Four motorcyclists will hit speeds of more than 60 miles an hour inside a steel cage only four metres wide at the Grand Opera House, York, on Wednesday and Thursday in “the world’s most dangerous circus act”, alias the Globe Of Death.

Among them will be Lucius Zatalan, a Brazilian stunt rider for 28 years, who has lived in Britain for five years and joined the Cirque Berserk troupe two years ago.

“Our globe is normally eight metres wide, but what we try to do indoors is to have one small globe, four metres,” he says. “It makes it much more difficult; we need much more practice, as we’ve adapted the smaller globe for theatres.

“The history of the globe is that when it was eight metres, we worked at funfairs in Europe and in circus tents; I’ve worked a long time in the big globe and in the turns we make with four bikes, we have three metres between us.

“In the small globe, we have up to four bikes with only 35 centimetres between each one as we turn. We have no place for a mistake.”

What happens, Lucius, when a mistake occurs?

“Well, we practise a lot before it starts to work; as a professional team, we need to practise each day, morning, afternoon and night-time, though after we settle as one team, we make it a shorter working day,” he says, without satisfying the questioner’s curiosity.

So, Lucius, what does happen when a mistake occurs? “We are human; maybe something happens and someone forgets something. If something goes wrong, it’s not a happy accident. I’ve worked with motorcycles for 28 years and I can’t remember how many injuries I’ve had, but I’ve had bones broken maybe four of five times.”

Have you ever thought you might not climb back in the saddle? “No, I never have thoughts about stopping. This is my life. One hundred per cent,” says Lucius. “I come back. Always after an accident I come back as quickly as possible, but sometimes it hurts too much and I have to wait.

“But it’s the mix of everything that I love about doing this act. The globe is my life; I have a choice [to do it or not do it] but I love what I do and this is my job. My passport says ‘circus artist’.”

Lucius will be visiting York for the first time, joined by his fellow motorcycle stunt riders Louis Viera, Alain Hernandez, Walter Ferttio and Paulo Mendes, as part of the Cirque Berserk troupe of jugglers, acrobats, aerialists, dancers, musicians and Tweedy, the inevitable clown.

Bringing more than 30 performers to theatres of differing sizes and configurations is the duty of company manager Paul Winston.

“Unlike the circus tent, every theatre is a challenge; the loading bays can be different; the rake and size of the stage; the sight lines from the seats,” he says.

“Our crew go in at 9am and by 1pm I sit down with the acts and we work out what we can do, especially the aerialists and acrobats, working out what’s possible, so that everyone can see everything.

“Theatre shows bring something different for the performers, who are more used to performing in the round in a tent. Now they are insomewhere warm, where they have to use the specific space of the stage and remember the markings and remember to project in one direction with everyone in front of them.”

For the Globe of Death, it all comes down to size, all four metres wide of it.

“We were in Hull New Theatre last week, and we had to manhandle the globe into the theatre, which was a challenge in itself,” says Paul.

• Cirque Berserk, Grand Opera House, York, Wednesday, 7.30pm, Thursday, 5pm and 7.45pm. Tickets: £27, £23 or £19 on 0844 871 3024 or atgtickets.com/york