“We fall in love with the stage, or the stage fall in love with us,” Pablo exclaims in enthusiastic broken English, “because it was two young guys giving energy and having a cheeky smile, stuff like this, and we fall in love with the people and give them a positive experience.”
The Caesar twins cottoned on to a winning formula very early in their careers, realising that the appeal of their performance comes from a mystical blend of looks and talent. Their acrobatic skills are breathtaking, but the real wonder emerges from watching two peroxide-blond men, one the perfect replica of the other, bend and balance on each other like a 3D funhouse mirror. The twins make the most of it, dressing exactly the same, wearing the same haircut, even getting matching tattoos. With rippling muscles stretched taut, high and chiselled cheekbones, and identical dimples, they are sexual fetish made flesh; a sort of uber-fantasy for lovers of human perfection, times two. Which is an odd thing for brothers to be.
“Why is have to be strange?” Pablo shrugs. “You see the idea behind it, we are similar, right? We are identical twins. We do not hide from each other, or something like this, we grow up together. For us, is normal. For people who have a different imagination could be strange, could be sexy, could be … women after the show ask us some stupid questions sometimes, if you know what I mean.”
For Pablo and Pierre, their acrobatic performance is not simply cheap eroticism but thoughtful and very soulful art that celebrates the human form. “How often you can go with your friends, or with your husband or wife, no matter who, and see a show where somebody is just beautiful? Not like Chippendales, but where there is an idea or understanding behind it? You can put clothes off and you can put clothes off, but it must mean something for make art.”
The twins’ latest act, which forms a part of a new circus burlesque show at The Famous Spiegeltent called The Trip, plays even deeper into the strange chemistry between the Caesar brothers. It features a giant Perspex basin of water, in which Pablo and Pierre twist and tumble like a pair of saucy fish. The basin, Pablo explains, represents the womb that they once shared. “The water bowl is like the belly of the woman. We are like twins in the belly together. We got the idea because water is one of the element of pregnancy but also is very sexy. You don’t have to play it sexy sexy because the water and the imagination is enough.”
The water also adds an element of danger, which was a considered choice. With fifteen years of professional circus behind them, the Caesar’s were keen to set themselves a new challenge. “We have our skills with the handstands and the acrobatics so perfect, we decided to make it more difficult. The water is very difficult, when you normally will do things safe and dry. Also, the water bowl is very small. It’s not big like everyone thinks, it is a tiny place for two men together.”
Pablo and Pierre choreographed the water show at Base Berlin, a creative hub they established in Germany where they could work with similar artists in the wildly popular circus cabaret scene (including David Pereira, the contortionist and former Cirque Du Soleil star who has produced The Trip). For the twins, having control over their own work is a crucial path forward when old age finally wins out over their still-perfect bodies. “We love what we do, but as well we have different kinds of jobs,” Pablo says. “We are producers and we have this company, Base Berlin, which is where people meet together and have a nice fun, nice time developing shows like The Trip – all of the people in this show come from Base Berlin. Even if we are finished doing acrobatics, we will still make shows with other people.”
That alternate career is still a long way off, judging by the look of the Caesar twins, who in their mid-thirties still seem carved out of marble. Pablo certainly has no intention of retiring soon. “I’m saying for myself, I will perform as long as I can. As long as I can afford it. I see already the progress: with 20 I was young, with 30 I feel different, and probably with 50 or 60 I make mistakes and say sorry but go on. But you change the act for your body. It would be stupid to act now like I was still a kid. When you develop with your age you win. This is my motivation, this is my motto: to never give up.”
BY SIMONE UBALDI
