Acrobatic artists and real-life couple Gerardo Gutiérrez and Michelle Hernandez are giving a breathtaking performance as Romeo and Juliet in Duel Reality at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harman Hall. The unique circus-arts-meets-Shakespeare show, as my colleague Zoe Winsky wrote in her review, “beautifully blends death-defying acrobatics, modern dance, and theatrical storytelling to create something truly memorable.”
I happened to meet the star-blessed couple at the opening night reception and had the pleasure of continuing our conversation over Zoom (here edited for length and clarity, with thanks to ensemble member Santiago Rivera for translation assistance). Among the personal things they shared was their hands-on advice to other couples about trust.
John: I was thrilled to talk to you because your performance was overwhelmingly beautiful and moving.
Michelle: Thank you.
Your performance told a story inspired by Romeo and Juliet, but even more powerfully, it told a story about the two of you and the trust between you. No one could watch without being awed. Thank you for being open to talking about your performance, the trust in it, and how it comes to be. Could you begin by telling me how your partnering began, both in the circus and in life?
Gerardo: We’ve been together as a couple for 11 years. We got the chance to meet when we were studying circus in Mexico City.
Michelle: We started as a couple, and six months later, we started training together for the discipline that we do in the show.
It was in training that you decided to do this act together?
Gerardo: Yeah.
Michelle: We had a Russian coach in Mexico City, and we learned from him. At the beginning, it was easy for us, and we liked to train a lot; but with the years passing by, it’s hard working on a relationship as a partnership and also as a duo. Working both circus and our relationship in life starts getting more complicated through the years. We have to separate the work and the life. If we have some issues or some problems, we cannot let our personal life affect our professional life.
Gerardo: Some of the first advice our coach ever gave us was to be patient with each other, both in our professional life and in our personal life.
What happens if you’re having a bad day?
Michelle: Just breathe and turn the page.
Tell me about the acrobatic techniques you use in your act. A lot of it is what’s called hand-to-hand — where Gerardo balances Michelle using only your hands — is that right?
Gerardo: Yeah.
Michelle: I came from ballet. I did ballet when I was young, and he did juggling and acro [acrobatic gymnastics], so we use these disciplines. Also, in the hand-to-hand, we like to put dance in the act.
Gerardo: Juggling for me now is juggling people rather than objects.
One person in particular, right?
Gerardo and Michelle: [Both laughing.] Yeah.
It’s astonishing to watch the two of you together. Are your acts created with a choreographer or do you make them up yourself?
Michelle: We created our own acts since the beginning. We had our own material before joining 7 Fingers, and we were hired because of the material we created together as independent artists.
Was the show about Romeo and Juliet before you were found, or did they create the show around you?
Michelle: The show was not created for us or because of us, but we had a lot of material that was relatable to the idea and the concept of the show before we joined the cast.
You seemed so central to that show, the definitive Romeo and Juliet in that world.
Gerardo: When we were hired, we started working very closely with the director of the company, Shana Carroll, and she was the one who started shaping all the material into what you saw on stage
During the run of the show, does your performance change from night to night, or is it set?
Michelle: We do the same act every night, every show, because for us it is easier for the mind.
How do you prepare for a performance?
Michelle: We have a three-hour show call, and we warm up the body, go through the tricks that we do in the act. Also, if something in the show was not stable, we go through that.
Gerardo: I always do strengthening, and I work on my flexibility, articulations, and stuff like that. And then right before going on stage, I tell myself, Okay, now I’m not Gerry anymore, I am Romeo. And Romeo cannot make mistakes. Romeo has to be aware of what the show is.
As an audience member, I remember watching with both enormous admiration and also some anxiety: What if something goes wrong? I don’t know if you can feel that audience excitement.
Gerardo: Yeah, we can definitely feel the energy of the audience and all the emotions you’re going through, and that motivates us to keep on doing it.
How does the audience’s reaction feel to you while you’re performing?
Michelle: I can sometimes hear expressions during the act, like gasps, and for me, that’s like, Oh, you are doing a great job.
Gerardo: I feel electricity whenever something goes the way that I was planning, and I get chicken skin feeling the emotion and the energy from the audience.
I don’t mean to darken this conversation, but what if something does go wrong?
Gerardo: With the passing of the years, we’ve been able to create a strong enough connection to understand each other without necessarily having to speak. So in the case of something going wrong during the act, we’ve known how to fix it, and we trust each other enough to know that the other person is going to be doing the right thing, and there is always going to be someone down to catch Michi if it’s needed.
I see a lot of theater, a lot of dramatic plays, and I’ve never seen a work on stage that conveys trust between two people in a couple more vividly or more viscerally than your performance in Duel Reality. I don’t think there’s ever been anything written in a playscript that comes anywhere close. You seem to know something about communication and trust in a relationship that would benefit other couples.
Gerardo and Michelle: Thank you. Thanks so much.
So I ask this question humbly: What’s your advice to other couples about trust and mutual dependence?
Gerardo: The same advice our coach gave us at the beginning: a lot of trust, a lot of patience.
Michelle: It is like two bodies, one mind. We have to think the same. We have to be one.
Has anyone ever asked you: What’s your secret?
Gerardo and Michelle: [Laughing] Yeah. Yes.
Michelle: We have the same goal. I know other couples who do the same discipline, and maybe it’s like, I’m fine here. And the other person is like, Oh no, I want to go here. So it’s not balanced. But we have the same goal. We always want to do better. So it’s like we go at the same time, at the same rhythm.
You give a gift to your audience. Your talent and trust together are just thrilling. Is there anything you wish people knew about what you do and who you are?
Gerardo: We would love to tell people that we love what we do, and that same love that we have for our passion and what we enjoy can also be transmitted to the audience that comes to see the show.
That’s lovely. And all the best to you. Thank you. You’re just an extraordinarily wonderful couple.
Michelle: Thank you. Thank you for this interview.
Duel Reality plays through July 20, 2025, presented by Shakespeare Theatre Company at Harman Hall, 610 F Street NW, Washington, DC. Tickets ($35–$106) are available at the box office, online, by calling (202) 547-1122, or through TodayTix. Youth tickets are available to all persons 17 and under for $35 with the purchase of an adult ticket, by phone only. Shakespeare Theatre Company offers discounts for military servicepeople, first responders, senior citizens, young people, and neighbors, as well as rush tickets. Contact the Box Office or visit Shakespearetheatre.org/tickets-and-events/special-offers/ for more information.
Running Time: Approximately 75 minutes with no intermission.
The Asides program for Duel Reality is online here.
Gerardo Gutiérrez
Born and raised in Mexico City, Gerardo began his passion for the circus at age 15 with juggling and floor acrobatics. At 22, he entered Mexico City’s Cirko de Mente diploma program, graduating in floor acrobatics and hoop diving. After four years of hand-to-hand training at Cirko de Mente with his partner Michelle Hernandez, the two began working in circuses, television shows, festivals, and more in their country, and have worked abroad in Canada, Germany, and Austria. In 2022, they joined The 7 Fingers and Virgin Voyages’ cruise show Duel Reality in the roles of Romeo and Juliet.
Michelle Hernandez
Michelle was born and raised in Mexico City. Her lifelong passion for dance led her to graduate in ballet from Mexico City’s National Institute of Fine Arts in 2012 and then drew her to the circus arts. She began training with aerial apparatus such as canvas and ribbons. A year later, she and her partner Gerardo Gutiérrez trained in hand-to-hand at Cirko de Mente in Mexico City. Michelle and Gerardo have worked with circus companies, TV shows, and festivals in their country and abroad, and in 2022, joined The 7 Fingers and Virgin Voyages’ cruise show Duel Reality as Romeo and Juliet.
SEE ALSO:
In ‘Duel Reality’ at STC, a ‘Romeo and Juliet’ that makes you go ‘woah!’ (review by Zoe Winsky, July 4, 2025)
International circus artists of ‘Duel Reality’ to arrive in DC at STC on July 1 (news story, June 18)
Shakespeare Theatre Company announces ‘Duel Reality’ (news story, November 18, 2025)
