Every gymnast dismounting from an apparatus, vault or exiting a tumbling run wants to stick the landing without moving their feet.
Paulo Pena said he hopes his landing in Powell River, with his young family, will stick. Pena recently arrived as new head coach of Powell River Gymnastics and Cheer (PRGC).
“I was under contract with Cirque du Soleil,” said Pena. “I came straight from Europe. I arrived on July 31 at night, slept in Victoria with my family, packed the car and came here on August 1.” Pena started his new job the following day.
Born in Brazil, Pena spent five years with Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo, touring North America and Japan in the show’s high-bar act called Tournik.
“I’m an acrobat,” he said. “That number was a high-bar act, a cube made of bars with eight guys in a synchronized act jumping from one bar to another.”
Before arriving in Powell River, Pena appeared in a special Cirque du Soleil performance called Scalada Vision in Andorra, a small principality between France and Spain.
Prior to joining the entertainment company, he was a high-level, all-around international gymnast, won multiple national titles in Brazil and competed with the Brazilian national team in the Pan American Games and South American Games.
Pena said he came to Powell River because he is from a small community. The short distance to where his wife’s family resides is a bonus.
“Since my wife is from Victoria, it is close to her family and a perfect place for me,” said Pena.
According to Michele Dillon, PRGC executive director, the club is lucky to have him. “I am ecstatic that he is here, finally,” said Dillon. “He has been coaching for many years and will be coaching all of the age groups here.”
For Pena, the opportunity came at just the right time, he said. While not ruling out a project that would see him perform again, that is not his priority right now.
“My main objective,” he said, “is to get the kids to adapt to my method of training.”
