FLIPPING traditional gender ideas on their head, Leap is a strength act with a difference.

Don’t expect a dainty young woman being hoisted by a burly bloke, in this duo it’s the man being lifted, even waved, in the air by Charmaine Childs for this year’s Fremantle Street Arts Festival.

The Queenslander is no muscle-bound beef cake, which makes her ease in tossing partner Reuben DotDotDot around even more jaw dropping.

Married, but not to each other, the Australian pair lives in Germany.

Melbourne-born DotDotDot’s training included time with China’s Beijing Acrobatic Troupe.

When the pair got together they thought it would take months to perfect their act.

“We got it on the fourth session–because he’s incredibly talented and trained,” Childs says, adding: “I’m very good at not falling over.”

Trained in theatre and taking up circus as a hobby, being a strong woman came naturally, she says.

“As a kid I would swing my sister around, and I can’t remember a time when I didn’t ask my dad if I could pick him up. He always said no.”

Leap’s finale has Childs holding a five-metre pole in her hands, DotDotDot on top…before a final leap of faith.

You can catch the act over the Easter weekend, Saturday March 26–28, along with a cornucopia of homegrown and international talent at a swag of pitches around the city.

by JENNY D’ANGER