I'll do my best to spitball, but I'm not entirely sure what you're looking for here....
An idea I've had floating around in my head is a story about a boy who, when about 4 years old, is sold to a circus master. The circus master is a kindly man who looks for unique individuals and either recruits them or buys their freedom in the hopes that they'll choose to join the circus (the boy has flaming red hair, which distinguished him for the other slaves). Since he's so young he doesn't really have a choice and the circus master essentially adopts him and raises him as his own son. As he grows, he is taught the art of dancing and that's his circus act (at this point he's about 13). He's the head dancer and wears red clothing, while his companion dancers wear midnight blue.
Later, when he's 17 or 18, the circus moves through a neighboring country and the monarch wants them to use their fame to attract visitors to boost the popularity and wealth of the country. The circus master refuses, and the monarch, extremely angry at him, hires a bunch of mercenaries to destroy the circus. Most of the members, including the circus master, are killed. It's during this scene that he finds out that he's not actually a human, but instead a phoenix (which is why he has such vivid red hair) The boy and the few survivors remain together and instead of using their skills to reform the circus, they use them to firstly destroy the small kingdom that killed their friends/family, and then to end the plague of slavery in their home country.
I hope this is spitballing enough for you!
