In 1982, after serving his two-year term in the air force, he landed a job teaching windsurfing and waterskiing at a resort hotel. A stage show was in production at the resort, and Simon was informed by one of the performers that the choreographer was looking for a gymnast. Taking that job, he performed worldwide in various stage productions as a dancer/acrobat, culminating as a performer at the Moulin Rouge, Paris, in 1989; he later authored Paris Nights: My Year at the Moulin Rouge, a book about his time in Paris.
