Santus Circus is returning to Enfield this week with its latest show, Legends.

The younger performers Ruby Santus, who does foot-juggling and her brother Lucien, who is a tight-rope walker and clown, are the seventh generation of their French family to excel in the circus world.

They will be showcasing a traditional set of circus skills with a French flavour and the help of top international artists from Brazil, Ethiopia, Mongolia, Romania, Morocco, Switzerland, Britain and France.

During the two-hour show, there will be wire-walking, juggling, trapeze tricks, the unveiling of the Chinese pole (a vertical pole that can be as tall as 30ft), as well as hula-hooping, contortionism, foot-juggling, chair-balancing and clowning around.

There will also be a new element this year, as three motorcyclists will be looping the loop inside a tiny steel sphere inside the ominously titled Globe of Death.

Ruby explains why French circus skills are different to other types around the world… The 22-year-old says: “We called our show Legends as we have got the best of the best performing and this year, we have chair balancing and the motorbikes, which are just brilliant. There’s three bikers in a split globe that opens while they’re in it, which is amazing. We’ve also got juggling and all the usual circus tricks, but it is all hyped up ten times.

“We perform every year in Edmonton, as there is always a brilliant crowd, we’ve had loads of interesting people come along to the shows over the years. We always bring a lot of different elements to the circus, as we’re a French owned and run show, so the traditional element is extremely French.

“French circus is different, as I believe there is a bit more class about it. We don’t try to put too many themes on our shows and performances, what you see is what you get with us and we just show you the pure talent of our artists, which is what people seem to be impressed by. There is no theatrics.”

Ruby admits that her family have been performing in the circus for so long that she hasn’t known any other existence.

She says: “I’ve been performing for most of my life, as I started when I was four-years-old. My brother Lucien and I are the seventh generation in a family of circus performers, so it has been going on for quite a while and we come from a long line of circus folk, so to speak.

“My grand-mére and grand-pére founded this show in England and they had many children, as I have six uncles and two aunties who then went on to have their own children, so it is quite a big family.”

Even though she comes from such a long lineage of performers, Ruby still has to practise every spare moment.

She says: “Over the years, it has been quite difficult to learn the skills and we all have had to work very hard all our lives to get to this point. We still practise after each show to build on the skills that we already have, but we do love it and it is amazingly rewarding.

“We’ve been doing it for so long that we are just used to it and it is our life. We’re always busy as although we’re based mostly in Kent, we always train in Essex and the group has performed in London for more than 30 years.

“My brother and I changed primary schools every week when we were growing up, but settled more in secondary school. Lucian actually went to The Abbey School in Faversham and I studied in Winchester and we had to practise circus skills in between school work.

“We will still be busy for the rest of the year. Up until November, we will be touring around the country before having a break and then we will do a whole new Christmas show after that.”

Legends, Santus Circus, Lee Valley Leisure Centre, Picketts Lock, Meridian Way, Edmonton, N9 0AR, Wednesday, until Sunday, October 2, 7.30pm. Details: santuscircus.com