Travis Johnson feels like he's been bouncing since he was born.

As the co-owner of Vancouver Circus School prepares for a New Year's Eve performance at the Burr Theatre slated to include acrobats, jugglers and contortionists whose movements do not easily lend themselves to print, Johnson took some time to reflect on his unorthodox upbringing.

"When I was seven-years-old, I found out not everyone did trampoline," he said.

His parents were both high-level trampoline performers. His father choreographed Las Vegas shows and his mother was a member of an elite Canadian trampoline squad.

When chatting with a buddy named Patrick, seven-year-old Johnson said it felt entirely natural to ask his friend how often he did trampoline.

"I don't," Patrick replied. "I play soccer."

Johnson remembered being stunned.

"All my babysitters were trampolinists," he recalled.

Growing up on canvas stretched between tightly coiled springs, Johnson is hoping Vancouver Circus School's New Year's Eve performance can be formal and family-friendly.

"It's nice to have an event where parents can have a drink and still sit at the same table with their children," he said.

Children attending the performance should be at least eight years old, according to Johnson, who recalled his own youthful rebellion when discussing the show.

"I ended up quitting (trampoline) when I was about 13," he said.

Although he taught the skill for several years, Johnson eventually abandoned trampoline in favour of running an audio-visual company.

The company set the stage for many high school dances, but after a horrific car collision, Johnson realized it wasn't what he wanted to do with his life.

Johnson said he was riding his motorcycle when he had a headon collision with a Volvo.

"I broke almost every bone in my body," he said. His hands were broken, teeth were shattered and his internal organs were damaged.

"When you lie in bed for four months, you do a lot of thinking about what you want to do in your life," he said.

Johnson healed quickly, something he credits to his bouncing background, and when he was out of the hospital, he wanted to help other people get fit.

"The health benefits outweigh anything else," he said, adding that NASA astronauts are often trained on trampolines.

As Johnson rehabilitated from his injuries, his father returned home from Las Vegas with an idea to open a trampoline school.

"I had no idea what I was in for," Johnson said.

The company was itinerant in its early years, packing up the trampoline and doing classes in West Vancouver, North Vancouver and Tsawwassen, but the father-and-son combination always wanted to bring the show home.

"The mayor was trying to help us find a space for five years," he said.

That spot eventually became a suite on Quayside Drive at River Market.

Maintaining a ratio of six students for each teacher, the school now runs 200 classes each week, helping 500 aspiring trampolinists learn the finer points of the gravity-defying craft.

Just last week Vancouver Circus School was named best small business by the New Westminster Chamber of Commerce, but for the moment, Johnson is singularly focused on Dec. 31.

The show, which has been in heavy rehearsals for the past month, is scheduled to centre around 12 performers taking to the sky with aerial silk, a unicyclist, a yo-yo champion and a manipulation artist who needs to be seen to be believed, according to Johnson.

"He can hold a ring in space and move his body completely around it without moving the ring," he explained.

The show is called Kuru-Kuru-Pa. Kuru Kuru is a Japanese term meaning to twirl, and by adding "pa" at the end, the phrase means crazy.

"You will see artistic acrobatics you would only see at the Cirque," Johnson said. "Minus the production values."

Although the Burr Theatre performance won't be able to match the grandeur of Cirque du Soleil, Johnson said it's a rare opportunity for New Westminster residents to see a blend of artistry and athleticism up close.

"You're going to see people do things that you would never see in such an intimate setting," Johnson said.

For more information about the event phone 604-544-5024.

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