Klara and Richard: Duo Extend

Klara and Richard have been together since 2016 and formed what they call “Duo Extend”. Klara started with a background in gymnastics before finding a passion for aerials at her university while Richard began his career in parkour in his teenage years. They have travelled all over the world and amazed audiences with their death defying dual straps, silks, and bar acts. In this interview, they take turns answering questions about their time together performing and give exclusive insight into their newest act with dual straps.

Drew Janine: How did you two meet?

Richard: “We met at work actually. I joined the company Klara was already working for in Slovakia. Klara had been working there since 2015 and I joined about a year later. Over time we started dating and we knew we wanted to work together and be together. We’ve been performing together ever since.”

DJ: How did you get into circus performing?

Klara: “I originally started in gymnastics and stayed with that for 14 years. Afterwards, when I was studying in university, I was trying to find more hobbies that kept up with the athleticism of gymnastics so I started going to aerial silk classes. From there, things escalated into performing and here I am now.”

DJ: How did you come up with your act?

Richard: “The one we are doing now with the duo straps, we decided that’s what we wanted to try. Back in the beginning we did some duo straps and for this act we started working on it in Taiwan because we had good conditions for training. It was about the time that we decided we wanted a new act and we were rehearsing a lot, doing a lot of research, and just wanting to try something different or something we hadn’t done in a while.”

DJ: While trying new things, is that when you changed your costumes for the act as well?

Klara: “We have multiple options for our acts. We always want something that fits the style and theme that we are going for. Richard just likes to have different colours, but I have to choose between more covered, less covered, more colour, less colour. This helps us give options to the clients so they can also fit it around their creative ideas in their shows.”

DJ: Keeping with the creative styles of shows can be hard when you also want to keep your own style for your act. How do you pick music that will balance what your client wants and what you want?

Klara: “When we are looking for music, we never find the right one. When we go out locally where the clients are from – such as a cafe or something – we’ll hear the local music and vibe of the area. Then we’ll write it down and listen to it where we’re staying. We check to make sure it’s long enough, because finding music that is long enough is also difficult because we try not to add loops into the music if we can avoid it. If we like the song, we’ll present it as an option to the clients.

DJ: Can you describe what your training process for your current act is?

Richard: “We rehearse the specific sequences and talk to each other about what each of us wants to work on prior to the training. We then decide on a time schedule. We typically individually warm up until late morning, the train and work on the specific sequences, then conditioning and focus on technique. We do it all again the next day and every day including on performance days.”

DJ: During training, you get to see progress and how you’ve changed over the years. Can you describe how performing has changed for you over time?

Klara: “I think we both got to be more confident in what we do. In the beginning, you’re not sure if you’re good enough, and you’re stressed before the shows, and now we’re far more confident about our shows and our skills and how we perform. 

DJ: If you could go back to the beginning of your career, what would you tell yourself?

Richard: “I would tell myself to not take it too seriously and that it’s good to push yourself to train better. But it’s also good to balance that out and take time to rest.”

Klara: “I would tell myself to be more resilient. In the beginning it’s hard to find jobs, but in the end it will happen if you believe in yourself and if this is what you really want to do.”

Duo Extend is currently touring and fans everywhere can keep up to date on their latest shows on their social media (@duo.extend on Instagram, Duo Extend on YouTube, and Duo Extend on Facebook).

All images and videos provided by Duo Extend.

Drew Janine

Live Sound Engineer -EUROPE

Janine has always been a part of music and performing. The first show that inspired her to go into theatre was the Velveteen Rabbit which she saw as a child, and Drew works to keep that magic alive as working behind the scenes in theatre as a live sound engineer. When Drew was accepted into an internship program for audio engineering at a recording studio, she jumped at the opportunity. That was at the start of 2020 and so much has happened since then, both in her career and in the world. Since then, Drew has taken several opportunities to work at recording studios, concerts, festivals, and even large theatres while spending time on tour across the North American continent and Europe. Drew’s favourite by far though has been the chance to work on Broadway and West End shows, as this was a dream come true. Drew is honoured to get to share these experiences from being inside the entertainment industry and hopes to inspire others to continue working in theatre.

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