Pietro Pop Canestrelli This is Me

 Web References

1. 1. About Fern Street Circus

   www.fernstreetcircus.com/about - [Cached]

   Published on: 2/11/2006   Last Visited: 2/11/2006

   Pietro Canestrelli, Acrobatic Coach Fern Street Circus is fortunate to have the services of one of the circus world's acknowledged superstars. The Canestrelli family came to the United States in the 1950's at the invitation of John Ringling North who offered them a contract to present their unsupported ladder acts as part of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Following tours with the Greatest Show on Earth, the Canestrellis performed throughout the United States with circus and variety shows. Following a stint with Sea World, they settled in San Diego. Pietro (Pop) Canestrelli, a seventh generation circus artist, coaches advanced circus techniques and serves as senior rigging advisor for all shows. He brings his eighty years of circus experience to our after-school programs and productions. His son, Ottavio, carries on the family tradition by presenting his own comedy unsupported ladder act as part of our shows.

2. 2. SignOnSanDiego.com > News > Features -- It's a topsy-turvy world

   www.signonsandiego.com/news/fe - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/19/2005   Last Visited: 5/19/2005

   Pietro Canestrelli was born in a caravan wagon in Italy in 1925 and has been performing in the ring and working behind the scenes of circuses virtually ever since.
   
   > A seventh-generation circus performer, Canestrelli's own days of acrobatic derring-do may be behind him, but he's still in the center ring when it comes to helping shape the future of the art form. Known fondly as "Pop" to cast and crew, Canestrelli is senior instructor for the Fern Street Circus, which brings its own special brand of magic to Balboa Park starting tomorrow for 12 performances of its newest show, "Through the Looking-Glass," in an open-air ring.
   ...
   Pietro "Pop" Canestrelli's father had a circus in Europe for 50 years, and Pietro toured with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey in the mid-1950s, performing with his brother and sister. He met his wife, Joyce (a trapeze artist and dancer), while performing with a circus, and the couple raised six children - all of whom, at one time or another, performed with the family act.
   ...
   "I don't teach them, I torture them," Pietro Canestrelli said with a laugh. "But they come back."
   
   The students eagerly line up for a chance to show their teacher what they've mastered, and many of them have high aspirations.
   
   "They want to be in Cirque du Soleil," Pietro Canestrelli explained, "But there is a lot of work, years, before you go to Cirque du Soleil."
   
   This kind of youthful enthusiasm is pretty contagious, even for a seasoned performer like Pietro "Pop" Canestrelli.
   
   "I enjoy working with them," Canestrelli said of his students.