A MAN from Bournemouth is performing trampolining stunts in Cirque du Soleil's latest show which is set to open on Broadway.

Joe McAdam, 24, is starring in Paramour, which opens today in New York, featuring a combination of music, acrobatics, circus and dance skills that people have come to know from the world's largest theatre company.

Joe grew up in Boscombe and took part in trampolining competitions from the age of seven before pursuing a career in construction and later took on a bar job. However, after uploading some of his performance work to YouTube, he was talent-scouted by the team from Cirque du Soleil with the help of a friend and trained with them for six months before joining their show, Amaluna and has now moved on to Paramour.

He said: "It has been crazy for me. One minute I'm walking through Boscombe and the next, I'm going through Times Square. New York is one of the most iconic cities in the world and it's exactly like you imagine it to be.

"I was a competitive trampolinist from an early age which ran in the family. My brother was also a trampolinist and my mother a gymnast. I competed nationally and internationally until the age of 17 when I decided to focus on my studying and my future career.

"I am so grateful to my family who have always supported me through all of this. They never doubted me and always pushed me to follow my dreams even if it wasn't the traditional career choice."

His proud brother, Mark McAdam, who is a presenter on Sky Sports, said that they both went to Kemp-Welch School in Poole, now known as St Aldhelm's Academy and chose to follow their dreams.

"Joe always had a more natural ability. He had a more no-fear attitude. It was the Parkour and free-running that gave him the discipline that the circus were looking for.

"It seems that my little brother is now performing on Broadway with the biggest show in the world. I don't think that you will find many older brothers who look up to their younger brother.

"For Joe, I think he loves Cirque du Soleil because it is about the performance and being part of something."

Cirque du Soleil started in 1984 as a group of 20 street performers and has expanded to a company with nearly 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performance artists from almost 50 different countries.

It is estimated that 160 million spectators have seen a performance by Cirque du Soleil in 400 cities in 60 countries across six continents.