Theo LeBlanc, 23, grew up in South Portland, and has lived in Quebec since joining the contemporary circus troupe Flip Fabrique in 2024.

He’ll be back home this week when Flip Fabrique launches its latest tour of “Blizzard” with a Wednesday performance in Portland. Several members of LeBlanc’s family, including his parents and grandparents, are expected to be in the audience.

LeBlanc began juggling around age 13, with his first exposure to the circus world as a teenager with the nonprofit youth circus group Circus Smirkus. Over several summers, he toured with the company, performing as a clown, acrobat and juggler.

After high school, LeBlanc enrolled at L’École de Cirque de Québec (Circus School of Quebec) and graduated in 2024. During his three years of study, he began working with Flip Fabrique, receiving an invitation to join “Blizzard” before graduation.

Since joining the “Blizzard” tour, LeBlanc has performed all over Canada, the U.S., England, France, Austria, Spain and Korea.

“Blizzard” is a one-act show about a group of friends as unique and diverse as snowflakes. Set in winter, the show ventures on a fun, heartfelt journey through winter with physical feats and striking imagery set to a live score. The cast comprises seven acrobats and a musician on piano and vocals.

During a break in the tour, LeBlanc talked with the Press Herald about the show and his return to Maine.

What’s your favorite aspect of ‘Blizzard’?

Its scope. It has really fun, cheerful, happy moments, and it has really beautiful and visually stunning ones.

Can you share anything about what the audience might see?

We have a couple of acts that kind of bring you back to the time when you were a kid, playing on a snow day. There’s an acrobatic act where, right before it starts, there’s an announcement that says the following schools have been closed for the day, and when we hear our school called, everybody goes crazy, and we start essentially having a big snow fight.

What are some of the things you’ll be doing?

I juggle and throw people in the air. One of the main things I do is called banquine, which is where me and another guy hold each others wrists and make kind of a platform with our hands, and someone stands on top and we throw them in the air, they do back flips and then we catch them.

When did you realize that circus life was for you?

It wasn’t my plan to be a professional when I was a kid, but then once I started performing, I realized that that’s definitely what I wanted to do with my life because I just have so much fun doing it. It went from a fun hobby to something that I love to do.

Do you ever get hurt?

I’ve had small injuries like muscle tears and sprained ankles and things like that. I’ve been pretty lucky, but I also try to be very careful about how I do things, so thankfully I’ve never had a very bad injury.

What’s the hardest part about being in the show?

There are a lot of really tiny details about the show that are really important, not even performance-based details, but just things about the set, or the order of the show or props getting moved. Having to keep track of all of that in your head while you’re doing the show takes a long time. There are a million different tiny little things that need to be done, and so learning all of those, not just the ones that I have to do, is definitely tough.

What role does the audience play in your performances?

The audience impacts how we feel on the inside very much. Having a really energetic audience that’s really into it is always a super nice thing. We can’t see them so well, but getting to hear them is wonderful. There’s a part in the show where I get to run into the audience and someone is chasing me and so I really enjoy that part because I get to be really close to people.

What do you love about coming back to Maine?

I am excited to see my family, spend time with my dogs and visit my favorite places. Getting to see so many different places in the world is such a blessing, but it also makes me realize how much I took for granted the beauty of where I grew up.

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IF YOU GO

Flip Fabrique: Blizzard

7 p.m. Wednesday. Merrill Auditorium, 20 Myrtle St., Portland, $30-$65, $25 students. porttix.com.