Timber!

Brighton Dome Concert Hall, Church Street, Friday, January 2, to Sunday, January 4

What began as a 60th birthday treat to give Antoine Carabinier- Lépine’s father a chance to be part of a circus show has turned into an international touring phenomenon.

And following a Christmas residency at the Southbank Centre, family circus troupe Cirque Alfonse is coming to Brighton for a short New Year run of lumberjack-influenced daredevilry.

“We created the show at our family farm,” says Antoine of La Brunante, the forerunner to Timber!

“It was a small gift for my dad – it wasn’t meant to tour the world!

“It was more about the night-times back in the old days in Quebec when everyone got around the fire and played music. It wasn’t so much about the lumberjacks at that point.”

After two summers the show was developed into Timber! at the family farm.

Antoine – who had already toured the world with Cirque du Soleil, Cirkus Cirkor and Les 7 Doigts de la Main and his trained dancer sister Julie – started creating routines based around axes, big saws, and logs.

“We aren’t lumberjacks, we are circus performers,” says Antoine. “Everyone in the company is related to a lumberjack though – either as a grandfather or uncle.”

The cast ranges in age from Antoine’s father Alain Carabinier, now 67, to Julie and acrobat partner Jonathan Casaubon’s three-year-old Arthur who first trod the boards at the age of five weeks. He is being joined for this tour by a four-month-old baby brother.

“Arthur is doing a little bit of balance with Joe his father,” says Antoine. “It’s fun to have a child on stage with us, it creates something special. It’s so inspiring because children are true on stage, they don’t play as a character. They just have fun, it’s simple for them.”

The show follows a day in the life of the Quebec lumberjacks, from their working day through to the night-time partying, with a trio of live musicians providing the soundtrack and joining in the action.

“Everything we use in the show is real,” says Antoine. “All the axes we juggle are sharp – we cut down trees with them before the numbers so the audience can see that it is really dangerous.

“Our dad built the set – all the wood is from our hometown so it is quite special. We carry our own floor because the theatres won’t let us juggle axes over their floor!”

Antoine wasn’t born into a circus family – he became inspired as a 14-year-old when his parents took him to a show at the National Circus School in Montreal.

“I just fell in love,” says Antoine. “I said to my parents ‘I want to do that in my life’.

“My parents always supported me – telling me if I was good enough I could continue.

“My dad always wanted to be on the stage all his life, but he never got the chance. It’s why we decided to give him the opportunity to do it.

“It’s something special to be able to tour with all your children – I’ve been touring for 15 years with friends and other companies, but now we are all together it is fantastic!”

Starts 7.30pm (not Sun), and 2.30pm (not Fri), from £10. Call 01273 709709.