By: Kiley Sabatino & Susan Pazera

How to explain TRACES......hmmmm....thinking...still thinking.....can't.  Just can't!  There are no words!  Nothing like TRACES has ever been done before, which is why I'm at a complete loss for words!  You've just got to see it for yourself to believe it.

Although TRACES is everything all in one, it's also so simple.  No fancy costumes, no exaggerated acting, no over-the-top set design, nothing but the seven ultra-talented performers that do the most extraordinary, unbelievable, super human acts that will leave you in awe.  I kept thinking: "what do these people eat?!"  They're a different species of humans, but at the same time, they honestly seem like seven of the most down-to-earth humble folks around.

You don't want to blink for fear of missing something during the show.  There's acrobatics, choreographed dance, basketball, skateboarding, street performance, great music, and lots more.  Oh, and from the picture, you can tell they've also mastered the impossible task of balancing on three upside down wooden chairs.

Macaroni Kid had the opportunity to interview TRACES performance artist Bradley Henderson:

MK:  I have to know, how do you do the hoop without hurting your fingers?

BH:  This is a very common question.  Everybody’s so worried about my little fingers but the truth is,  I rarely ever have had this happen to me, maybe like only once or twice max.   Yeah … you do it once and you never do it again.  I’ve fallen out of the wheel many times and taken some nasty crashes but I have never really seriously hurt my fingers.  I think that when the ground approaches, you automatically open your hands keeping your body wedged inside the wheel, so you don’t fall out.  You can open your hands well in advance so you never come even close to possibly crushing a finger.  

MK:  How long did it take to learn and train your act?

BH:  I’ve been doing the same Act for around 5 years now and I’ve been practicing wheel for a total of about 7 years.  It took me like 2 years to learn my tricks and then I started making routines while I was in school.  The Wheel number that I perform in the show Traces was created and choreographed by Gypsy Snider and she helped me build my number based on the way that I was comfortable moving.  She shaped my routine to fit the style of dance and acrobatics that felt the most natural for me.

MK:  What is your favorite part of TRACES to perform?

BH:  The last number, Chinese Hoop Diving.  Because it’s not too strenuous on your body, compared to some of the other apparatus’s in the show.  I always feel like the audience is genuinely wanting us to succeed at this moment of the show, it’s the last burst of energy and they’re with us from start to finish, 100%.  The technical level is quite high and the tumbling is in my opinion really creative.    

MK:  What sports did you do as a kid?

BH:  Growing up my mom enrolled me in lots of sports and activities.  When I was young I was fortunate to get a little taste of everything. I played a lot of basketball and baseball in lots of different leagues, and I was on the track and field team for James Lick Middle School.  I also did a lot of skateboarding and since San Francisco is like one big skate park anyways, I pretty much skateboarded everywhere.  But overall, I was always most dedicated to Circus and I’d always put circus first.

MK:  How did your parents support you in the pursuit of this dream?

BH:  My parents were both very dedicated.  My brother and sisters and I were all driven around to soccer practices, football practices, basketball games, dance classes, arts and crafts camp, language lessons, I don’t know, you name it.  My mom and dad probably got sick of us climbing and jumping on all the furniture when we were little and they set out to find us a place to contain this monkey like energy.  They came across this brilliant Chinese man, Mr. Lu Yi, opening up a circus school in SF and my brother and sisters and I all just kind of stuck to it over the years.  Then when the time came to choose a college after high school, things became more serious and I decided to move to Montreal, Canada because I was accepted to the National Circus School, in Quebec.  My parents have always made huge efforts following me around the world where I’ve performed and tried to make family trips so that they could always support me.  I owe absolutely everything to my parents, I truly feel like one of the luckiest kids ever to have had such amazing role models and I just pray that one day I’ll be able to do as good a job for my own kids and love and support them as good as my mom and dad did for me.
 

So, here's the bottom line...you've gotta go see TRACES.  Bring your family, bring your friends, just go!  TRACES is playing at the Union Square Theater through June 24, 2012. Don't miss it!!  Not sure how else to get my point across: GO.  SEE.  TRACES.  And let me know if you find a word in the English language to describe it.


For touring info and for NYC performance schedule visit www.tracesusa.com

Also, be sure to check out their Facebook page ,YouTube videos, and follow them on Twitter.

To purchase tickets or for more information click HERE