Olivier Melis :

Chinese pole artist and show technicien

Olivier doesn’t realy like school, so, once he turned 18, he left the school benches and took his chance in life as a stage manager.
Very soon he finds a company that agrees to take him under its wing: Les Baladins du Mirror. With them he will learn the art of the true “handyman” with this travelling theatre. For 8 years he discovers the world of homelessness and becomes familiar with
this environment he so much apprecites now. His route will separate from the one of the Baladins to join the routes of the circus world. He meets Circ’Ombelico company, where he will be part of the creation of “Da-Fort” as a technician. One and a half years touring  in festivals and circus places make him grow a sudden urge to try the Chinese pole! He didn’t wait long before taking the decision to leave the beautiful “Da-Fort” adventure and start a new one …
He contacts Foucauld Falguerolles (chinese pole artist) and asks him if he would agree to train him in the art of chinese pole, knowing he never had any type of training before! Foucauld plays the game and gives him the foundation for a self-taught path guided by his wise advices. For three years, Olivier tames the chinese pole and its universe of a thousand possibilities while continuing in parallel the work as a technician and a blacksmith During the summer of 2014, he immersed himself full-time to improve his pole
technique and at the same moment he meets Violaine Bishop.

From this meeting a duet is born: “On-Off”, a mixture of two artists with paths both very different and very complementary.

email – olivadrouille@yahoo.fr