Fairgoers flip out over trampoline show
Beneath cloudless blue skies and a beaming sun, the 29 C heat was no match for the i-flip aerial show team from Milord Entertainment on Thursday at the Queen City Ex.
The five-member team was all jumps, stunts and smiles from the moment members appeared in their bright red shirts to the moment the show ended 25 minutes later.
One performer twisted and turned on the dance trapeze 30 feet in the air (with no harness or mat if she fell), another flipped around and around on bungee cords, two had a showdown on the power track (a trampoline runway of sorts) and another jumped 55 feet from a tiny platform onto an airbag.
The performers made the tricks look effortless, but don’t be fooled.
“There’s a lot of individual training,” said Félix Dipasquale, a performer and the show’s acrobatic director.
“The trampoline, even if we do it within a group, it’s an individual sport. And then ... you’ve got to build your trust with the people and you know how they react if something goes bad.”
Because of this, good communication among team members is key. If something mid-show goes slightly off, all they have to do is look at each other and know how they’re compensating to fix the mistake.
Dipasquale, originally from Montreal, said he started trampolining at eight years old and ended up competing nationally in the sport.
Then he got a call from Milord Entertainment asking if he wanted to go to Saudi Arabia for two months to do performances there.
He said yes, and 18 years later he’s still happy to be with the same company.
“I love performing, I really enjoy it. I love trying new stuff,” he said.
“We do three shows a day and sometimes you’re just going to put like a 30-second skit that you thought about, and then you see the reaction and say, ‘Well that didn’t work. Okay, let’s try that like this.’”
The downside to the performing life is the extensive travelling, said Dipasquale.
“It’s a lot of fun, but sometimes not being there for your family can be a little hard, and when they have trouble at home and then you cannot be there.”
Dipasquale said that between driving, setting up equipment and performing, he does not have a single day off from July 5 to Sept. 8.
“It’s just a crazy summer for me, but I accept the challenge, you know. It’s my choice.”
The Queen City Ex runs until this Sunday, and the i-flip team is doing performances each day at 2 p.m., 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. in the Sasktel Thrill Zone.