Andrew and Kevin Atherton are aerial straps artists. For over 20 years, they have performed in thousands of shows in the U.S. and worldwide.

Together they developed and created the famous duo-straps act for Cirque du Soleil, in their shows Varekai, Iris, Zarkana, Paramour and Paramour Das Musical. 

Their work has been photographed, internationally exhibited and published.

On February 26th, 2012, the Athertons performed at the 84th Academy Awards®.  The Oscar performance was televised to over 225 countries worldwide. 

Andrew and Kevin are currently in Mexico’s Riviera Maya, performing in the Cirque du Soleil production JOYÀ.

The Early Years

It all began in a small town in Manchester UK, where identical-twin brothers Andrew and Kevin attended their first gymnastic class at age 7. Their unmistakable talent brought them to the Wigan Schools Gymnastics Club. Under the guidance of coach Martin Reddin, the twins began their professional gymnastic careers and retired at age 24.

Together, they represented the UK in five World Championships, two European Championships and the Commonwealth Games.

cirque du Soleil

At age 20, Andrew and Kevin discovered the world of Cirque du Soleil. The show was Alegria performed at the Royal Albert Hall in London. They began to dream about creating a duo-strap act for Cirque.

The twins retired from gymnastics 4 years later and were invited to audition for Cirque, which led to an official invite to attend "General Formation Training" in Montreal, Quebec.

Since then, Andrew and Kevin created aerial straps acts for Varekai, Iris, Zarkana, Paramour on Broadway, Volta and Paramour Das Musical, performing in thousands of shows in the United States and around the world. 

What's next?

The brothers are currently working on the Cirque du Soleil production Joyà, in Mexico’s Riviera Maya whilst also working on their own external projects, outside of performing.  

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