They came to the interview in full...

They came to the interview in full makeup. Their light eyes twinkled

from behind a mask of blue face paint, accentuated by elaborate wisps

of gold and streaks of white.

Andrew and Kevin Atherton are the acclaimed “aerial twins” in

Cirque du Soleil’s performance, “Varekai,” which is currently playing

at the fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. Their jaw-dropping performance

involves gravity-defying swoops, twists and leaps, high above the

Cirque stage, with a final move that leaves Andrew hanging onto his

brother by one arm.

It was during a break between training and the 4 p.m. show that

the Atherton twins joined columnist Lolita Harper for an informal

interview in the food trailer -- set up in the blue-and-yellow-tented

Cirque city that has taken over the grounds.

How did you get involved in Cirque du Soleil?

Kevin: We were both former gymnasts on the Great Britain national

team, so we did that for nearly 20 years -- something like that. And

then Cirque du Soleil sends their scouts out all over the world, to

scout for various people and they spotted us at one of the various

[events] and they approached us and asked us to join. And we weren’t

quite ready and when we were 24, they asked us again.

So, you have been with the organization?

Andrew: We’ve been with Cirque du Soleil now, for, I would say 3

years. We came to do farming, which is where they take you from

gymnastics and bring you to the studio, which is based in Montreal,

and there they teach you various things. They will mainly try to get

you out of just gymnastics and into acting, dancing theater and even

signing. It is just the way of breaking the barriers from being a

gymnast to being a performer on stage. And from there we came to do

the show. And we have been doing the shows now for about three years.

Was there interest in performance arts before your tour with

Cirque?

Andrew: Before we did gymnastics, my sister was into dancing, so

we did a little dancing earlier. And, of course, when you do

gymnastics, you always do things like ballet and things like that --

it is just a part of it. Then after first joining Cirque du Soleil,

we found out we were doing this new creation, Varekai, we actually

had a break on tour, so then we want back home and did a theater show

in London. That was our first real experience with acting on stage.

What you do looks dangerous. Are there a lot of injuries in this

line of work? Have you guys suffered any thus far?

Kevin: We’re both very, very serious about what we do, so a lot of

time and efforts go into training and specific training to make sure

our bodies are the ideal that they should be for this profession.

There is obviously a lot of strain on the shoulders, especially

performing the act 10 times a week, so it puts a lot of strain on our

shoulders. We do take it very, very seriously and when we are not

here, we spend a lot of the time in the gym doing our specific

training. So, as of yet, we have done about six shows without injury

and I would hope to continue that.

Do you get a chance in the different venues to go out and check

out what is around? Have you gone anywhere here yet?

Andrew: We are working quite a lot but every week we always get

one day off, so we try our best on a Monday to try and sight see.

Kevin and I are not really interested in the more tourist attractions

of each place we go because we actually live there. Like in New York,

we were there for like three months, so we kind of almost feel like

you are a local, so we like to hang out where all the local people

hang out. It is good really because each city we stay in for about

seven weeks and you get familiar with that city and you kind of build

your surroundings and then it is time to move onto the next city and

it starts all over again.

We are interested in checking out Laguna Beach and Newport Beach

-- that is where we have been told to go. We know that Disneyland is

here but we are not really into that type of thing. That is good if

you have kids, or something.

What is it like being on the road all the time? Is it hard to be

away from family and home?

Kevin: It has its advantages and disadvantages, really. Obviously,

the advantages are that you get to see so many things and visit so

many different cities. And you live in those cities and you visit so

many different people and you experience so many different things and

it is such a fantastic lifestyle I cannot complain one little bit.

If I did have to say that there was a disadvantage to it, it would

be that you are living out of a suitcase the whole time and you don’t

really feel like you have a base. Whereas other people can say they

have a home, they have a family and I am lucky to have my brother on

tour with me but the rest of my family is at home and I don’t have a

base. And that is a disadvantage.

What would you guys be doing if it you weren’t performing with

Cirque?

Andrew: That is difficult to answer because all of our lives we

have never really chosen what path to take. I mean, six years ago, if

you would have told us we were going to be working for the Cirque du

Soleil, I don’t think we would have believed you.

Once we do finish this, I suppose our main goal is to work in real

estate together. We are really interested in it, I mean, that is what

my father does. So, we are really interested in property and houses

and architecture and all that. We’re lucky at the moment that we are

actually starting to do that now, so we have the best of both worlds.

Would you go back home to practice real estate or have you found

another city you would rather call home?

Andrew: We actually started back at home in England before we came

to Cirque and we started about five years ago buying property back at

home. Every city we go to we are always looking at real estate. It is

an ongoing thing where we are always looking and always hoping to buy

somewhere.

Kevin: It is a big dream of both Andrew and mine. We always joked

about it, really, but we plan on having a different property in so

many cities. I mean, we’ve lived in so many cities while we have been

on tour that we would love to live in those cities and hopefully --

fingers crossed- we will be able to.