Paraplegic circus performer defies odds to wow Plymouth

Silke Pan is back on stage performing with Gravity Circus
-Credit: (Image: Gravity Circus)


A circus performer who broke her back in a devastating fall has defied the odds to wow audiences in Plymouth once more. Silke Pan made her debut in 1992 and performed all over Europe for 15 years.

But her career came to an abrupt stop in September 2007 when she fell from a trapeze, breaking her back at the 10th and 11th dorsal vertebrae. She now uses a wheelchair and is unable to feel anything from her belly button down.

During extensive physiotherapy following the accident she says she would try to form trapeze shapes but found it "impossible" to turn her paralysed pelvis. She came to accept her new body and took up sport, which she says "allowed me to better accept my disability".

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Determined to not give up athletic activities, she began training on a hand bike from the first day she left the hospital. In 2012, Silke began competing professionally and became a champion at hand biking.

In 2016 she switched to alpine ultra-paracycling, crossing the Pyrenees in 2018. The following year she competed in the Tour des Lacs - 1,000km and 30 Swiss lakes crossings in para-triathlon mode which consisted of handbike, racing chair, swimming, and bellyak, a modified kayak.

Circus performer Silke Pan and her dog Jim
Circus performer Silke Pan and her dog Jim -Credit:Gravity Circus

When the Covid pandemic hit, she set up a fitness studio at home and tried out new shoulder exercises as recommended by her coach, then asked husband Didier to help her get into a handstand. She says that after ten minutes, “it was as if my body and muscle memory kicked in and remembered the positions from the past".

On her fourth try, strapped to the snowboard, she got into a handstand all by herself, recalling: “We were both crying for joy. Because we knew that this would open completely new opportunities for us."

She invented a unique technique to balance on her hands again but says she is "still working on making everything look more graceful".

Now after 14 years of sitting in her wheelchair, she is back on stage as a circus performer and touring the UK with Italian circus extravaganza Gravity Circus, which is in Plymouth until September 22. Didier remains by her side, this time as her assistant.

Silke Pan performs with her husband Didier Dvorak as her assistant
Silke Pan performs with her husband Didier Dvorak as her assistant -Credit:Gravity Circus

Before her first performance she said she suffered from stage fright, scared it would not be a success and "I would only be pitied" - but the standing ovation she received convinced her of the opposite.

She is now the first professional hand balancer with complete paraplegia below the 10th thoracic vertebra.

She said: “Although I have never dwelled on the past, being an acrobat again is like a huge gift to me."

Anthony Andreson director of Circus Extreme, who organised the UK portion of the Gravity Circus tour, said: "Silke defies gravity and expectations, showcasing the sheer power of the human spirit."

Circus performer Silke Pan is back on stage after breaking her back in a trapeze accident
Circus performer Silke Pan is back on stage after breaking her back in a trapeze accident -Credit:Gravity Circus

You can catch Silke in action with Gravity Circus in Plymouth Central Park until September 22. For tour dates and show information visit www.gravitycircus.co.uk

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