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Submitted by Editor on 7/24/2006 Last Modified
Saturday, June 24, 2006 - Circus4Youth SiteWhen I was asked to write something inspirational for youth’s in the circus I really wasn’t sure what to write because I really don’t think I’m all that special.
Christina Performing on the Lyra with Circus Du Soleil
Christina Presenting Her Horse Act in Circus Knie
I’m just a girl who is very lucky to be doing what I love. So I’ll just tell you how I managed to get here. I guess my love for performing and the circus began way back when I was 6, when my father, John Campolongo, presented the 1st white tigers in Europe on Circus Knie. Fredy Knie asked if I would like to present a pony in the kindercircus, and from there I was stuck. For years my passion remained in the field of animals. Helping my father as a groom and getting up every morning to help with my true love horses. When I returned to circus Knie, at the age of 14, I soaked up all the knowledge in the field of horses that I could from Fredy, and the next year when we joined the Austrian National Circus Louis Knie I became their zoo chief and stable master. Up until this point I was working primarily backstage. I had done some dancing, and was an assisted in certain numbers, but it was when I joined Universal American circus in Taiwan that my life really went in a completely different direction. I went there to work a group of horses, and lets just say the contract did not work out the way I wanted so I ended up staying on the show grooming for my dad, and started putting together a single trapeze number with the help of Rene Rodigel.
Christina Practicing With Silks at Cirque Du Soleil Quarters in Montreal
Two months later I was back in the show, this time not on horseback but on the trapeze. Who would of thought that only a year later I would be auditioning for Cirque Du Soleil with that act, and they would invite me to come up to their studio in Montreal to learn Spanish web. I was in Montreal for almost a year of training. 1st on Spanish Web and then transferring onto tissue (or silks), whatever you want to call them, and that leads me to today. Seven years of performing on tissue for Cirque du Soleil’s La Nouba in Orlando. Who knows how I got here, maybe hard work, maybe talent, maybe God’s blessing, maybe a little of everything. All I know is that I wouldn’t change my life for the world. It’s been a great journey, and Cirque has opened my eyes to many other opportunities and interest. I found that I love working on Cerceaux(lira), that if I ever get some extra free time I would live a couple of months in Buenos Aires studying Argentine tango, and that I never want to be far from the entertainment business.
Well I guess I always knew that but Cirque has given me the opportunity to go to the University where I am obtaining my stage manager’s degree so that I never have to leave even when my body says it’s time. So if I inspire you to do anything let it be that you always follow your heart, no matter
where it inspires you to go. Back when I was a little girl some people felt that my father was making a mistake dragging me around the circus, and that I should be getting an education. All I can say is I’m getting an education now, I’ve been to many countries around the world, I speak a few different languages, and I did it all because of the circus.
Christina and Her Father John Meet Prince Rainier at The Monte Carlo Circus Festival
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