Christine Van Loo
Christine's parents enrolled her in a gymnastics sport to decrease her severe hyperactivity. Her coach would say, “There are children with talent. Then there is Christine.” She was weak, klutzy and always the last to advance in levels. No one expected her to last much less to become a champion. Not only did she last, Christine defied the odds and became a 7-time consecutive National Champion, Female Olympic Athlete of the Year, Athlete of the Decade and Legend in her sport.
Until age 19 her life revolved around acro-gymnastics. She was featured on ESPN’s World Class Women and ABC Wide World of Sports. Her picture was on the cover of International Gymnast magazines and in National Geographic World Magazine. Her friends were her teammates and her habits supported a competitive lifestyle. However, after retiring from competition, marrying her first boyfriend, and becoming a housewife and an Officer’s wife, her sense of identity collapsed and she spent the next seven years, suffering a silent depression.
Cirque du Soleil answered the question, “Who am I?” by offering a contract to tour the world as an aerialist. Christine longed to accept the offer and when the casting director told her, “You should perform. Performing is inside you,” Christine knew this to be true, but unable to merge her marriage, business and home with joining the circus, she declined and watched her dream pull like a train from the station without her.
When her marriage ended, without coaching or guidance, suffering 2nd degree rope burns, getting tangled in knots, tearing all the skin off her palms and even setting her pant leg on fire, Christine trained herself to become one of the world’s most renown aerialists.
Since then she has performed well over 2000 times to a global audience in over 30 countries, inspiring millions of people around the world, everywhere from the Sydney Opera House to Madison Square Garden to the Kennedy Center. She opened solo for Paul McCartney before 100,000 people at a time. She has shared the stage with mega artists such as Aerosmith, No Doubt, Sarah McLachlan, Josh Groban, Aaron Neville, Ricky Martin, REO Speed Wagon, Sugar Ray, Goo Goo Dolls, Tommy Lee and Earth, Wind and Fire. She choreographed the aerials for Britney Spears World Tour for the Stars on Ice US Tour, and for NBC’s Celebrity Circus. She has even performed for Cirque du Soleil an aerial act 80 feet off a nine story building from a hot air balloon. She tours regularly now with Cirque de la Symphonie.
Her main keynote: “Transcendence: How to Rise Above Your Limiting Beliefs,” is a subject in which she excels. Christine shares “champion mindset” and “elite athletic habits” that apply directly to anyone in any industry who wants to achieve their ultimate success.
Van Loo is co-founder of Airborne Arts Retreat Center in Costa Rica, founder and CEO of Van Loo Productions and of VisionAerialist, LLC. She contributed to the mega-bestseller Chicken soup for the Soul series.