First a self-taught juggler, Étienne Saglio was trained in circus arts at the Châtellerault school, then at Le Lido in Toulouse, and later at the National Center for Circus Arts (CNAC) in Châlons-en-Champagne. He discovered magic during a training course for new magic organized by the company 14:20.

In 2007, he created Variations for Piano and Polystyrene and L’Envol as part of his CNAC diploma, the latter earning a medal in 2008 at the Festival Mondial du Cirque de Demain.
In 2009, he created Le Soir des Monstres (“The Evening of Monsters”). Performed over a hundred times, this show became the founding work of the Monstres company and revealed Étienne Saglio’s unique artistic world.

In 2011, he created Le Silence du Monde (“The Silence of the World”), a magical installation exploring the relationship between magic and the visual arts.

In 2012, during Liberté de séjour — a month-long artist residency at Le Channel, the national theater of Calais — he turned his attention to cooking, creating a magical meal in collaboration with Michelin-starred chef Alexandre Gauthier.

In 2014, he premiered Les Limbes (“The Limbo”) at the Mettre en Scène festival organized by the TNB in Rennes.

In 2015, he presented Le Projet Fantôme (“The Ghost Project”) at Paris’s Nuit Blanche, accompanied by jazz trumpeter Erik Truffaz. In 2016, he participated in Nous, rêveurs définitifs (“We, Eternal Dreamers”), a collective creation initiated by the Théâtre du Rond-Point in Paris.
In 2018, he created L’Orchestre Ensorcelé (“The Enchanted Orchestra”) with the Orchestre National de France at the Maison de la Radio.

In September 2019, after three years of intense creative work, Étienne Saglio premiered his new show Le Bruit des Loups (“The Sound of Wolves”) at Le Grand T in Nantes. True to his fantastical universe, he invites audiences into a marvelous tale that blends his poetic imagination with the ecological concerns of today’s world.

In 2021, he created a show for young audiences, Goupil et Kosmao.

In 2024, he collaborated with Birds on a Wire on the creation of the concert Ramages, and premiered his new show Vers les Métamorphoses (“Toward Metamorphoses”) at the Théâtre de Cornouaille in Quimper, exploring the notion of the alter ego.

In 2025, he began a collaboration with whirling dancer Lora Juodkaite, set to premiere in 2027.

At the same time, he teaches at Le Lido, CNAC, and TNB, and collaborates on many projects — from street arts with Les Arts Oseurs, to cinema with director Thomas Ellis, and in music with Madeleine Cazenave, Bachar Mar-Khalifé, and his three brothers Gabriel, Camille, and Matthieu Saglio.

A tamer of ghosts and an enchanter of wolves, Étienne Saglio has become a leading figure in new magic.