Roué Cyr
Chris Filkins began Southern California’s love with the simple wheel when in the winter of 2007 he brought the first wheel from Daniel Cyr to the beaches of Los Angeles. At the time Chris was dating a woman who studied aerial circus arts. One night upon seeing a video of the roue Cyr act from Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Corteo’ on Youtube he was immediately interested in learning more and searched the internet for more information. At the time the only roue Cyr resource online was the ‘Corteo’ video but eventually Chris did find a way to communicate with Daniel Cyr. Although the cost was prohibitive he finally decided it was a wise investment because, even if it had turned out to be a bad idea because he figured he would be vomiting after spinning, the wheels themselves were so rare and difficult to find he figured he could turn around a sell the wheel if it wasn’t for him. And so Chris got one of Daniel’s old performance wheels and loved it! The girl is long gone but that wheel changed everything for him.
Chris taught himself to spin during an intense cold snap huddled in a garage in New Mexico wishing he were back on the beaches of Southern California at Venice the Original Muscle Beach in Santa Monica. When he returned he began sharing his love of the wheel with all comers, such as teaching Sam Tribble & Richard Branthoover to spin (co-founding Spinnovation in the process) and founded the Venice Spinning Circle where to this day people gather weekly and spin wheel together on Venice Beach next to the Venice Skate Park. Many of Southern California’s best wheel artists have come to know the wheel and learn with Chris’ fun and effective coaching. Over the last four years hundreds of people have been initiated into the mono wheel through Chris’ passion. Chris has coached performers from Cirque du Soleil as well as tourists who had never done any sport but football. Chris Filkins is certified as a mono wheel coach with the International Federation of Wheel Gymnastics.
Through his work with the wheel Chris began manufacturing roue Cyr wheels and selling them to the public. Whether your goal is to spin professionally on the stage or get down and dirty spinning street style for your own fun Chris builds the wheels you need at a fair and decent price. You can see many of his designs here. Currently Chris only teaches privates on the roue cyr but stay tuned as in 2012 Chris will bring regular studio classes on the wheel to the Los Angeles area.
In addition to building wheels and teaching others how to spin them Chris also performs on the roue Cyr. He has appeared on America’s Got Talent and numerous other tv shows such Mobb’d and That Morning Show. His skill with the wheel has also brought him to many festivals throughout the western United States and ultimately resulted in his being invited to join the ReCircle Collective with some of the finest wheel artists in the world.
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