be different, unique, or original. Many diabolists are technically very good, but it's very raw. They often wear the same costume and do the same tricks. They're very serious; they focus so much on the technique only and tend to forget the story, the music, and everything around it.

In my opinion, the focus on technique is, of course, important, but the audience wants to be entertained and have a good time. It must be 50/50 between the technique and entertainment. It's very important to be different, to be original.

5. How do you practice?

Either I rest the body and the mind when there is no show or when we travel, or I practice a lot for about two to three hours. I try to push myself. When there is one show, I practice for about one and a half hours. When we have multiple shows, I don't practice. I only work and warm up a little bit before the act.

6. What do you take inspiration from? What motivates you?

I like a lot of different things, and artists. We try to do our style with gags, routines, music, and costumes. The circus, as you know better than I, is evolving. I have a lot of inspirations in movies, artists, and music. I like a lot of different things and I'm open-minded. It could be anything. Besides diabolo, comedy is a big part, and I have a perspective on many things.

7. What are you the most proud of?

In Europe, we performed a lot in Germany, France, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Austria, and Hungary. We participated in the festivals of Budapest, Grenoble, Namur, Saint-Paul-les-Dax, Latina, and probably more. We performed at Circus Krone (Krone Bauer), Favarosi Nagi Circus, the capital circus, and Venice. I'm proud of where I have arrived until now. The places I have been to in my career, the style I have created, and the routines I've developed.

Diabolo-wise, I'm very proud of when I was performing with five diabolos on stage every day. That was a very beautiful moment, probably better than how hard you have to work. Performing diabolo on stage is a very interesting discipline, and to perform with five diabolos on stage, you really have to practice a lot. Michael Jordan said that you have to practice a thousand shots before making the right one. Diabolo is the same. To perform with four or five diabolos, you have to practice for long hours and make countless attempts.

8. As a professional artist what are the pros and cons of performing?

In recent years, I have been having eye problems that are setting me back a little bit. It's giving me a harder time. But I am not giving up, and I'm trying to stay focused and keep practicing. Thanks to the circus, you get to visit beautiful places and discover different cultures. Financially, you can make a good living out of it. The downside is that you can be far from your family and don't have much time to do other things. On the other hand, you do what you love the most. So probably we're making the right choice.

9. What do you think about competition and festivals ?

For circus festivals, it's very interesting because different kinds of arts are competing against one another. It's beautiful and exciting. Sometimes you lose, and other times you win, and it makes you grow artistically and mentally too. On the other hand, it can be political too. But everything is political, I guess, like music festivals, or movies at the Oscars.

10. What do you think about the diabolo community in Europe? How can it grow?

I am not that active on social media, but once in a while, I like to watch videos from diabolists from all over the world. In the end, the good side of Instagram is that you can discover artists from all over the world and make friends. It's motivating, I guess. I think the diabolo level online is really high. Most of the diabolists don't really perform that much. It makes me feel like they just do it for fun, which is kind of crazy. For example, I remember Ofek Shilton, who was doing beautiful tricks, but I never saw his act anywhere. It's kind of crazy.

How can it grow? Probably by interacting more with each other and, as we say in Italy, "one hand washes the other," trying to collaborate more. Anyways, I feel like an outsider and I don't consider myself part of the diabolo community. But I admire and respect the community.

11. Which diabolo and sticks model do you like most?

In 2017, I started using the Sundia Evo diabolo and probably like most of the diabolists in the world, I am loving them. They are great diabolos that provide good results. Before, I was using the Henry's Circus, which weighed 250g. Then, I got sponsored by Taibolo and used their diabolos for two to three years. However, I then discovered Sundia and now I love it. Currently, I'm using the Evo diabolo, Pro-Stick Max with thin silicone (65g), and the thin string from Sundia as well. I feel very comfortable with them. They are helping me a lot and allowing me to do whatever I like.