Having had a friend break his neck when a trampoline trick went wrong in another circus years ago, he insists his troupe concentrate for every routine.

“Sometimes acrobats think when they’re doing things that they’re OK,” Bangoura says. “I tell them every time you do a move, you have to think it’s the first time you’re doing it.”

On tour – they have performed around Africa, Canada, the US and head to Mexico next – the acrobats warm up for two hours before a show. And they like nothing more than unwinding in a pool with a jacuzzi on days off.

So why no safety ropes?

“I used to be in circuses that use rope,” Bangoura says. “But, for me, the audience don’t see how risky it is. When you don’t have rope, they say ‘oh my god!’ We love that when people feel that.”

He has been performing in circuses for 20 years after discovering a love for old-style circuses, with lion taming, elephants and clowns, that screened regularly television in Guinea.

“That was magical,” he says.

Performer Alya Sylla says the broken plank has never happened in a show before but he is well aware of what can go wrong.

“It’s a job I love but it’s risky,” he says, with Bangoura translating from Susu.

Yamoussa Soumah followed his cousin into the circus.

“I’m proud to be an artist,” he says. “But I have to warm up before up I start tumbling and take care of my body. And if I eat heavy food, I’ll feel bad when I do a flip.”

Afrique en Cirque runs at Riverside Theatres in Parramatta until Sunday.

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