Andrew and Kevin Atherton are living my childhood dreams. I had to put them on this podcast.

Did you dream about flying as a child? I did, nearly every single day. I loved reading comic books and imagined myself as a superhero. I often dressed like one as soon as I came home from school.

Recently, my mom and I went to see our first Cirque du Soleil show ever in Boston. The show was called Varekai. While every single act was extraordinary, there was one particular segment that left both of us perpetually in awe.  Two very similar looking men flew across the entire stadium over the heads of thousands of audience, then balancing on their heads and hands 50+ ft in the air. They formations looked like paintings, statues and art we had not seen before.  They are superheroes to me.

As soon as I returned from show, I looked up "Varekai aerialists straps" and found Andrew and Kevin Atherton, the identical twins, the original performers and creators behind Varekai duo-straps. I emailed them right away without expecting a response. To my surprise, they replied within 24 hours with such enthusiasm to join me on Feisworld.

To prep for my interview, I sourced questions from Facebook and Twitter to add to my list. During our conversation, I discovered that Andrew and Kevin are amazing storytellers who not only answered all the questions, but also dove deep into how they engage each other on stage as well as their intimate connections with the audience.  "We bring them on stage with us!"

Andrew and Kevin were born and raised in the UK. They were professional gymnasts for 17 years before transitioning to aerialists at Cirque du Soleil for 16 years so far with no sign of slowing down. In fact, they both recently decided to create a new show and move to New York City in 2016. (They will be announcing details and sharing behind-the-scenes updates with you via the News section of their brand new website - a collaboration between Athertons and Feisworld!)

To learn more about Andrew and Kevin, please visit their new website, Facebook, Instagram (@andiatherton and @kevin.atherton).

Do you enjoy this podcast? If so, please leave your comment below and share the podcast with your family and friends. You can also email me here. Your support will keep me on track and bring many other sung and unsung heroes to this podcast.

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Show Notes (Time is Approximate):

• How do you introduce yourselves to others / strangers for the first time? [07:15]
• Telling us about your upbringing (in UK), family dynamics and your introduction to gymnastics [9:45]
• What was it like growing up as identical twins (1 in every 286 birth)? And what was it like to compete with a twin brother? [11:45]
• What was it like to represent Great Britain in international gymnastics competitions? [17:00]
• The difference between gymnastic regimen today compared to when you were training and competing at a young age? [18:30]
• Cirque du Soleil - Varekai: together you performed over 3000 shows and never missed a single one, how w