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T h e U n o f f i c i a l
C i r q u e d u S o l e i l N e w s l e t t e r
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http://www.CirqueFascination.com
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VOLUME 17, NUMBER 11 November 2017 ISSUE #166
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Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque
du Soleil Newsletter. There's a lot going on this month, so let's
get started...
* * * LUNA PETUNIA TOYS NOW AVAILABLE * * *
File this in the "whoops, I forgot about this" department, but last
month, toys based on Cirque du Soleil and Saban Entertainment's Luna
Petunia (now streaming its second season on NETFLIX in North America)
are now available!
A search on Target.com brings up 10 items...
o) Luna Beanie Plush -- $7.99
o) 14" Talking Luna Doll -- $24.99
o) Bibi Bubbles Beanie Plush -- $7.99
o) Sammy Stretch Beanie Plush -- $7.99
o) Karoo Beanie Plush -- $7.99
o) 5 Pack of Figures -- $9.99
o) Amazia Garden Playset -- $12.99
o) Fabulosa Cafe Playset -- $12.99
o) Crystal Castle Stables Playset -- $12.99
o) Amazia Necklace -- $9.99
Check them out individually here:
< https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=Luna+Petunia >
Additionally, NETFLIX announced that Season 3 of the animated show
will begin streaming on the service Friday, November 17th!
* * * SÉRIE HOMMAGE #4 - LES COLOCS! * * *
On October 18, 2017, 45 DEGREES announced their fourth opus in the
Hommage Series at the Amphithéâtre Cogeco in Trois-Rivières, QC a
show that will play tribute to one of the most important groups of the
1990's in Quebec... LES COLOCS!
Les Colocs (The Room-mates) were a rock music group from Montreal.
Founded in 1990 and fronted by Dédé Fortin, Les Colocs gave Québécois
songs coloured with humanity, simplicity and social conscience
(especially regarding poverty). They marked the history of Quebec
music with their sound, infused with brass sounds, first very wild and
festive, later more mellow, as well as more inspired by swing,
country, blues and African music. This new direction inspired a
collaboration with the Senegal-born Diouf brothers for the album
Dehors novembre (1998).
The group promoted tolerance and had a multicultural line up. For
example, Mike Sawatzky is a Cree from Saskatchewan, André Vanderbiest
is from Belgium, and Patrick Esposito Di Napoli was from Northern
Catalonia. Dédé Fortin (as well as members such as Serge Robert, later
to be known as Mononc' Serge) was a passionate Quebec sovereigntist.
The band played an important role in the 1995 Quebec referendum via
partisan shows.[citation needed] They were part of the resurgence of
political songwriting in Quebec, after a drought in the 1980s and part
of the 1990s. They were past contenders in the music band contest
L'Empire des futures stars.
The festive nature of many of their songs contrasts with the deaths of
two of their players. In 1994 Patrick Esposito Di Napoli died of AIDS.
The band effectively came to an end in 2000 after frontman Fortin took
his own life. They are considered to hold a major place in the history
and evolution of the music of Quebec and have many music fans.
* * * AND MUCH MORE * * *
BLUE MAN GROUP CELEBRATES 20 YEARS IN CHICAGO
In the early '90s few people had ever heard of the Blue Man Group, much
less seen their live shows. Now, they're known all over the world and
they just celebrated two decades in Chicago. Their exact Chicago
anniversary was Thursday, October 12, and they celebrated with a
special birthday show at 8:00pm filled with surprises. Blue Man Group
was purchased this summer by Cirque Du Soleil, and Dean said their
combined creativity and talent may mean we ain't seen nothing yet.
TORUK-THE FIRST FLIGHT HEADED TO DUBAI
In recent weeks, Dubai's performing theatre landscape changed
dramatically following the opening of La Perle. The spectacular show
is a 90-minute whirlwind of circus-esque acrobatics, stunning visuals
and 2.5 million litres of water being used to great effect throughout.
And, the show just so happens to be directed by Franco Dragone,
formerly of Cirque du Soleil. Now, the new Cirque du Soleil show is
coming to town for a two-week run in January as part of a global tour.
The new show is inspired by James Cameron's record-shattering movie
Avatar. Toruk The First Flight, set in the fictional world of
Pandora, is described as a "riveting fusion of cutting-edge visuals,
puppetry and stagecraft buoyed by a soaring cinematic score". The
immersive experience, which will be narrated by one of the
chatracters, depicts a tale set thousands of years before the events
of the Avatar film, with a natural catastrophe threatening to destroy
many sacred elements of the Na'vi's world. The show will be presented
at Dubai World Trade Centre from Thursday January 4 to Wednesday
January 17. Tickets will be available on pre-sale for pre-registered
customers and Cirque Club members on Tuesday October 17 at 11am
general sale will start on Friday October 20 at 11am. Prices start
from AED295, and range up to AED2,495. Tickets are available from
www.tixbox.com.
AMERICAN DREAM MIAMI??
Triple Five Group, developer of the proposed $4 billion American Dream
Miami "mega center" in Northwest Miami-Dade, hopes to get its
entitlements squared away by the end of this year in order to complete
the project in 2023, says Miguel Diaz de la Portilla, a land-use
attorney representing the project. [...] In addition to a projected
450 retailers, restaurants and services, entertainment options
announced so far include the world's tallest indoor ski park, a
skating rink, indoor water park, aquarium, submarine ride, gardens, a
permanent Cirque du Soleil installation, a multi-screen luxury theater
complex, an arts center for live performances and more. Triple Five
Group a shopping mall owner and operator, hotel operator and real
estate company based in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada is the developer
of West Edmonton Mall in Canada, Mall of America in Minnesota and the
upcoming American Dream Meadowlands in the Greater New York area,
scheduled to open in about 18 months. "We hope to open American Dream
Miami in 2023," Mr. Gorlow says, "contingent upon freeway interchanges
opening at the same time as our doors open." (You can read more about
this project here: https://goo.gl/7Qef54).
LAS VEGAS RECORDS?
From the what-are-they-doing-now department comes the following
note from KNPR, Nevada Public Radio: Jazz music might be a staple in
places like New Orleans and Monterey, but it's taken root in Las
Vegas as well. Uli Geissendoerfer has played a big role in that.
Originally from Munich, Germany, Geissendoerfer is a pianist,
composer, and educator. He moved to Las Vegas in 2009, where he was
the conductor, pianist, and bandleader for the short-lived Cirque du
Soleil production "Viva Elvis." His next assignment was resurrecting
the Latin Jazz Ensemble at UNLV, where he still resides, as well as
musical directing at the Dispensary Lounge. Clearly, jazz is in his
heart. Now, Geissendoerfer is starting a record label called Vegas
Records. It will focus on new music by local players and reissue
older albums by veteran Vegas musicians. We wish him luck!
* * * IN THE ISSUE * * *
In features this month we've got a fantastic set of fan reviews for
ZUMANITY, LUZIA, TORUK and CRYSTAL. (And speaking of Crystal, you'll
find most of the Crystal-related posts this month under one banner -
"SPECTACLE - CRYSTAL IN THE PRESSE" so don't forget to look for them
if you're interested in Cirque's newest show... on ICE!) We also have
four great fan-reviews of Zumanity, Luzia, Toruk, and Crystal within,
continue our look back at classic show critiques with 1993's reviews
of Saltimbanco, and continue our three-part series on JOYA, Cirque du
Soleil's jewel in the Riviera Maya, with a look at the dinner portion
of the production.
And plenty more!
Okay, so let's go!
/----------------------------------------------------\
| |
| Join us on the web at: |
| < www.cirquefascination.com > |
| |
| At CirqueCast: |
| < http://www.cirquecast.com/ > |
| |
| Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed (News Only): |
| < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > |
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\----------------------------------------------------/
- Ricky "Richasi" Russo
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CONTENTS
===========
o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings
* La Presse -- General News & Highlights
* Q&A - Quick Chats & Press Interviews
* Spectacle -- CRYSTAL in the Presse
o) Itinéraire -- Tour/Show Information
* BigTop Shows -- Under the Grand Chapiteau
* Arena Shows -- In Stadium-like venues
* Resident Shows -- Performed en Le Théâtre
o) Outreach -- Updates from Cirque's Social Widgets
* Webseries -- Official Online Featurettes
* Videos -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
o) Fascination! Features
* FANS REVIEW CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, AGAIN!
- "New Fauna in the Human Zoo" by Sean Zaremba
- "Luzia Wows Chicago!" by Katherine Bull
- "TORUK Down Under" by Aidan Lam
- "Fabulous like a CRYSTAL" by Josh Sobiecki
* THE BOOK OF JOYÀ - BRINGING CIRQUE TO MEXICO
Part 2 of 3: "Sweet, Savory, and Surreal"
Edited by: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
* "We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 7 of 16: Saltimbanco, Part 2 (1993)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) Copyright & Disclaimer
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CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS
=======================================================================
***************************************************************
LA PRESSE -- General News & Highlights
***************************************************************
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TEDTalk: "The Power of the Circle | Michel Laprise"
{Oct.01.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
In this inspiring talk, show director Michel Laprise shares with
passion a few aspects of the collaborative creation process of Cirque
du Soleil. He exposes how this organic process is part of a social,
personal, emotional and artistic experience. He shows us that the
actual physical space deeply influences the collaboration and
inclusion of the creative work place everyone might want to create. He
also talks of an experiment where, using the internet, the circle of
collaboration was opened to include the audience in the crowd-sourcing
of a scene. As an actor, director and artistic director, Michel
Laprise joined Cirque du Soleil in 2000 where he grew to become one of
its most audacious prolific directors. He directed numerous out-of-
the-box and innovative large-scale performance events. He collaborated
with pop star Madonna on her Superbowl half-time show and then
directed her award-winning MDNA world tour. He directed the acclaimed
record-breaking Cirque du Soleil's Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities in
2014, still currently touring. In 2017, Michel wrote and directed
Cirque du Soleil's 40th production, "Sép7imo Dia No Descansaré"
inspired by the music of Argentina's most cherished rock band of all
time, Soda Stereo and currently touring in big arenas in Latin
America. He is currently preparing two more shows for Cirque du
Soleil. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference
format but independently organized by a local community.
SEE THIS TALK HERE:
< https://youtu.be/2VeEtXv_3NE >
{ SOURCE: TED }
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Cirque donates $500,000/5,000 tickets in wake of
Las Vegas tragedy
{Oct.07.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
The Cirque du Soleil will donate US$1 million in cash and free tickets
to show its support to the families of the victims and first-
responders of the deadly shooting in Las Vegas.
The Montreal company said Friday it would donate US$500,000 to the
families of victims of the massacre. Another donation of US$500,000
will be made through 5,000 tickets given to police officers,
firefighters and paramedics to thank them for their "heroic" work.
They will be able to go to eight permanent Cirque shows on the Las
Vegas Strip.
The Cirque also plans to take part in a benefit show during which it
will give more funds to victims.
In a statement given to Las Vegas media, vice-president Jerry Nadal
said he was "brokenhearted by this act of nonsensical violence that
has greatly touched our community.
"Las Vegas is our home and the people of this incredible city are our
family," he added.
None of the 1,500 local employees of the organization were hurt in the
attack. The Cirque du Soleil has been in Las Vegas for 20 years.
"It's our second home, after Montreal," said spokesperson Marie-Hélène
Lagacé in a statement to La Presse canadienne.
{ SOURCE: Montreal Gazette | https://goo.gl/7SvqYN }
-------------------------------------------------------
What It's Like to Be a Safety Diver in "O"
{Oct.08.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
My dive students don't look like other Open Water Diver hopefuls. For
starters, they show up wearing sequins. And they never assemble their
own gear.
That's because my newbies are trapeze artists and other acrobatic
performers working in O, the water-themed Cirque du Soleil show
performed five nights a week in Las Vegas.
My goal isn't to prepare the talent to dive in the ocean. In fact,
some may never dive outside the 25-foot-deep pool where they work. The
only requirement they must meet is to become comfortable in the water
breathing from the regulator that I or one of the safety divers I
oversee as head of aquatics supply. Together, it's our responsibility
to anticipate the performers' movements in the pool, always having an
air supply at the ready.
The first time you catch a trapeze artist underwater, you say to
yourself that it's really impressive. They're coming in from 30 feet
above the pool, which is flush with the stage. Then the artist is
underwater, cocooned in a ball of bubbles. It's hard to see them.
First I need to get that regulator in their hand, then I have to move
them.
Quickly.
Because timing is everything.
For this cue, called the trapeze bow, I have to swim the trapeze
artist up quickly. While the trapeze artist is breathing from a
regulator one of five second-stage regulators that are part of what
every safety diver wears six synchronized swimmers are setting up
for the next part. One swimmer will lie stiff, horizontally, like a
log. The other five will swim that horizontal performer to the
surface.
My goal is to move the trapeze artist so he or she is standing on the
belly of that horizontal swimmer. If I'm late, then the team of
synchronized swimmers can't get the artist onto the platform, and that
part of the show is scrapped.
Or, if I don't hold a trapeze artist steady during this rise, the
performer could fall off.
It's a delicate maneuver to get them in the right position on time and
not push them too far forward and then get out of the way. Because
as this is going on, five synchronized swimmers are egg-beating, and I
don't want to be kicked.
Once the trapeze artists are back on the platform, they bow, then sink
back down into the water, and we swim them out of the pool.
It sounds complicated, but after 15 years with O, this and every
other part of the show has become easy. I first started with Cirque
du Soleil right after I graduated from college, in 2002, and had begun
working as an instructor with Sport Chalet, which had opened a Las
Vegas location. In the beginning, I was so overwhelmed. There is so
much going on at any given moment, and I never thought I would
remember it all.
Turns out, I did. And it has become routine.
Now, I'm the head of aquatics, overseeing a team of six divers. It's
my responsibility to make sure everyone else gets their tasks done.
The show has four cue tracks, each with 20 cues. A cue is the trigger
for when we need to act, to move, in order to carry out our
responsibilities underwater for the performance.
My team of six divers rotates responsibilities for almost every show,
because if one of us isn't working a cue track for a week and then we
come back to it, it's hard. Someone might forget where the performers
will be in the water or how they want to move.
When we clock in for our eight-hour shifts, we're working in a 1.5
million-gallon pool, set to 88 degrees. The pool is 25 feet deep, but
we don't work in the bottom 8 feet; that space is reserved for the
mechanics of the show, including seven hydraulic lifts. These can
raise the bottom of the pool to be flush with the stage, which happens
at certain points in the show, or each can be raised and lowered
independently as needed.
For example, there's a part of the show where high-dive performers
leap from 60 feet in the air, plunging 17 feet into the pool. Just
below the bottom of the pool, there are tables set up for the next
act. The lifts are raised then so the high divers don't accidentally
upset the tables.
It's simply one more part of the show that audiences would be
surprised to see that is, if they could see into the tank at all.
But because the tank is beneath the stage, everything we do is behind
the scenes.
Granted, there is a lighting tunnel that allows special guests of the
show to witness some of what we do. There's one part of the show in
the beginning that tends to wow anyone who can see into the tank.
For the barge act, 14 divers are in the water, supporting a troupe of
15 to 20 artists who perform hand-balancing and other acrobatic tricks
the circus equivalent of cheer pyramids with bases and flyers. After
most of the stunts, the artists catapult into the water, and my team
supports them all, in one way or another. What helps make this
possible is that we have 78 second-stage regs in the pool on a hookah
system.
Each week, we perform 10 shows, with two a night Wednesday through
Sunday. During the day, we train. Training is a must for new safety
divers and new trapeze artists. Typically, most acrobatic performers
haven't spent much time in a pool. Training them is no different from
certifying an open-water diver, so when we hire new safety divers,
we're looking for instructors who have a lot of certifying experience.
Training a new safety diver is pretty straightforward. They shadow a
more experienced safety diver until they learn where in the pool to be
for the simpler cues, and what they have to do.
It becomes rote for them too.
Occasionally, a wrench is thrown into our routine. Technical issues
can happen. The hydraulic lifts can malfunction, although it's
incredibly rare. When it happens, we have to change the cue track on
the fly.
This is accomplished in part thanks to an entire underwater
communications system. Two communication divers, or comm divers, wear
full-face masks, enabling them to talk with the stage manager, who
calls the entire show. They'll say things such as "clear right" when
stage right is clear. One person overlooks the pool and communicates
with the comm divers in the pool. Together, the team is able to talk
and troubleshoot through these scenarios.
The shows in which we've had to overcome obstacles are the ones I'm
proudest of. We always strive to give the audience the best possible
performance, whatever the circumstances, and to see how everyone comes
together and still creates magic despite a glitch is so inspiring.
And I'm glad. Because when we're in the pool, we don't hear the
applause that the performers hear each night. Nor do we take a curtain
call.
For me, it's gratifying enough to be part of one of the best shows in
Vegas, even if most people aren't aware that we're down there.
The biggest hurdle for a new trapeze artist is stamina they tend to
be winded after their act, so when they're in the pool, they don't
quite have enough air in their lungs, or energy, to move toward a
regulator. But once they get used to their act, they're calmer in the
water.
{ SOURCE: Alan Williams, SportDiver | https://goo.gl/CVdurs }
-------------------------------------------------------
LUZIA Among Costume Winners for Metro Fashion Awards
{Oct.10.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
Metropolitan Fashion Week (MetroFW) announced winners of its
METROPOLITAN FASHION AWARDS honoring outstanding achievements in
fashion and costume design in motion pictures, television, and live
performance during the 5th Annual Metropolitan Fashion Week's Closing
Gala & Fashion Awards at the Arcadia Performing Arts Center. The
event, hosted by Metropolitan Fashion Week producer EDUARDO KHAWAM,
was attended by over 1200 industry VIP's, celebrities, costume and
fashion designers.
Award presenters included former Miss Universe and star of Telemundo's
La Gran Oportunidad, ALICIA MACHADO; Shades of Blue actor ANTONIO
JARAMILLO; GRAMMY-Awards Winners Earth, Wind & Fire members VERDINE
WHITE and RALPH JOHNSON; Telemundo's STEPHANIE HIMONIDIS "Chiquibaby"
(of Acceso Total); actor/singer ROBERT AVELLANET of the International
group Menudo; Honey Cone's SHELLY CLARK, among others. A special
exclusive live performance by Luzia by Cirque du Soleil entertained
the audience.
Winners in the film and television categories included BEAUTY AND THE
BEAST (Costume Designer of the Year Motion Pictures); THE LAST
TYCOON winning two awards(Costume Designer of the Year Television
and Outstanding Ensemble Make-Up Artists and Hair Styling-
Television); and GIOVANNA BUZZI (Costume Designer of the Year for
Luzia by Cirque du Soleil); and GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL.2
(Outstanding Ensemble For Make-Up Artists and Hair Styling). Winners
also included MARIA MENOUNOS(Fashion Commentator of the Year),
STEPHANE ROLLAND (Fashion Designer of the Year) and STATES OF UNDRESS
(Fashion Program of the Year). The 2017 METROPOLITAN FASHION AWARD
People Choice went to Costume Designer, PAUL TAZEWELL from HAMILTON.
In addition to the Awards, the Gala showcased a unique, exclusive
runway show featuring over 150 one-of-a-kind avant-garde costumes and
couture evening gowns, created by national and international celebrity
costume and fashion designers including: Fashion Designer BENITO
SANTOS (Mexico); Fashion Designer MARIKA SODERLUND ROBISON(Sweden);
Fashion Designer BARBARA L ASHLEY (Uganda); Fashion Designer ERICK
BENDANA (Nicaragua); Fashion Designer DOUGLAS TAPIA (Venezuela);
Fashion Designer EMIL GAMPE (Austria); Fashion Designer CARL ANDRADA
(Philippines); Fashion Designer DAVID SANTILLANES (San Diego, CA);
Fashion Designer INOE VARGAS(Mexico); Costume Designer RICARDO
SOLTERO; Fashion Designer FERNANDA PINHEIRO OF GIOVANNI TESTI
(Brazil); Fashion Designer DAVID TUPAZ (Las Vegas, NV); Fashion
Designer JULIE DANFORTH (Seattle, WA); Fashion Designer JOEY GALON
(Los Angeles, CA); Fashion Designer RITA MEZRAHI (Iran-USA); Fashion
Designers SHELLI BLACKNELL & TANISHA BOSTON (USA); Fashion Designer
XAVIER OTHON (Mexico); and Couture Hat Designer ARTURO RIOS (Mexico).
The show is produced and directed by Eduardo Khawam, fashion expert,
producer and TV personality for Telemundo, Univisión and the CW and
Executive Producer Paul Jaramillo.
2017 METROPOLITAN FASHION AWARD WINNERS ARE:
COSTUME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR MOTION PICTURES
Beauty and the Beast Designer: Jacqueline Duran (Disney Motion
Picture Studios / Marvel)
COSTUME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR TELEVISION
The Last Tycoon Designer: Janie Bryant (Amazon Studios)
COSTUME DESIGNER OF THE YEAR LIVE PERFORMANCE
Luzia by Cirque Du Soleil Designer: Giovanna Buzzi
FASHION COMMENTATOR OF THE YEAR TELEVISION
Maria Menounos Entertainment Tonight (CBS Paramount Domestic
Television)
FASHION DESIGNER OF THE YEAR
Stephane Rolland
FASHION PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
States of Undress Producer Hailey Gates (Viceland)
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE FOR MAKE-UP AND HAIR STYLING- MOTION PICTURES
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 John Blake (Hair) & Camille Friend
(Makeup) (Marvel Studios/Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE FOR MAKE-UP ARTISTS AND HAIR STYLING- TELEVISION
The Last Tycoon Theraesa Rivers (Hair) & Lana Horochowski (Makeup)
(Amazon Studios)
PEOPLES CHOICE
Hamilton Designer: Paul Tazewell
For complete list of nominees: visit metropolitanfashionweek.net.
About METROPOLITAN FASHION WEEK
Metropolitan Fashion Week is one of the fastest growing fashion weeks
in the United States, with shows in Seattle, Los Angeles, Las Vegas,
Palm Springs and soon, New York. Metropolitan is the only fashion week
in the world that features both Fashion Designers and Costume
Designers, from around the world, on one runway. Metropolitan Fashion
Week has made a global impact on the fashion scene by presenting
events held in dramatic, non-traditional venues that showcase not only
fashion designers and costume designs, but also the most beautiful
venues each city has to offer. Celebrating the world of fashion and
costume designers in the categories of Avant Garde and Couture Gowns,
MFW spotlights over 150 works of art created by international fashion
and costume designers and are original "one-of-a-kind" creations. To
learn more about MFW, visit metropolitanfashionweek.netand get
#MetroFW updates on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
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CDS: Masters of Performance and
Water Filtration?
{Oct.12.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
If you've ever seen a Cirque du Soleil show, you know to expect a rich
integration of stunning visuals, evocative music and dazzling
performances. But the Canadian entertainment company also exhibits
technical mastery and its show "Luzia" has the 50-foot (15-meter)
onstage waterfall to prove it.
The show itself, currently on tour in North America, is a dreamlike
journey through Mexico, full of high-end acrobatics, juggling,
puppetry and clowns. The show highlights Mexican culture and native
insect life, but the star is the water. In order to enable onstage
rain and a wading pool, Cirque designed the entire set around a
digital water curtain. If you're ever seen the aquatic Cirque show
"O," you'll know this isn't the first time the company has built a
water-centric piece.
During "Luzia," audience witness a spectacle of falling rain,
especially mesmerizing when it displays patterns and pictures in its
cascade. Behind the scenes, the technical aspects of this effect are
equally impressive.
"Every time we create a production, we strive to come-up with
performances and stage pictures that will surprise our audience and
evoke their emotions," says Cirque publicist Francis Jalbert. "Luzia'
is a complex show as we incorporated technology we had never worked
with before. Playing with water onstage under the Big Top brought us
to find ways to recycle the water, heat it, clean it and pump it all
the way at the top of the tent for the acts involving rain."
And "Luzia" uses a lot of water 1,585 gallons (6,000 liters) for a
single performance, in fact. And since the show recycles the water for
all of a given city's shows, they have to run it all through a
filtration and disinfection system. After all, an aerial strap
performance is death-defying enough without the risk of cholera. The
backstage team stores the water at a constant 82 degrees F (28 degrees
C) before pumping it up to a rotating array of 174 spray nozzles 56
feet (17 meters) above the stage.
"We also had to figure out how to dry the stage quickly for acts
requiring a dry surface," says Jalbert, "and find out how to protect
microphones and other technical equipment from getting wet. That's why
the creation process of a show at Cirque du Soleil lasts over two
years; we constantly come up with new technologies and learn how to
master them as we go to bring the vision of the creators to life."
But the technology is only one aspect of the show. The human
performers in "Luzia" also had to adjust to this new performance
element. Which tricks could be performed wet? How might they avoid the
risk of slippery acrobatic props and water-heavy garments?
The Cirque team dreamed up several creative solutions. For instance,
they constructed a special "wet" trapeze out of sailing rope and a
wooden bar for improved grip. The human-centered "Cyr wheel" used in
the show is covered with a bike tire, because otherwise it would prove
impossible to manipulate on a wet surface.
Was all of this technical effort worth it? According to Jalbert, the
answer is in the audience reaction.
"You can see the amazement on their faces as they first see the rain
and feel the coolness of the water in the air. There is a particular
moment where shapes and designs appear in the rain; it's literally
raining images of animals and plants. The audience reacts loudly as
they've never seen something like this before and are moved by the
combination of this simple moment with our powerful musical score."
{ SOURCE: How Stuff Works | https://goo.gl/Ak4Sqq }
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Mystere's Alexis Brothers Open Absolute Balance Studio
{Oct.13.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
For 40 years, Marco and Paulo Lorador have performed together as the
Alexis Brothers. If you've seen Cirque du Soleil's Mystère any time in
the past 20 years, chances are you've seen their gravity-defying hand-
balancing act. At ages 50 and 51 respectively, Paulo and Marco are
still bringing down the house five nights a week.
Enjoying well-earned success, the brothers wanted to give back. So
they recently opened a studio called Absolute Balance, with the goal
of sharing their love of the art with the rest of the world. It offers
classes in contortion, hand-balancing, pilates and yoga, both aerial
and terrestrial.
Sister Carmita Lorador is a picture of beauty and grace. But don't let
her lithe appearance deceive. Unless your name is Paulo or Marco,
she's stronger than you. The aerialist and hand-balancer toured the
world with Cirque du Soleil until multiple injuries led her from the
stage to the yoga mat.
This is as close as you can get to being at Cirque, the brothers say.
And visiting their studio feels a little like a personal backstage
tour.
Don't be daunted by the instructors' superhuman abilities. They've
devoted their lives to being stronger and more flexible than us mere
mortals. But this studio is open to all; everybody who comes in has
different needs. As teachers, they will determine your fitness level
and help you grow, whether you're a pro gymnast or a recovering couch
potato.
Larger studios rotate instructors, which leads to inconsistent
instruction. But at Absolute Balance, the instructors are always top-
rate. Marco and Paulo will teach hand-balancing, and Carmita will
teach yoga. Absolute Balance, 6115 S. Fort Apache, #104, 702-909-4711.
{ SOURCE: Las Vegas Weekly | https://goo.gl/uq6V5M }
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ONOD6 Inspired by Singer-Songwriter Jewel
{Oct.20.2017}
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Tickets are now on sale for the Sixth Annual One Night for One Drop
imagined by Cirque du Soleil, an extraordinary, one-night-only event
created to benefit safe water access programs around the world.
Performing exclusively at the Michael Jackson ONE Theatre at Mandalay
Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas Friday, March 2, 2018, this year's
production is inspired by the life of GRAMMY-nominated singer-
songwriter Jewel.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit
onedrop.org/onenight.
Following the tremendous success of One Night for One Drop 2017,
Zumanity performers Nicky and Laetitia Dewhurst will once again serve
as the writers and directors of this year's never-before-seen
production. Proceeds from the event will benefit One Drop's global
water efforts as well as educational efforts in the Las Vegas
community.
"I'm so excited to be collaborating with Nicky and Laetitia and the
talented cast and crew of Cirque du Soleil to tell my story," said
Jewel. "I'm really looking forward to this and doing it for such an
amazing cause that is very near and dear to my heart."
Presented by MGM Resorts International, One Night for One Drop 2018 is
inspired by pivotal moments throughout Jewel's life. The production
takes the audience through significant events and makes them relatable
by constructing them around popular themes such as family, love,
betrayal and the courage to forgive, all while featuring breathtaking
performers from Cirque du Soleil and lightening it up with a variety
of comedic elements.
Nicky Dewhurst, co-writer and director for One Night for One Drop
2018, said, "We couldn't be more thrilled to be doing One Night for
One Drop again this year. To have the support and story of Jewel has
been amazing and we can't wait to share her beautiful story with an
audience."
Individual, tax-deductible VIP tickets, which include the post-show
extravaganza complete with live entertainment, cocktails, food
selections and festivities, are available for $1,500. Show-only
tickets start at $125. Sponsorship packages, VIP and individual
tickets are available at onedrop.org/onenight or by calling 1-844-33-
WATER. Proceeds from the event will benefit One Drop's global water
efforts, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Las Vegas
Community.
{ SOURCE: Broadway World | https://goo.gl/Q3f3hu }
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Controversy Surrounding the Tribute to Les Colocs?
{Oct.21.2017}
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(The following article was translated from French using Google
Translate)
Cirque du Soleil acknowledges that it did not contact all the founding
members of the band before choosing it for its 4th tribute show, but
claims to have acted in good faith. Cirque also says it is
"disappointed" and "saddened" that the announcement was received a bit
coldly by Mike Sawatzky, one of the musicians and founding member of
the band.
"Our intention from the beginning has been to work with everyone, to
work with each artist," says Cirque du Soleil Senior Director of
Public Relations, Marie-Hélène Lagacé. Did not all these conversations
take place before the announcement? It's possible. And we are sorry if
that's the case. But I think what is important is that all this was
done in good faith and with the desire to receive the contribution of
everyone so that this show renders sincerely and authentically tribute
to the work of the Colocs."
Ms. Lagacé also points out that the next step in the creative process
will be to meet the different artists who have gravitated around the
group. "The idea of ??this meeting is to sit together and take the
pulse of the history of the group, their universe, collect the
memories and anecdotes to make the show as authentic as possible."
Colocs member Mike Sawatzky lamented having learned through the media
that Cirque du Soleil will present a tribute to his band at the Cogeco
Amphitheater. The musician would have liked to be consulted on the
issue.
Mr. Sawatzky underlines that the name of the Colocs was bought by the
family of André Fortin. It is therefore she who holds the rights. He
would, however, have wanted the members of the group still alive to be
consulted about the show. "It's not against Cirque du Soleil, it's an
honor," said Mr. Sawatzky, who says he will still see the show.
{ SOURCE: Radio Canada | https://goo.gl/AmQEvS }
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Triotech appoints Nol Van Genuchten as VP Creation
{Oct.25.2017}
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Van Genuchten has fulfilled various creative roles at Cirque du
Soleil. After leaving Cirque du Soleil in 2006, he founded Creative
KAOS Management, where his team built up vast experience in live
entertainment design, art direction, technical direction and
production management.
Ernest Yale, founder, President & CEO of TRIOTECH, said, "Nol will
play a key role at TRIOTECH by overseeing all the creative aspects of
the attractions and experiences we create. He will help define the
company's creative direction."
Charles Décarie, Chief Operating Officer at TRIOTECH added, "Nol is an
out of the box thinker that thrives on finding unique solutions to
different types of creative challenges."
"TRIOTECH is recognized as a leader in the field of immersive and
interactive attractions for theme parks and location-based
entertainment. I am thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to
develop new experiences and I relish the challenge of joining this
growing organization," said Mr. Van Genuchten.
{ SOURCE: Blooloop | https://goo.gl/sMxEzQ }
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Criss Angel is 3rd Highest Paid Magician in the World
{Oct.31.2017}
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Nearly 50 years ago, a 12-year-old David Seth Kotkin became the
youngest person ever admitted to the Society of American Magicians.
Now, the performer better known by his stage name David Copperfield is
the world's highest-paid magician for the second year in a row,
earning $61.5 million pretax in the 12 months to June. Penn & Teller
take second place with earnings of $30.5 million, thanks to their Las
Vegas residency at the Rio. During our 12-month scoring period, the
odd couple performed 254 shows in Sin City, grossing over $100,000 a
night. Penn Jillette and the mononymous Teller also recently wrapped
up the fourth season of their magic competition series Penn & Teller:
Fool Us. A&E star Criss Angel ranks third with $14.5 million, down
from last year's $19 million. Since the illusionist is headlining
"Mindfreak Live" in Las Vegas, his second show with Cirque du Soleil,
Angel booked fewer outside tour dates. His traveling revue, The
Supernaturalists, also did not tour during our scoring period. Between
performing 10 shows a week at the Luxor Hotel, Angel fit in private
gigs and a new TV special, Criss Angel: Trick'd Up. Angel's 10-year
contract with the Luxor ends in October 2018; his next step is a
mystery. "I have a lot of opportunities and options, and I'm not sure
what I'll do yet," Angel told Variety in July. Combined, the world's
eight highest-paid magic acts earned $147 million between June 1,
2016, and June 1, 2017, before taxes and management fees. Figures are
based on data from Pollstar Pro as well as interviews with agents,
managers and other industry insiders.
BUT MICHAEL JACKSON IS THE TOP EARNING DEAD CELEBRITY
The promotional campaign around the premiere of the CBS special
"Michael Jackson's Halloween" got an inadvertent connection Monday
when the late singer topped Forbes annual list of top-earning dead
celebrities for the fifth straight year.
The singer's estate raked in some $75 million, driven by a new
greatest hits album, the Las Vegas Cirque du Soleil show and its
stake in the EMI music publishing catalog. Still, that tally is
dwarfed by last year's $825 million total the highest annual tally
for any entertainer dead or alive which was primarily due to the
$750 million sale of Jackson's half of the Sony/ATV Music Publishing
catalog, the biggest in the world.
Elvis Presley (fourth with $35 million) and Bob Marley ranks (fifth
with $23 million) are the other two musicians in the Top Five.
Presley's total was up from last year's $27 million, due partially to
the new Elvis Presley's Memphis entertainment complex and the recently
opened hotel, The Guesthouse at Graceland. Marley's estate was boosted
by House of Marley audio products and the Marley Beverage Co.
Tom Petty, who passed away just days before the eligibility period
ended, came in at No. 6 with $20 million, while Prince who died last
year apparently without a will and whose assets remain seriously
under-exploited came in at No. 7 with $18 million. David Bowie, who
died in January of 2016, was No. 11 with $9.5 million.
Golf legend Arnold Palmer is second with $40 million (largely through
sales of Arizona lemonade and the iced tea bearing his name) and third
is Charles Schulz, creator of the Peanuts cartoon franchise, with $38
million. (The list measures pretax income from October 15, 2016
through October 15, 2017 before deducting cuts for agents, managers
and lawyers. Sources include Nielsen SoundScan, IMDB, Pollstar Pro
and interviews with celebrity estate experts.)
{ SOURCE: Forbes }
***************************************************************
Q&A - Quick Chats & Press Interviews
***************************************************************
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Meet Alanna Baker (OVO Black Spider), Part Deux
{Oct.03.2017}
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Alanna Baker was just eight-years-old when she decided she wanted to
join the circus.
She was watching the Cirque du Soleil perform at the Royal Albert Hall
with her parents in London when she thought to herself: "I want to do
that."
Almost 20 years later, she is now living out her childhood dream.
A European and World bronze medal-winning gymnast, who was born in
Redhill, Alanna is currently travelling the world playing the Black
Spider in Cirque Du Solei's insect-themed show Ovo.
Alanna started out as a gymnast, having trained since she was five-
years-old.
She was crowned gymnastics European Champion in 2011 and won Bronze in
the World Championships in 2012.
It was around that time that Cirque Du Soleil approached her.
"I had a closed audition at my gym in 2012 with Cirque du Soleil and
then they brought me on board to join Ovo," said Alanna.
Described as a celebration of nature and co-existence, Ovo features 50
performing artists from 17 different countries specialising in various
acrobatics.
Many of the cast perform as bright and colourful bugs in the show.
As Alanna made the jump from gymnast to circus performer, she said it
was initially tricky making the transition.
"You're not training for one competition anymore we have got to
perform day-in day-out," she said. "That takes a lot of adapting to
improve."
INTENSE TRAINING
Alanna, the only UK performer in Ovo, began on the show playing a flea
before being given the role of the Black Spider.
She says it takes a lot of research to take on these insect roles and
mimic their movements: "If I saw a spider on the street, I used to
flick it away. Now I watch and study it," she said.
"Most of the research though is done by watching videos and speaking
to the other performers though."
Due to the acrobatics involved, her role as the Black Spider involves
intense levels of training.
"I do a workout in the morning every day for an hour and a half before
work," she said. "We then do between seven and 10 shows per week."
Despite performing in front of thousands of people on a weekly basis,
Alanna says she rarely gets nervous except when there's someone she
knows in the audience.
"I can perform in front of 6,000 people easy but as soon as there's
someone I know in the audience I get nervous it's such an adrenalin
rush," she said.
"It's fun watching people's reactions in the audience though. Some are
scared by my character, some are intrigued. Each audience is different
though so it keeps it fun and interesting."
Since she's joined the show, she has travelled to countries such as
Australia, Taiwan and Japan with her fellow performers, who she
describes as her second family.
"It's crazy," she said. "I'm living the dream, seeing the world and
visiting places I never thought I'd visit.
"We're just like a big family. We do everything together which helps
when you're away from home so much."
{ SOURCE: Get Surry | https://goo.gl/qS5iuS }
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TheaterArtLife: Opening VOLTA with Johnny Kim
{Oct.04.2017}
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Cirque du Soleil's latest touring show, VOLTA premiered on the 28th
April, 2017 in Montreal. Johnny Kim, the Assistant Artistic Director
of Operations shares with TheatreArtLife details on the transition
process from VOLTA's creation into the daily operations and what parts
of the show he loves the most. [NOTE: This interview was done just
after VOLTA premiered in Montreal I'm not sure how we missed it here
at Fascination!, but we're happy to bring it to you now
]
Q. Johnny, what is your role on VOLTA and when did you join the team?
In this production, the role that I have is the Assistant Artistic
Director of Operations. I joined in early March of this year.
Q. What part of the creation process was VOLTA in when you joined?
I joined two days before the artists moved from the Cirque du Soleil
Studios into the Big Top. The Cirque du Soleil International
headquarters in Montreal are where all of the Creation training
happens and the artists live onsite in what is called "The
Residences". The stage is all built up as it would be represented in
the Big Top. When we move to the site everyone moves to the downtown
area of Montreal closer to the Old Port where the show will be
situated.
When the tent is raised, everything that they have been training on
(sets, apparatus etc.) is inserted into the Big Top and I arrived 2
days prior to the artists arriving onsite. This was exciting because I
got to see the site and get used to the set-up prior to the artist's
integration. I had a tour with Michael Smith (The Artistic Director of
VOLTA) and we discussed a lot of things so I could get my bearings
with the area. When the artists arrived onsite, that's when we started
staging in the big top as the show was still at the tail-end of
creation mode.
The show was technically staged by the end of February with a full
run-thru but the staging was still a continuation of that process with
lighting, technical elements and artistic development. For the final 5
weeks prior to the opening, we were still creating and developing the
show.
Q. Was there a Production Artistic Director and a Production Assistant
Artistic Director that were creating the show to be handed over to
you for Operations? How does that work?
When I first arrived, it was a bit overwhelming as the production team
involved a lot of people. There's a Show Director and a Creation
Director to help manage the vision and the people involved. There was
a Character coach, Choreographer and numerous Acrobatic designers,
Acrobatic choreographers and Concepteurs. We also had a Production
Manager, Assistant Production Manager, Production Stage Manager,
Technical Managers, Apparatus designers, Sound designers, Lighting
designers, you name it, and we had it. Immersing the operations into
the creation team was interesting because at first, you had to find
out who was who, which was already a task in itself. You also have to
know what everyone does and what their role is and then find out who
is coming along on tour for the long haul as the show continues.
Separating that, but knowing that we are all working together for the
common goal, was an interesting process. Everyone was doing everything
to make sure we had a great show to present to the world.
Q. Are you in the operation phase now or is it still a cross-over?
What has changed since the premiere last week?
We are actually still in the staging mode of the production as there
are still changes to be made to make the show the best it can be. The
production and creation team are still with us until May 5th, so it's
kind of a hybrid I would say. We are officially in operations because
we have opened the show to the public, so we are now on a different
daily schedule. At the same token, we are still at the service of the
creation team to implement the amendments and elements of the show
that need to be finished before they leave.
The major difference since the Premiere is that we are now in "Show
Mode". We can't just have everyone work from 10 am to 10 pm as it is
not feasible, for any department. The artists and technicians need
rest. Everyone needs a break from constant change and we need to get
back to basics. Acrobatic training needs to become more consistent so
that we are making sure that we put out a great production on all
levels. I would say that the biggest change in operations would be the
schedule. We have to manage the workload across all departments as
well as sustaining the health and safety of the artists who are
getting into this mode of performing 8 shows a week.
-----> The transition. The difference between creation and operation
is that we, as operations now have to focus on making the show
sustainable before we transcend the show artistically.
For myself and the Artistic Director, and the entire Artistic
Department including Coaching and Stage Management, we have to take
the vision with us and move forward by making it manageable by looking
at the workload of the artists, the tracks, the back-ups for acts, and
the understudies for the characters. You can imagine that in creation,
directors will just pull who they see, and artists that would fit the
role etc. but we need to also create a balance between it all.
Formulating the structure of tracks and show loads is very important.
It must be reasonable to maintain the workload when we encounter 10
show weeks for weeks and months at a time. We have already started
thinking about the integration of understudies and who will be able to
back-up certain acts. We also have to cross train cues as with a cast
of just under 50, there are a lot of cues to cover as our show is more
like an ensemble. I myself am backing up a stage management track
which is also new for me.
Being able to do a backstage track is really convenient because I can
actually see what the artists do backstage, the ins and outs of their
entire track, and not just what I see onstage. This is great because
anything that they may come to me with, (issues etc.) I will have a
full understanding of what it entails and I'm already starting to get
my head wrapped around that. I think it is very beneficial for my job
as a whole to have comprehensive knowledge of all that goes on both on
and off stage.
Q. How long will you be with the show in Montreal and where will the
tour go after that?
We are here till July 23rd in Montreal. Then the tour will take us
across North America for the next year at least.
Q. What's your favorite part of the show thus far?
So this might be a long answer. First and foremost, my favorite part
would be the message.
Waz, the main character, has blue hair and grew up being made fun of
and laughed at because of it. Fighting adversity, he has pulled
himself up to have this super elite celebrity status where is a host
of an amazing TV show that everyone wants to take part in. He is not
authentically himself and you can see that inner struggle in a scene
with him backstage in his dressing room. I even think that there are
celebrities in this day and age that also feel this way, where they
have such high status but deep inside they potentially feel empty and
alone.
Then Waz finds himself surrounded by uplifting people (we call them
free spirits in the show) and you can tell that they are a positive
impact on his life. They are free to be who they are and free to do
what they are passionate about. Waz starts to see that he can learn to
accept himself for who he is and do away with any insecurities, self-
doubt or self-hatred. The reason why this message is so important is
because it is so relatable. I think every one of us can empathise with
what he is going through. We still live in an age where the world is
still dealing with hate, racism and people being unaccepting of sexual
orientation, social class, religion, etc. The list goes on and these
are still issues we have today. People who feel like they are an
outsider, an outcast, or different, will always feel some kind of
insecurity as far as how they are going to be accepted in society.
Anyone who comes to watch the show will be able to relate to this, to
see the Waz in them, and hopefully, leave feeling liberated. Liberated
to be themselves, be who they are, and go out in the world to be free
to do whatever it is that makes them happy.
There are two specific moments in the show that complement this
message that I love. We have a moment in the show called Daydreaming.
Waz takes out an old movie projector and watches a clip from when he
was younger. You see a memory of him and his mother playing out in the
fields where he is riding his bike. This transforms onto the stage
where a ballet dancer represents the mother and a flatland artist is a
younger version of Waz performing tricks on his bike. The young Waz
feels insecure about being filmed because of his hair and she assures
him that it is okay, to just have fun and to just be. As we watch them
emulate the mother and son relationship we see the duality of her
pirouettes and his bike spinning. With the swelling of the music and
the pinnacle on the act, the end of it is a beautiful and powerful
moment. You get so emotionally involved in the moment and that to me
is what live theater is all about. That is why it is one of my
favorites.
The second favorite thing I love about the show is the end when Waz
finally finds his true freedom and takes a nice breath of air,
deciding to be himself. He has this incredible dance solo at the end
which is unorthodox because I believe that Cirque fans will expect the
resolution to the story to be strictly acrobatic. When you follow his
journey throughout the show and find the resolution with him, and then
he starts this beautiful solo, it takes you inside. It's a deep and
impactful moment that leaves you with that emotional lump in your
throat. It makes you feel.
------> Those two moments as far as story telling are important. And
as the show is naturally a spectacle, we are also here to give
a message and create a connection and a dialogue with the
audience.
If you are able to sit there, watch the show and feel something, THAT
is what I love about show business and those are the moments that
shine for me the most. And of course, it doesn't hurt to have
incredible acrobatic acts that help complement the journey. The
celebratory finale act with BMX is definitely something not to miss.
Q. The tweaks that you are still doing now, if the flow and evolution
of the story are still there, what's still being worked on?
This week I don't have an idea of what we are working on because we
won't find out until tomorrow. It's probably decided as we speak and
we will roll with the punches once that happens.
Q. Is the team spending a couple of hours a day doing training and a
couple of hours tweaking?
Yes, we have three days this week where we have allotted 2 hours per
day for whatever the stagings will be and whatever the objectives the
team wants to focus on. The creation team know that there are time
constraints as we still need to provide adequate training time on
stage for normal operations.
Q. What are you doing in your downtime while you are in Montreal?
Well because everything has been so busy I haven't had a lot of
downtime but to be honest, since I am such a foodie, I am now trying
to find amazing restaurants. As there are so many great places, I find
myself reading yelp and google reviews and when I can, I go out into
the city and get lost to find the little gems that this city has to
offer. This also helps so I know where to take my mom when she comes
this month.
Q. When the group goes on tour, how big is the team that will go on
the road?
There will be about 120 people who go on tour representing 23
different nationalities.
{ SOURCE: Anna Robb, TheaterArtLife | https://goo.gl/W5dDcs }
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Meet Joey Arrigo Volta's WAZ
{Oct.06.2017}
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Newmarket native Joey Arrigo is making a lasting impression with
Cirque du Soleil.
The 25-year-old is not only the leading character Waz in their newest
show Volta, but he helped develop it as well.
"It was really interesting to be a part of the creation of this show,
rather than just stepping into a role," he said. "It was a really
great opportunity to work with the brilliant minds thatcreate the
Cirque du Soleil shows."
Volta tells a story about the freedom to choose one's own path.
Waz is a celebrity who hosts a game show where middle class people, or
Greys, compete to become part of the Elites. But he has a secret.
"He grew up with blue feathers as hair," explained Arrigo, adding the
character was ridiculed about it, so he covered it with a crown. "What
Waz realizes is he is classifying everybody on their differences when
all he really wants is to be accepted."
Waz later meets the Free Spirits.
"They know all about self-acceptance and self-love," said Arrigo.
He said the character does have parallels with his own life, but the
show also has a message that can resonate with anybody.
"When I started exploring the role of Waz, I had to dig deep into
myself and consider certain things about myself," said Arrigo, adding
that it all tied into the Volta's message.
"We all have things about ourselves that we were maybe once insecure
about," he said. "But those are the things that make us different,
those are the things that make us original, and those are the things
that make us unique."
This is the second Cirque du Soleil show Arrigo has been part of. He
played a trickster in Kooza.
He said he wanted to be part of the company since he was young.
He used to watch one of their first shows, Nouvelle Experience.
"There was something about it, something so magical," he said.
One of the characters was a clown played by David Shiner. Years later,
when Arrigo was in Kooza, he met Shiner, who was the creator of the
show.
"It was a full circle," he said. "The guy who I watched in my living
room, inspired me to be in the company, now I'm leading in his show."
A few weeks ago, Arrigo's career came full circle. He taught a class
at York Dance Academy where he used to dance.
"All I want to do is go in there and share my love for dance, and
return the love that York Dance Academy instilled in me," he said.
"It was so nice to have a former student come back after all these
years and to have him share his passion and talent with our dancers,"
said Angela Tucker, artistic director and owner of the academy. "I
still remember the young four-year-old who had so much energy and
passion for dance. He's now turned into an adult with the same energy
and passion."
{ SOURCE: York Region | https://goo.gl/RsT1VS }
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TheaterArtLife: "Being Bold Matters Julie McInnes"
{Oct.09.2017}
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The extremely talented Julie McInnes has spent her life immersed in
performance. An accomplished musician, actress, and singer, she has
had a long career from expressing herself creatively for Circus Oz to
playing a lead character on tour to delivering the daily grind of
resident shows in Las Vegas. Julies shares with TheatreArtLife insight
into her life, career, and thoughts on the theatre industry and her
path within it.
Q. Julie, How did you begin your career? What were the steps that led
you to leave Australia?
I started young and the learning kept building. I was singing at 7 and
making up plays and asking my friends to play in them. I started on
guitar at 9, cello at 11, saxophone at 22, bass guitar at 28; I took a
lot of classes and workshops; played in all sorts of bands; made music
for theatre, film, and TV.
I made huge sculptures; worked in front and behind the camera in film;
a lot of different jobs. The work in music started to funnel to the
fore and grew around me because people asked me to be in their "thing"
and I said "yes". I joined Circus Oz at age 28 and sometime around
1996 the sound designer for Cirque du Soleil, Jonathon Deans, saw me
performing with Circus Oz. He made the first contact, which led to
Benoit Jutras' (composer) and Cirque's invitation, and eventually to
my acceptance (at age 38). They put out a strong welcoming arm and I
guess I felt it was time to let other people have a go in my shoes at
Circus Oz and, for me, to go and see what Julie McInnes could invent
somewhere else.
"O" was an extraordinary and fabulous introduction to Cirque du
Soleil.
Q. You left Australia many years ago. Is there any part of Australia
that you miss or is it no longer home for you? Where does feel home
for you? If this is not a place, what feels like home for you?
I miss Australia a lot, although I moved from there a third of my life
ago. The beauty of Australia is so vast and varied physically,
culturally, artistically and more
. I have a wish to spend some more
of my life there. Melbourne was my base from age 19, and it's a city
that "has it all".
Currently, my heart is in my home with my partner in Montreal, Quebec,
Canada. Montréal is also a culturally diverse and artistic city and I
have made wonderful friends here. It's also the home of Cirque du
Soleil (CDS), the company that supported me and gave me amazing roles
and work for over 15 years. I have taken part in 5 big productions
created here and, as a result, it's become my North American home,
with the added spice of feeling very European. Something in my nature
has often sought to leave my home country and take a look elsewhere
and as a resident of my third country, I know that big moves across
continents can take a toll.
I think I can say my once idealised notion of being a "gypsy" and the
wanderlust has now been grounded. I still love to travel but I always
love to come home.
Q. It is a common belief that working in the arts is a lifestyle and
not a job. Would you agree and if so, how has working in the arts
defined other aspects of your life?
It's a job. Being a musician is implicitly poetic but step inside a
job as one and there are real stresses physical and mental. We have
to put ourselves "on the line", we are exposed and the measures of
"success" are often intangible.
It's true that artists will often make art, whether they're paid for
it or not, and it is a lifestyle as well. I feel very fortunate that I
have had great stimulating and fun work, doing what I love: to create
music for theatre, to sing and play music, lots of instruments and
lots of different styles
I know people envy paid artists because it looks like fun and not like
a job at all. It is. I have no clue what else I might have been good
at. At times, I berated myself for not doing something that actually
saved anyone or really altered their life for the better but I was
forgetting that good art does that all the time!
Working in the arts has meant that I have a global community and many
great friends who give generously of their bodies, their hands, and
their minds. We do well with a sense of humour, as in any place. How
dry and dull it all gets without a bit of bold foolery. "Let's just DO
IT for shits and giggles".
-----> Most artists are refined observers of people and the world
around them. They're mirroring it back. They expand our view on
life and awaken a connection to each other.
Look at any place where there is an absence of art and notice how sad
and violent it is. Small-mindedness doesn't survive in the arts.
Q. You have worked on the Cirque du Soleil productions of O and KA in
Las Vegas for a number of years. What are the challenges working on
a resident show week after week, year after year?
Working for four years on O and over seven years on KA, 10 shows a
week, was financially and artistically rewarding but very tough on the
spirit and tough physically. My cello thumb conked out about 10 years
ago. I'm trying to repair it now. The repetition is super demanding.
The security can also be very attractive and many people from all over
the world have made Vegas their home, working in either of these shows
or in the other 5 that now exist there. I started with the creation of
O in 1998, and I know many people who are still on the show 18 years
later. They have made families there.
-----> It is possible to have a life outside of the resident shows; we
musicians usually go to work at 5:00pm and are off at 11:15pm.
When I joined the Cirque du Soleil's 2012 touring show Amaluna, I
discovered how much less personal and home time I suddenly had. The
touring shows require a lot more hours, we no longer had the luxury of
what is fixed and organised in our homes, because obviously, we had
given them up.
Instead, we were in hotels and moving all the time. I loved touring
but I eventually missed having my own home. Any of these CDS shows are
built to be repeated many times. Luckily, the shows have been fabulous
and my musical and performing roles pretty varied: using voice, cello,
some saxophone, guitar and tiplé. Once the curtain opens, I become
completely involved. Some people can play and read a magazine at the
same time.
-----> When I am performing, something essential to me is let loose.
It's a place I feel safe in.
Without performing, I can get a bit strange,
actually, I start to
feel out of place.
Q. Did you like living in Las Vegas? What did you like and dislike
about the city?
I struggled a lot with living in Las Vegas, although it is in many
ways an easy city to live in. Sometimes I couldn't find the beauty
outside of our show and that made me feel unwell. After 4 years of O,
I moved back to Australia and then turned around within a year as I
was invited to be in Celine Dion's Vegas production A New Day. This
was too many big moves and changes in 1 year: to leave the security of
job, country and relationship, in my early 40's! Don't try this at
home, in your backyard
or anywhere.
It's not Vegas' fault, but I put my blinkers on when inside a casino,
and just head for the theatre or home. However, to go driving in any
direction out of Vegas brings you to astounding country: Red Rock
State Park, Mt. Charleston, Valley of Fire, Zion National Park, Bryce
Canyon, Grand Canyon, Joshua Tree
that's what I did, and it saved
me. I still own a beautiful home there, visit often, and the city has
become a lot more cosmopolitan.
Q. You have had a long successful performance/musical career. What has
been your most favourite role/job? Why?
My favourite roles? Firstly, my time in Australia's Circus Oz (from
1987-1998) because it used all of me creatively. As the musical
director, I was writing so much music for things that move, directing
other members of the troupe whose musicianship was secondary to their
being acrobats or performers and I was playing on many instruments.
This company maintains strong values, including a policy of 50% men
and 50% women. I was also performing in physical and theatrical acts.
Everybody did a lot of everything and I was lucky they found me. It
was all about collaborating within an innovative contemporary
theatrical circus company. We had to devise our own material, create
and build every part of the show, and then we got to travel the wide
world, from big tops to quaint old theatres.
One month we were flying in an old DC-3 war plane and performing in
the outback to aboriginal communities and the next we were in
Edinburgh, Dublin, Jerusalem, Munich, Sao Paolo, New York, New Delhi,
Osaka. You name it. I was surrounded by all kinds of intelligent fools
and we had to trust and depend on each other or the centre would not
hold. Most of my really cool stuff came from there: the cello-on-the-
wheel, the 4-armed duet on 1 cello, playing in the up-side down band
on the roof, the inventing of strange and intriguing sounds, a lot of
good music tied to the rhythm of the actions and the nature of the
characters. I was inside the action and I blossomed as an artist in
Circus Oz.
In 2011, along came another favourite role which was "Prospera" in
Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna. Inspired in part by Shakespeare's The
Tempest, set on an island of women, with a central wish to highlight
our many strengths.
-----> This role was a gift because it not only used my strengths as a
singer and cellist, it also put me under the spotlight as a
lead character.
This was an artistic muscle that I had missed. After 2 great roles in
O and KA, just when I thought I should be finding a new profession or
find a way to step off the treadmill and out of the pit, I received
this wonderful gift of a role. It literally lifted me up. I got to
rock out on cello while flying high in the big top inside a moon
shaped disc. Thrilling.
I am not saying I am a highly-trained actress but I do know how to get
inside a role and enjoy interpreting and playing with it. A "Prospera"
in the theatre would use text, whereas my text was more in my singing
and cello playing. She was on stage almost all the time, so something
had to be "going on" inside. I was trusted and respected by the
director, Diane Paulus, and the creators, and I cannot overstate what
a difference that makes. Musically, I was given room to bring my own
style, including some vocal percussive things I like to do, and even
playing tenor sax again. This role had "gravitas", the ferocity,
wisdom and love of a sorceress, queen, and mother. I had hit my 50's
and decided to enjoy the fun, unapologetic bold version. "Prospera"
offered some gutsy terrain.
Q. Having been in the circus arena for a long time, do you think there
has been an evolution in circus arts? Do you think that circus
performances are getting better, more innovative and more creative?
Yes or No. Please explain.
The arts and entertainment world has increasingly focused on circus
arts, and there are so many versions of this growth. Humans love to
explore their limits, take risks, fly and flip like their superior
friends, the birds and monkeys, and we invent endless ways to explore
beyond our limits. The range is wide, from traditional to the hundreds
of contemporary: big productions like Cirque du Soleil and small
groups that roll into your town in one bus, to make you gasp and
laugh. There are circuses that have societal and survival focus as
their primary agenda: street kids, women from violent homes, people in
poverty
a Circus Oz troupe member returned to her home in Ethiopia
and started her own fabulous ever-growing circus.
They are many and varied all over the world. I don't think there is a
better art form for quickly building confidence and always with
something you can take home, or do on your own. Where there is no
acro-mat, there might be an old mattress. Circus arts rely on trust
of yourself, with your fellow cast members, with your rigger and it's
made up of a lot of slow but accessible steps under the guidance of
good teachers.
-----> It is no wonder that circus attracts unique and imaginative
people interested in all things peculiar and uplifting.
Q. You transitioned from resident shows to touring with Cirque du
Soleil. What was that transition like, to go back on the move after
staying in one place for so long?
I had missed traveling, so I loved getting to move around and see
places I hadn't seen before. A touring show has a premiere in each new
city and is less repetitive in nature simply because it's broken by
set ups and tear downs, and can rarely afford to blow its performers
out with 10 shows a week (like a resident show).
However, I did miss my home in Vegas and just going to my home with
familiar surroundings and the time to be in my own personal life.
Q. I understand you have left Cirque du Soleil. Where are you located
now? What are your plans for 2017?
I am living in Montréal, learning French, upgrading some artistic
pleasures I left neglected in all that roller-coaster ride. That
includes trying to learn the 21st century way of composing, with
computer programming.
I have been exercising my musical performing self in new ways.
Nathalie Claude and I made a physical and musical duo called Reditum
Lux. We are currently working on staging it again, here and abroad. I
have had a very good time with Momentum, a fabulous Montreal theater
company made up of extremely talented, versatile and passionate
performers. A show we created was a Dada event for the opening of the
Phénomena Festival. Apart from making some pretty unique music in a 2-
piece band with artistic director Jean-Frederic Messier, I created a
solo performance piece. I played with my journey from Australia to
Montreal, from bizarre birds and childhood songs to "I was there, now
I'm here"
arrived to the testing loopiness of the French language
and much more. My lunatic side needed to be let out. I found creating
the solo came easily, it got a great response and I want to do more in
this vein.
Q. Do you have a favourite song to sing/play? What makes that song
significant?
I love Nature Boy by Eden Ahbez. It's a poetic portrait, very
beautiful and very simple in its theme:
-----> "The greatest thing you'll ever learn, is just to love, and be
loved, in return."
Q. Where is your favourite place to be? Tell us why?
I love to be in a place that has space and light, preferably by or in
the water.
I adore the Pacific Ocean: Big Sur and Sea Ranch (California) and the
whole east coast of Australia. I grew up on the River Murray, SA, and
I can conjure up the smell of eucalyptus and dried mud with great
pleasure. I am enjoying exploring the bountiful lakes in Quebec. I am
attracted to beauty and colour and a good view. I don't like noisy or
crowded places. I like cultures that are open, generous and gestural.
I love Italy, Melbourne and my friend's places.
Q. What does Julie do when she is not performing/playing an
instrument/singing?
She paints and wants to do it more often. She loves to make and share
a good meal, read a book she can't put down.
Julie loves a good project, collaborating with passionate and able
others. She loves galleries, museums and seeing many different shows:
theatre, dance, music, cabaret, circus.
Q. Who are the most inspiring people you have met in your life and
why?
I have been inspired by many great generous teachers. I believe I have
always had great people around me and they are the inspiration and
reason for anything that's good about me. Often a kind intelligent
friend has told me a truth, or given me their window to look through,
and it has stopped me in my tracks and caused me to start over with
more clarity.
I am inspired by their independent minds, their courage and will to
stand up for themselves and others with whatever language they've
crafted as their own. I admire my witches and magicians who keep
carving out a changing life with great imagination.
I had a nice talk with Yoyo Ma once, met lots of famous people, but
they were passing figures. To name a few names in my closer sphere:
Victoria Marles, Liz Sadler, Tim Coldwell, Georgine Clarsen, Nicci
Wilks, Teresa Blake, Anni Davey, Deb Batton, Kathryn Bird, Gail
Gilbert, all members of BETTY, Gloria Steinem, Carole Pope, Meredith
Caron, Diane Paulus, Gabriel Pinkstone, Krista Monson, Guy Dubuc and
Marc Lessard, Rachael Wood, Céline Bonnier, Jean-Fred Messier and my
love and partner Nathalie Claude.
Q. What was the last show/event/concert that you saw that was not
associated with your own work? How was it?
I recently saw Christine and the Queens. It was a show that was great
in every aspect the dance, the music, the lights
it was sexy and she
is a mighty force.
Q. If you would give advice to aspiring singers/musicians trying to
break into the industry, what would it be?
Find what attracts you, give it a go, keep looking and learning
and
know when to move on. Good taste matters, being bold matters, and
listening is essential.
{ SOURCE: Anna Robb, TheaterArtLife | https://goo.gl/pwqiYw }
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Joey Arrigo About the Demands of Performance
{Oct.19.2017}
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Joey Arrigo saw his first Cirque du Soleil show on a VHS tape when
he was 5. It was "magic," he thought, twirling in imitation around the
family's Newmarket home. Twenty years later, and countless gruelling
hours of dance training, Arrigo is playing the central character Waz
in the company's production of Volta. He spoke with the Star about the
physical and mental demands of doing up to 10 shows a week.
Q. What does it take to be at this level of performance?
We need to listen to our bodies. That's No.1. I train with my
physiotherapist four to five times a week, doing high intensity
interval training to keep every muscle, joint, tendon as strong as
possible . . . That means weight-training low-weight and high
repetitions to build strong, lean, tighter muscles. As an acrobatic
dancer, I don't want a lot of bulk because that will be harder on my
joints as I'm jumping around.
Q. Some performers overtrain, leading to fatigue and injury. Because
of that, do you ever hold back?
Sure. I've gotten to a point where I've overtrained and I'm exhausted,
physically and mentally. I've learned to listen to my body . . . When
my body is sore and tired, training is not beneficial, so I find an
alternative, like yoga or stretching and make sure I get enough
sleep.
Q. What's more challenging: physical or mental exhaustion?
Mental exhaustion because of the long hours and the crazy things we do
throughout the day. Yes, it's a circus and show, but behind this it's
a business and there are so many things we deal with, on top of
staying physically fit and giving a great show.
Q. How do you give yourself a break?
I go for a walk, go shopping and brunching is one of my favourite
things because it's a big hearty meal. Having "me time" is super-
crucial to then being in this atmosphere. It's a circus (on stage),
but (also behind the scenes), everybody is constantly moving, training
and learning new skills.
Q. Do you worry about injury?
Every day. For any of us, it could be the last day we're performing.
But as long as we do our part keeping ourselves as strong and healthy
as possible, there's no stopping us.
Q. Are you mindful of nutrition?
It's about what you need to put in your body, as opposed to what you
don't. Our bodies require necessary amounts of omega fatty acids,
protein, magnesium, iron, potassium, which are good for muscles and
helping them repair. I have a daily regimen to keep myself as healthy
possible: I eat three eggs every morning. I take muscle-enhancing
supplements, like L-carnitine and CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), and
I drink a greens mix of spirulina, barley grass, kale, wheatgrass.
Throughout the day I eat regularly because we're burning so much . . .
I do utilize, but not abuse, pre-workout powders that get the blood
flowing.
Q. Are there things you avoid?
I drank casually, but stopped for health reasons. Hangovers suck.
Alcohol did things to my stomach that pushed me back as a performer.
I'd get to a level with training and then have a night with a couple
of drinks and the next four days I wouldn't be at that high level
anymore. I would love to have a long career. I want to get the most
out of these years so that maybe in my 60s I can enjoy a brandy once
in a while.
{ SOURCE: Toronto Star | https://goo.gl/2FTHFv }
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Meet TORUK's Peter Kismartoni
{Nov.02.2017}
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Peter Kismartoni didn't want to go to the gymnastics lesson the first
time his parents took him along.
He was just five years old, but with two sporty parents, a sister
already enrolled and a younger brother not far behind, he soon found a
passion for the sport that would set him up for the extraordinary life
he lives now.
This week, 10 years after his YouTube videos of mock-fight scenes and
daredevil antics were shown to recruiters, Peter Kismartoni, from the
Melbourne suburb of Croydon, returns home for the first time as a star
in Cirque Du Soleil's TORUK - The First Flight.
Cirque du Soleil creatives approached the veteran Hollywood director
and film producer, James Cameron (Avatar, Titanic, The Terminator
trilogy) for inspiration for a new show.
It was in Las Vegas where Peter got his first taste of circus life
after a former gymnastics coach alerted scouts, who happened to be in
Melbourne at the time, to his talents.
He was offered a job in the City of Lights almost straight away and
within weeks was on stage performing two shows a night for the masses
in the MGM Grand Resort and Casino, on the famous Las Vegas Strip.
After seven years and over 3,000 appearances in the martial arts-
inspired show KÀ, Peter jumped at the opportunity to be a part of a
new global touring show that was still in its infancy.
TORUK began its 'creation' stage in Montreal in 2015, where artistic
directors and performers worked together for months to develop the new
characters and choreography from the concepts inside the minds of the
show's bosses to a full-blown arena spectacular.
Peter loves his life on the road but admits it can be tough,
especially on his mum who would love to have him come home.
"My mum just misses me but of course she's happy with what I'm doing,"
he said.
"My dad's the opposite though. He says, 'No, don't come home, it's an
awesome way to see the world, don't save your money, just live.'"
The adoring crowds and non-stop adventure around the world can be
exhilarating but for Peter, being able to perform for his parents in
front of a home crowd in Melbourne will be the greatest thrill of all.
"This is where everything began for me. This is where I learnt my
skills and it's just like coming full circle being back here and
performing," he said.
"Not only for my family who took me to gymnastics for so many years,
but for all the people I've trained with and sweated with.
TORUK takes place in the mythical world of Pandora, thousands of years
before the events depicted in the 2009 blockbuster Avatar.
Cameron has previously said that Cirque du Soleil's dreamlike
sequences and artistry inspired his vision for the film which went on
to become the world's highest grossing movie of all time.
What began in the 1980s as a group of street performers in a small
village near Quebec City, in Canada's French speaking region, has
sprouted and grown into a global artistic super-power, reaching over
150 million people in 300 cities around the world.
Cameron has had a big influence on the creative direction of the show
and everything from new choreography to the details of the elaborate
costumes and makeup are run past him for approval.
The Hollywood-heavyweight is often known to be backstage after shows
giving glowing praise to the performers who bring his mythical world
to life each night.
{ SOURCE: ABC Australia News }
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SPECTACLE -- CRYSTAL in the Presse
***************************************************************
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KATC Reviews CRYSTAL at the Cajundome
{Oct.07.2017}
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There's always something so overwhelmingly satisfying about taking in
a performance of Cirque du Soleil. And this weekend, audiences can
partake in Crystal, a brand new production making its North American
debut at the Cajundome and Convention Center in Lafayette.
This time Cirque du Soleil is taking a step into uncharted territory,
mixing their well-known, gravity-defying and artistic performances
with the element of ice. The mixture of disciplines creates a
spellbinding world that makes their new production a show that simply
cannot be missed.
In the beginning, what seems like a frozen world, solid and free from
movement, transforms into a captivating story of initiation and
discovery.
The show centers on Crystal, a young girl facing what all young
children must: their desires to keep their head in the clouds versus
the nagging pressures to finally grow up. Feeling misunderstood,
Crystal takes to the ice and finds herself falling through, presumably
under the weight of her suppressed creativity and her stressful
reality.
The audience is transported to an underwater world as images of
Crystal's free-fall flash across an icy backdrop used throughout the
show. A performer descends from the sky transitioning the audience
from reality and into Crystal's imagination. Here, the show begins.
Performers use the entire length of their frozen stage and the
audience is guided through every moment of Crystal by fantastic
skating choreography and spectacular acrobatics. The ice plays an
integral part in telling the story as performers create lines and
change their environment through projections and motion tracking that
supplies an element of magic to Crystal's world.
At times the pace becomes slow, but after some acts (like a whirlwind
hockey game turned pinball machine that sends skaters flipping through
the air, and a gasp-inducing balancing act ending with a performer
perched atop a tower of chairs directly on the ice) the time to
recover was necessary.
During those times we are wowed again by brilliant skating and the
antics of several performers including that of a friendly clown,
Crystal's imaginary friend.
Of course, Cirque du Soleil could only be so much without the amazing
music and vocals embedded throughout the show. Performed live, the
music never ceases and carries the show to heights unreachable by any
trapeze artist or aerial silk performer. The music even makes it onto
the ice with players in skates gliding around the arena enchanting the
crowd with their musical spells. The audience may even be surprised to
hear covers of popular music that help to move the story along.
Crystal is without a doubt a masterpiece, a beautiful combination of
acrobatics and skating that is accentuated perfectly by a cast of
disciplined performers. Their love of the art and the performance
shows with each executed element and the thunderous applause, joyful
laughs, and stifled gasps that pulse throughout the arena during the
show proves the audience loves it too.
A word of advice for people who decide to attend: wear a jacket and
prepare to go on a journey like no other.
{ SOURCE: KATC | https://goo.gl/4BqWSd }
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CRYSTAL performers arrested in San Antonio
{Oct.11.2017}
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Two cast members of Cirque du Soleil's first show on ice spent part of
their San Antonio visit in a jail cell this week.
(CHECK THEM OUT HERE: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=10870)
Just days ahead of the weekend performances at the AT&T Center, San
Antonio police arrested Cordero Zuckerman, 25, and Shawn Sawyer, 32,
early Tuesday morning in the 1000 block of North Main Avenue.
News archives identify both men as cast members of the show. On social
media pages appearing to belong to the men, they both list Cirque du
Soleil as their employer.
According to a preliminary police report, a bike officer was
patrolling the area after police received several complaints about
people using narcotics at the location.
As police arrived, Zuckerman and Sawyer allegedly popped out behind
boxes placed outside the business.
Sawyer allegedly tried to run away from police, but the officer caught
up to him and placed him in handcuffs. Sawyer, who the officer noted
smelled of alcohol, told him he had just done some cocaine with his
friends, the police report states.
Police then interviewed Zuckerman, who also appeared to be
intoxicated, according to the report.
Zuckerman told police he did not have cocaine on him and allowed the
officer to search him. The officer found a baggy in Zuckerman's
pocket, which Zuckerman allegedly identified as "a little bit of
coke," according to the report.
The two are in town for "Crystal," the Cirque du Soleil's first ice
skating show. The performance is described as an "exhilarating tale of
self-discovery," according to its website.
Cirque du Soelil's media office declined to comment on the incident in
an email to mySA.com.
"As a policy and as a matter of respect for our employees, Cirque du
Soleil does not comment on matters related to their personal life,"
the statement read.
Zuckerman was booked into Bexar County Jail and charged with
possessing a controlled substance and public intoxication. Sawyer is
charged with evading arrest and public intoxication.
Both suspects posted bail later that day, according to jail records.
{ SOURCE: San Antonio Express-News }
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Trinitonian: "Cirque dazzles with CRYSTAL"
{Oct.26.2017}
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Dancing, acrobatics, leaps through the air and more: "Crystal" is the
latest production by renowned Canadian entertainment company Cirque du
Soleil, and it's different from any circus performance you've seen
before. "Crystal" is Cirque du Soleil's 42nd original show since 1984,
and the first of its kind to fuse ice skating and circus acts.
"The inspiration was actually ice as a component of speed, fluidity
and reflexivity, and we wanted to blur skating skills with
acrobatics," said Cirque du Soleil's publicist Julie Desmarais.
I went into the Oct. 19 performance with high expectations. I was not
disappointed. The special effects were beautiful, and the ice skating
added a graceful element to the performance that made it feel like a
ballet. Additionally, the story of a young woman gaining power and
independence in the world resonated with me on a personal level.
"Crystal" is an "exhilarating tale of self-discovery," according to
Cirque du Soleil's official website.
The eponymous main character skates across a frozen lake, breaks
through the ice the show was humorously advertised as a
"breakthrough ice experience" and submerges into a dreamscape where
she can observe and control every aspect of life. In the underwater
world, Crystal goes from schoolyards to business cubicles and follows
her dream of writing. The first act shows Crystal transforming from an
ordinary girl to a woman with increasing knowledge and power in the
world. In the second act, Crystal adjusts to her newfound success and
considers romance for the first time. "Who can I share my now with?"
she asks. Jerôme Sordilton, the artist who plays Crystal's love
interest, soon flies in on red straps attached to a trapeze; he and
Crystal engage in aerial ballet to the tune of Beyonce's "Halo."
In one of my favorite musical numbers, we see a room open on the
staircase where a version of Crystal is shown writing away on a desk,
while on the stage another Crystal subdues gray-robed monsters
played by a group of acrobats with balls of paper. While swirling
words are projected on the staircase and adjoining platform, the
audience hears Crystal's voice over the music. The narrative felt
reminiscent of "Alice in Wonderland," as well as "Harry Potter" and
any other story about exploring a new world and discovering who you
are. The ice elements also reminded me of Disney's "Frozen." But
beyond the references to other media, Crystal was relatable to me as a
first-year Trinity student trying to find my place in the world. There
are many performers who play the part of Crystal in different segments
of the show, and this gives her character a universal quality.
I also enjoyed the swirling troupe of dancers who trailed Crystal as
she embarks upon her adventure. They first appear as gray-robed
wraiths who swarm and threaten her in a "Little Red Riding Hood"-like
sequence when she first breaks through the ice, but later on she
learns to control them through writing. Later the group reappeared as
school children, and then as businessmen in the second act. The first
act ended with Crystal swinging on a trapeze to the tune of Sia's
"Chandelier," and this time the Greek chorus-like group wore yellow
geometric hats and giant wigs that evoked Sia's offbeat aesthetic.
Every element of the show felt very synchronized and planned, which is
surprising because Cirque du Soleil is composed of 1,300 performing
artists from 50 different countries. More than 180 million spectators
flock to see their shows in more than 450 cities on 6 continents, and
19 shows are presented simultaneously worldwide. With such a large and
diverse group of artists, performances like "Crystal" are impressive.
Sordilton discussed the amount of teamwork and trust that went into
"Crystal."
"Especially in this show
everything is about friends being on stage
together and working together.
I would suggest, if Cirque du Soleil
is your dream, just work, work
it is difficult, circus is difficult,
sport is difficult, but I think if you want to achieve a goal, you
just have to really believe," Sordilton said.
"What I really like in Crystal' is the fact that you can find
everything. You can have fun, you can have emotion, you can have,
like, at some point you're scared.
There is acrobatics, there is
theatre
I think you can find a bit of everything in this show."
"Crystal" is a personal narrative of self-discovery, but it's also a
lot of fun.
{ SOURCE: The Trinitonian | https://goo.gl/u3HdMW }
-------------------------------------------------------
Shivers Guaranteed at CRYSTAL?
{Oct.28.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
Since Cirque du Soleil started 33 years ago in Montreal, you'd think
its performers and creators had already explored every possible idea
in their quest to reinvent circus arts.
But one element hadn't yet been incorporated into a Cirque show,
forcing the artists to rethink costumes, training, sets and
choreography: ice.
"The ice was a challenge it was a new component for whatever we
did," says Fabice Lemire, artistic director for "Crystal: A
Breakthrough Ice Experience." The new show comes Nov. 4 and 5 to the
Family Arena. "How do we have acrobats run on the floor? How do they
do tricks? What kind of shoes? What kind of gloves?"
Lemire, who grew up in Paris and has a dance background, had to learn
about the world of ice skating, from the logistics of buying shoes to
sharpening the blades.
All the acrobats and performers in the show had to learn to skate. On
the Cirque du Soleil team, he had the help of Olympic skaters Kurt
Browning and Benjamin Agosto as performance designers.
"I love what is happening onstage," Lemire says. "The blending of the
two together (the acrobatic and skating worlds) is something unique,
and I am completely mesmerized."
Forty artists work on the show, and about 18 of them are professional
skaters. For the first time, two former Cirque performers, Shana
Carroll and Sébastien Soldevila, are show directors. They learned from
each other as they combined skills.
"I have this brilliant clown not a classic clown; he's a fantastic
performer," Lemire says. "We asked him to be on the ice, and he goes
like he was born on those shoes. He had some skating experience with
rollerblading, but now he's doing this."
The ice allows scenes and patterns to be projected onto the ice, which
takes the audience into a new environment without changing the space,
Lemire says. Jugglers and trapeze artists also perform on the ice.
And the main thing the ice adds?
"Speed," Lemire says. "It offers you speed. You can glide, you can
slide. I don't want to give you the ending, but you will see a closing
element of Act 1 that includes speed and heights, and it's really
stunning."
The show tells a story of self-discovery, following a young woman as
she falls through the ice on a lake.
"The metaphor is basically (that) she dives into a world of
imagination as she falls into the ice," Lemire says. "While she is in
there, it allows her to discover and grow."
And yes, she does come back, he assures with a laugh. "There is a
happy ending."
{ SOURCE: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | https://goo.gl/MGco67 }
-------------------------------------------------------
Ice dancer from St. Charles co-stars in CRYSTAL
{Nov.03.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
Madeline Stammen's ice skating has taken her from St. Charles to
cruise ships and now to a main role in Cirque du Soleil Crystal.
The show is the Montreal-based theatrical producer's first to mix its
fabled acrobatics and circus stylings with action on ice.
When Stammen auditioned, she was taking six months away from skating
and thinking about acting on her acceptance to the school of
engineering at New York University. That was after a stint in summer
2016 in an ice show at the Pleasure Beach Arena in Blackpool, England,
called Obsession.
"Their summer production is a pretty big show a lot of skaters wind up
doing," Stammen said. "And it was nice to be in one place for a bit."
Stammen, 23, says that because she launched her professional skating
career at sea. For several years, she performed on cruise ships.
"I skated up to the senior women's level (in ice dancing and freestyle
skating) until I was 18 and only in the United States," said Stammen,
a St. Charles East High School graduate. "I always enjoyed the
performance aspect of skating (more than competition) anyway, so it
was a natural progression. A month after turning pro, I popped up on a
ship. It was a blast."
Ice shows at sea involve working on a rink an eighth of the size of
arenas, Stammen said, "and the ground moves as you're skating." She
wound up having four cruise ship contracts that took her to ports in
the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, Scandinavia, Asia and Australia.
Her parents, John and Christina Stammen, who still live in St.
Charles, caught all her nautical shows, and her three brothers and one
sister made the ones they could.
"My parents are my number one fans, and the shows were an excuse for a
vacation," Stammen said.
After the land-based job is England, though, Stammen wasn't sure what
she wanted to do.
"But God or the world pushed me to apply (for the Cirque du Soleil
show)," she said.
She sent in a video to show her skating skills, then Cirque provided
her a piece of music to which she was to improvise a routine and
videotape her performance of it. Stammen said she was hired within the
week.
"This is a new thing for Cirque du Soleil. They've never employed
skaters before, so it's been two worlds colliding and collaborating,"
Stammen said.
Rehearsals began in June in Montreal.
"We are all athletes, so we understand each other in that sense. But
we have different processes. Acrobats and the circus performers with
Cirque come from a place where they are open to trying to create
something different. Skaters tend to use moves that are part of a set
arsenal," Stammen said.
The Cirque performers "are kicking my butt," she said. "I was like a
T-Rex, with strong legs but no upper body strength. Now I can do pull-
ups."
Stammen plays The Reflection, the alter ego of the titular character
Crystal. The story involves the misfit Crystal seeing her reflection
on a lake, then meeting that reflection under the water. The
Reflection is the dark side of Crystal, Stammen said, and takes
Crystal through an underworld to look back on her life.
The show's tour began in Lafayette, Louisiana, on Oct. 5, and is using
smaller markets to develop in advance of the official premiere in
Montreal Dec. 20. Publicist Julie Desmarais said the plan is for
Crystal to be a roadshow for five years or so.
Cirque du Soleil Crystal comes to Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates Nov.
16 - 19. Stammen said the tour is the first time she has skated
professionally in the United States.
"It will be kind of cool for my coaches and my friends to come see me
and what I do. It should be special," Stammen said. She learned to
figure skate from Jill Carson, then Candy Brown Burek, training at Fox
Valley Ice Rink in Geneva and All Seasons Ice Rink in Naperville.
"I remember trying at 3 years old and thinking I could do what the
teacher did, then falling. I was one of those kids who sat on the
bench and cried all the time," Stammen said. "From what my mom tells
me, I asked to go back again when I was 6, and the rest is history."
The show takes a break after the Hoffman Estates performances, so
Stammen said she is looking forward to getting to spend a bit of time
at home.
"The first chance I get, I'm going to the All Chocolate Kitchen in
Geneva," Stammen said.
{ SOURCE: Chicago Tribune }
-------------------------------------------------------
Cirque Du Soleil's 'Crystal' Will Wow Audiences
{Nov.03.2017}
-------------------------------------------------------
Jerome Sordillon is an aerialist with "Crystal," Cirque du Soleil's
new show on ice that opens at The Family Arena this weekend. He
performs the acrobatic portion of the show, swinging dozens of feet
above the ice, suspended only by a pair of wrist straps.
At one point, during a beautifully choreographed ballroom dance,
Sordillon lifts the main character off her skates and they soar
through the air together. "I'm holding on to her," he said. "She's not
holding on to anything. So it takes a lot of trust."
Trust, and plenty of practice. Do they use a net? "No," Sordillon
said, "I am the net."
Originally from Lyon, France, Sordillon has been performing in
circuses for over a decade, since he was 19 years old. He's been on
tour with Crystal since June.
And he's just one of 83 cast and crew representing 19 different
nationalities that make the show possible, said Crystal publicist
Julie Desmarais.
Desmarais explained that show-goers are in for a treat. "Crystal is
the story of a girl who has her head in the clouds, she's a dreamer,
and she's not super comfortable in the environment she's in. One day
she ventures out onto a frozen pond, and the ice breaks. She falls
into a surreal underworld than opens her up to new possibilities."
Desmarais said Crystal is Cirque du Soleil's first production on ice
in its 33-year history. "It's something that we've wanted to do for a
very long time. We really wanted to explore the speed, fluidity and
reflection that ice provides."
She thinks the show would appeal to the whole family. "I think we'll
see a lot of audience members finding an element that reaches out to
them. It's a brand new experience. And it will feature pop songs as
part of the storyline that people will recognize."
She said audiences could look forward to remixes and covers of songs
by Beyonce, Sia, U2 and more.
{ SOURCE: St. Charles Patch }
=======================================================================
ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION
=======================================================================
o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
{Amaluna, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia, Totem & Volta}
o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues
{Varekai, TORUK, OVO, Séptimo Día, & Crystal}
o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre
{Mystère, "O", La Nouba, Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE,
MJ ONE, & JOYÀ}
NOTE:
.) While we make every effort to provide complete and accurate
touring dates and locations available, the information in
this section is subject to change without notice. As such,
the Fascination! Newsletter does not accept responsibility
for the accuracy of these listings.
For current, up-to-the-moment information on Cirque's whereabouts,
please visit Cirque's website: < http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/ >,
or for a more comprehensive tour listing, visit our Itinéraire
section online at: < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?page_id=6898 >.
------------------------------------
BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau
------------------------------------
Amaluna:
São Paulo, BR -- Oct 5, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
Rio de Janeiro, BR -- Dec 28, 2017 to Jan 21, 2018
Rosario, AR -- Feb 14, 2018 to Feb 21, 2018
Buenos Aires, AR -- Mar 15, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
Cordoba, AR -- Apr 16, 2018 to Apr 29, 2018
Koozå:
Shanghai, CN -- Oct 2, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Beijing, CN -- Dec 15, 2017 to Feb 11, 2018
China City #3 -- TBA 2018
China City #4 -- TBA 2018
China City #5 -- TBA 2018
Kurios:
Vancouver, BC -- Oct 19, 2017 to Dec 31, 2017
Tokyo, JP -- Feb 7, 2018 to Apr 8, 2018
Osaka, JP -- Jul 26, 2018 to Oct 29, 2018
Nagoya, JP -- Nov 22, 2018 to Jan 27, 2019
Fukuoka, JP -- Feb 15, 2018 to Mar 31, 2018
Sendai, JP -- April 2019
Luzia:
Atlanta, GA -- Sep 14, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Los Angeles, CA -- Dec 7, 2017 to Feb 11, 2018
Costa Mesa, CA -- Feb 21, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
Washington, DC -- April 2018
Boston, MA -- TBA 2018
Monterrey, MX -- TBA 2018
Guadalajara, MX -- TBA 2018
Mexico City, MX -- TBA 2018
Totem:
Madrid, ES -- Nov 10, 2017 to Jan 14, 2018
Seville, ES -- Jan 25, 2018 to Mar 11, 2018
Barcelona, ES -- Mar 23, 2018 to Apr 15, 2018
Malaga, ES -- May 31, 2018 to Jul 1, 2018
VOLTA:
Toronto, ON -- Sep 7, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017
Miami, FL -- Dec 15, 2017 to Feb 4, 2018
Tampa, FL -- Feb 15, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
Uniondale, NY -- TBA
------------------------------------
ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues
------------------------------------
Varekai:
Allentown, PA -- Nov 9, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Syracuse, NY -- Nov 15, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Philadelphia, PA -- Nov 22, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017
Biloxi, MS -- Nov 29, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Hidalgo, TX -- Dec 6, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017
Fort Worth, TX -- Dec 13, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
Frisco, TX - Dec 20 to Dec 23, 2017 (FINAL SHOW)
TORUK - The First Flight:
Melbourne, AU -- Nov 2, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Adelaide, AU -- Nov 16, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Perth, AU -- Nov 24, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Bangkok, TH -- TBA 2017
Dubai, UAE -- Jan 4, 2018 to Jan 17, 2018
China -- TBA 2018
OVO:
Hamburg, DE -- Nov 1, 2017 to Nov 5, 2017
Berlin, DE -- Nov 8, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Mannheim, DE -- Nov 15, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Cologne, DE -- Nov 22, 2017 to Nov 26, 2017
Stuttgart, DE -- Nov 29, 2017 to Dec 3, 2017
Nuremberg, DE -- Dec 6, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017
Munich, DE -- Dec 13, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
London, UK -- Jan 7, 2018 to Mar 4, 2018
Hanover, DE -- Mar 14, 2018 to Mar 18, 2018
Oberhausen, DE -- Apr 5, 2018 to Apr 8, 2018
Krakow, PL -- Apr 13, 2018 to Apr 15, 2018
Gdansk, PL -- Apr 19, 2018 to Apr 22, 2018
Saint Petersburg, RU -- Apr 28, 2018 to May 5, 2018
Moscow, RU -- May 8, 2018 to May 20, 2018
Kazan, RU -- May 23, 2018 to May 27, 2018
Togliatti, RU -- May 30, 2018 to Jun 3, 2018
Sochi, RU -- Jul 10, 2018 to Jul 29, 2018
SÉPTIMO DÍA NO DESCANSARÉ:
Guadalajara, MX -- Nov 8, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Mexico City, MX -- Nov 28, 2017 to Dec 23, 2017
Panama City, PA -- January 2018
San Jose, CR -- February 2018
Guatemala City, GT -- March 2018
Coral Gables, FL (Miami) -- April 2018
Inglewood, CA (Los Angeles) -- May 2018
Asuncion, PY -- June 2018
CRYSTAL - A BREAKTHROUGH ICE EXPERIENCE:
St. Charles, MO -- Nov 4, 2017 to Nov 5, 2017
Minneapolis, MN -- Nov 9, 2017 to Nov 12, 2017
Hoffman Estates, IL -- Nov 16, 2017 to Nov 19, 2017
Worchester, MA -- Dec 7, 2017 to Dec 10, 2017
Quebec City, QC -- Dec 13, 2017 to Dec 17, 2017
Montreal, QC -- Dec 20, 2017 to Dec 31, 2017 (GALA PREMIERE)
Windsor, ON -- Jan 3, 2018 to Jan 7, 2018
Detroit, MI -- Jan 10, 2018 to Jan 14, 2018
Pittsburgh, PA -- Jan 17, 2018 to Jan 21, 2018
Topeka, KS -- Jan 24, 2018 to Jan 28, 2018
Colorado Springs, CO -- Jan 31, 2018 to Feb 4, 2018
Cedar Park, TX -- Feb 14, 2018 to Feb 18, 2018
Phoenix, AZ -- Mar 8, 2018 to Mar 11, 2018
Tucson, AZ -- Mar 14, 2018 to Mar 18, 2018
San Diego, CA -- Mar 21, 2018 to Mar 25, 2018
San Jose, CA -- Mar 28, 2018 to Apr 1, 2018
Rio Rancho, NM -- Apr 4, 2018 to Apr 8, 2018
Abbotsford, BC -- Apr 11, 2018 to Apr 15, 2018
Penticton, BC -- Apr 18, 2018 to Apr 22, 2018
Prince George, BC -- Apr 25, 2018 to Apr 29, 2018
Red Deer, AB -- May 2, 2018 to May 6, 2018
Saskatoon, SK -- May 16, 2018 to May 20, 2018
Medicine Hat, AB -- May 23, 2018 to May 27, 2018
---------------------------------
RESIDENT - en Le Théâtre
---------------------------------
Mystère:
Location: Treasure Island, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark: Thursday/Friday
Two shows Nightly - 7:00pm & 9:30pm
2017 Dark Dates:
o November 8
Special Performance Dates:
o Fri, Nov 24, 2017
o Fri, Dec 29, 2017
o Sun, Dec 31, 2017 | 4:30pm & 7:00pm
2017 Single Performance Dates:
o Fri, Dec 08 | 7:00 pm
"O":
Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday
Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 9:30pm (as of Aug 12, 2015)
2017 Dark Dates:
o November 29 - December 12
La Nouba:
Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm
*** CLOSING DECEMBER 31, 2017 ***
Zumanity:
Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
KÀ:
Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
LOVE:
Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday
Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm
MICHAEL JACKSON ONE:
Location: Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas (USA)
Performs: Two Shows Nightly - Dark: Wednesday/Thursday
Schedule: 7:00pm & 9:30pm on Friday, Saturday, Monday & Tuesday
4:30pm & 7:00pm on Sunday
JOYÀ:
Location: Riviera Maya, Mexico
Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday
One/Two Shows Nightly:
9:00pm (Weekdays)
7:00pm & 10:15pm (Fri, Sat & Holidays)
=======================================================================
OUTREACH - UPDATES FROM CIRQUE's SOCIAL WIDGETS
=======================================================================
o) WEBSERIES -- Official Online Featurettes
o) VIDEOS -- Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
---------------------------------------------------
WEBSERIES: Official Online Featurettes
---------------------------------------------------
*) THE WORLD OF...
Each week we're going to get a closer look at one of Cirque
du Soleil's 19 shows that stretch from Las Vegas to Tokyo and
everywhere in between!
o) EPISODE 5 - THE WORLD OF... OVO {Oct.06}
Rush Headlong into a New Ecosystem! OVO is teeming with life.
Insects work, play, fight and look for love in a non-stop riot
of energy in motion. Their home is filled with biodiversity,
beauty, action and moments of quiet emotion. The awestruck
insects are intensely curious when a mysterious egg appears,
representing the enigma and cycles of their lives.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/x-lQyDhTHDE >
o) EPISODE 6 - THE WORLD OF... TOTEM {Oct.14}
Head Backstage and Journey into the Evolution of Mankind -
TOTEM follows the human species from original amphibian state
to ultimate desire to fly. The characters evolve on a stage,
evoking a giant turtle, the symbol of origin for many ancient
civilizations. TOTEM explores the ties that bind Man to other
species, his dreams and his infinite potential.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/ZAiS9WuvkAM >
o) EPISODE 7 - THE WORLD OF... SEPTIMO DIA {Oct.20}
SEP7IMO DIA NO DESCANSARÉ blends the wonder of Cirque du
Soleil with the explosive pop-rock energy of Soda Stereo
Argentina's musical icons to immerse spectators in the
band's symbolism and poetry. In a breathtaking display of
Cirque du Soleil's signature artistry and physicality, SEP7IMO
DIA conjures a world outside of time a place where emotions
ebb and flow like the tide, pulsing to the rhythm of the
band's emblematic songs.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/K37KAkRZYmk >
o) EPISODE 8 - THE WORLD OF... ZUMANITY {Oct.27}
Zumanity is a seductive twist on reality, making the
provocative playful and the forbidden electrifying! Leave
inhibitions at the door, let loose and marvel in a sexy thrill
ride full of sensational acrobatics and naughty fun. Part
burlesque and part cabaret, Zumanity is one full night you'll
never forget! Created for adults 18 and over. Only at New York-
New York Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/TGoit435dG4 >
o) EPISODE 9 - THE WORLD OF... TORUK-THE FIRST FLIGHT {Nov.03}
Cirque du Soleil in a stunning new light inspired by James
Cameron's Avatar, Cirque du Soleil transports you to the
world of Pandora in a visually stunning live setting.
Experience a storytelling odyssey through a new world of
imagination, discovery and possibility.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/89SKQEnvTOU >
*) CIRQUE STORIES
"Cirque Stories," an exclusive Cirque du Soleil YouTube series
which highlights artists' journeys to the circus. Follow along
with us every week as we go behind the scenes and discuss the
path to become a Cirque performer. In these first episodes,
discover how some of the Cirque du Soleil artists from our Las
Vegas shows get there in their own unique #CirqueWay.
o) EPISODE 5 - WHO IS BRIAN DEWHURST {Oct.26}
Who is Brian Dewhurst? Only a legend in the Cirque Community.
He is currently the oldest Cirque du Soleil Performer as the
clown in Mystère. Bryan has performed in many other shows, as
well has continued his family legacy with many relatives
performing in Cirque as well! Listen to his wise and
historical story in this week's episode of Cirque Stories.
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/5JA36IhjSh0 >
*) "COME TOGETHER... AGAIN" THE BEATLES LOVE GETS AN UPDATE
o) EPISODE 12: THIS IS IT! {Oct.13}
Hard work pays off! In this final episode, we come together
to celebrate our virtues, victories, and amazing feats. A
big thank you to our fans for going onthis journey with us.
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/415LPb >
*) CARVING CRYSTAL
o) EPISODE 1 {Oct.05}
In honor of tonight's tour launch in Lafayette, Cirque is
presenting the first episode of Carving Crystal! Watch as
they take you behind-the-scenes on the journey of creating
the first breakthrough ice-experience from Cirque du Soleil.
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/UtySbB >
o) EPISODE 2 {Oct.18}
Go behind the scenes with the CRYSTAL creatives who trans-
formed traditional skate park elements for this exciting,
on-ice act.
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/Kzb25B >
o) EPISODE 3 {Oct.25}
In this week's episode, see how CRYSTAL sharpened their
skates to experiment on the ice and create a frozen
playground full of magic.
LINK ///< https://goo.gl/XRP65s >
o) EPISODE 4 {Nov.02}
See how CRYSTAL fuses groundbreaking circus arts with
exceptional ice skating in the latest and final episode
of Carving Crystal. Stay tuned for more exciting behind
the scenes action coming soon!
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/5wNmtM >
*) MUSIC VIDEO w/LYRICS
o) KURIOS - "Bella Donna Twist" {Oct.10}
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila, milatomi
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila, milatomi
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila milatomi
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila, milatomi
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lara para parira pueyra
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lala lara paririri
[Male voice]
Ladies and Gentlemen
Do you want to see the dive?
Ha ha ha! Say Yes!
Retro ballroom
Ha ha ha!
Ladies and Gentlemen
Do you want to see the dive?
Ha ha ha!
Retro ballroom
Ha ha ha!
Say Yes!
Retro ballroom
Ha ha ha!
Skreich
Move your body!
Shake it!
Shake it!
Shake it!
Shake it!
Melilato, melso
Melimelilato, melaso
(scat)
[Female Singer]
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lara para parira pueyra
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lala lara paririri
Rapa para papa parea
Rapa pero, tero
Papa para papa para
Rapa parapea
Para para papa
Para para papa
Si ma ra ba pèropo
Si ma ra ba yo
Si ma ra ba pèropo
Si ma ra ba pèrowo
[Male voice]
Ladies and Gentlemen
Do you want to see the dive?
Ha ha ha! Say Yes!
[Female singer]
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila milatomi
Melilato, melilato
Melila, melila, mila, milatomi
Melilato, melilato Ahhh
Rapa para papa parea rapa parapoui
apa para papa parea rapa parapoui
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lara para parira pueyra
Lara puey ra
Lara puey
Lala lara paririri
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/EnhOp7v00Wc >
o) TOTEM - "Omé Yo Kanoubé" {Oct.17}
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omeyokanayo djeso omeyokanoube
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Tonge nge nge nge nge nge tonge
Tonkpa a tonge kpa
Tonge nge nge nge nge nge tonge
Tonkpa a tonge kpa
Zigi pa fe zigi pa zigi pa fe
A tonge kpa
Tonge nge nge nge nge nge tonge
Zigi pa fe a tonge
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahhhhhhhhhh
Ahaaaaaaaoh
Ahaye ahaya ahaya oh
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahaaaaaaaaaaaa
Ahhhhhhhhhh
Ahaaaaaaaoh
Ahaye ahaya ahaya oh
Omee o me yo kanoube
kamekanayo djesono ka we
Ome ome yo kanayo kanoube
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/_Auj52jXBb8 >
o) KÀ - "If I Could Reach Your Heart" {Oct.24}
If I could talk to you,
Just a few words
O makunda o makunde
If I could reach your heart
with those simple words
O makunda o makunde
Maybe we could learn to trust
Si koudali yet matsure unde
See the best in us
si koudali yet matsure
If I could sing to you
and make it through
O makunda o makunde
If I could see your soul
when you smile and say
O makunda o makunde
Maybe we could learn to share
Si koudali yet matsure unde
As we dreamt one day
Si koudali yet matsure
Tamali yet matsura
Si koudali yet matsure unde
Tamali yet ma
Si koudali yet masture
Maybe we could learn to love
Si koudali yet matsure unde
As we dreamt one day
Si koudali yet matsure
Tamali yet matsura
Si koudali yet matsure unde
Tamali yet ma
Si koudali yet matsure
Spread the word and say
Koudali o makunde
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/rFVSUM2axtU >
---------------------------------------------------
VIDEOS: Official Peeks & Noted Fan Finds
---------------------------------------------------
*) OTHERS...
o) Cirque HQ Open House Tour
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/jOGexBnxp3M >
o) International Artists Day!
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/YTRuyh >
o) Makeup Showdown - Halloween Special
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/aOvALIb5RKE >
o) Behind the scenes with Coach Igor Arefiev (Septimo Dia)
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/qLHpFHzUsEo >
o) The Automation and Machinery of Sep7imo Dia
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/uGyg-s2p4LQ >
o) Meet Kasper Moller - Master Gymnastics Tumbler (Septimo Dia)
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/yTHk3Go3vqo >
o) Can you play guitar underwater? (Septimo Dia)
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/5wVX5bFSf2Q >
o) Halloween Makeup Tutorials
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/a8bwDKW77U4 >
o) Imagine Dragions "Whatever it Takes" Music Video
Imagine Dragons new music video "Whatever it Takes" took
place right in our very own Cirque du Soleil "O" stage in
Las Vegas! Watch Dan Reynolds and the band conquer our
fully subversive stage in this brand new behind the scenes
look at this music video!
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/gOsM-DYAEhY > (Actual Video)
LIUK /// < https://youtu.be/UADjBy9Grps > (Behind the Scenes)
o) TRICKSTER Clown Makeup Step by Step
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/kJrTisEMWPQ >
o) Makeup Transformation: Valkryie
LINK /// < https://youtu.be/ByAVdbYdkIc >
o) AMALUNA: Meet the Teeterboard Boys
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/SgfgDt >
o) AMALUNA: Get to know the Unicycle sisters!
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/Nk9rmD >
o) TORUK: 5@5 w/Associate Company Manager Gabriel Montpetit
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/uPghnB >
o) Dive behind the scenes with the Vegas Golden Knights
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/wWBdKg >
o) Discover the Circus of Unity Project
LINK /// < https://goo.gl/84n5uk >
=======================================================================
FASCINATION! FEATURES
=======================================================================
o) FANS REVIEW CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, AGAIN!
- "New Fauna in the Human Zoo" by Sean Zaremba
- "LUZIA Wows Chicago!" by Katherine Bull
- "TORUK Down Under" by Aidan Lam
- "Fabulous like a CRYSTAL" by Josh Sobiecki
o) THE BOOK OF JOYÀ - BRINGING CIRQUE TO MEXICO
Part 2 of 3: "Sweet, Savory, and Surreal"
Edited by: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
o) "We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 7 of 16: Saltimbanco, Part 2 (1993)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
FANS REVIEW CIRQUE DU SOLEIL!
A Special Collection of Reviews by Cirque Fans
-----------------------------------------------------------
"New Fauna in the Human Zoo"
by Sean Zaremba
----------------------------
I recently saw Zumanity on October 13 and 15th. Reports said that the
show changed about 30% in February 2015, and I think that's a fair
assessment. Most of the show is still reminiscent of the original
routine. Here's an outline of the show:
The pre-show still consists of Li and Lu handing out strawberries and
pushing their way through the audience. Jonas Woolverton from Cyr
Wheel is a new character called the Casanova, who is very much like
Antonio Drija's Gigolo, as he hits on the ladies. Dick and Izzy also
come out. Izzy tries to find a boyfriend from the audience and her
husband pulls out pink and blue dildos and starts a "sword fight" with
them. The Molinier comes on stage for flare. Several of the artists
come out about 10 minutes before the show starts (same time the pre-
show starts) to wander through the lobby.
Eventually, Eliot Douglas, Cassiopée Lapierre, Corinne Zarzour and
Alan Jones Silva make their way on stage for Warnings. There is a
completely new tune for the rules of the house, but the lyrics stay
the same. Alan's new "bad boy" character shows as he starts to smoke a
cigarette on stage and gets yelled at by the singers. Also, Cassie
doesn't wear the R&B singer outfit but something quite rocker/punk.
Then we have the Welcome. The gorgeous Edie comes out dressed to the
nines to greet and question the audience. Marie-Anouck Margueritte and
Casanova also come on stage.
"As the winds blow in from the east, I summon the spirits of lust,
passion and ecstasy. Allow them to arouse and awaken your deepest
fantasies." The Wind act now has three spirits: Arnaud Boursain,
Monteece Taylor and Ashley Galvan. The music now has a much more
Arabian flare. Makeda Crayton arrives as Afrique for the second part
of the act.
"Do you remember your first hint of something delicious and strange,
like your very first wet kiss, or like a glass of champagne? Do you
remember how in one magical moment everything changed?" The classic
Waterbowl act is much the same as it always was, featuring Ulziibayar
Chimed, Balormaa Zorigtkhuyag and Estefania Laurino experiencing their
love for the first time, surrounded by adoring Zumans. Jill Crook
walks around the back of the stage in her latex dress and a bouquet of
roses. This is my current favorite song for Corinne.
"Innocence, so fleeting so fragile. One moment you're a sweet young
thing, and the next thing you know you're smoking hot and naked in a
hotel room in Vegas! Sound familiar? Now I know you've been looking at
all these gorgeous, sexy women. But you know what I'm craving? I'm
craving a hot, hunky, horny
Oh, I should have been more specific.
What I really want is a tall, masculine man to drop in and
oh! Ask
and you shall receive!" It opens like the old Hoops act, but this is
Chains with Brandon Pereyda. This is a super loud and fast-paced act.
I loved it. Brandon flies over the stage in every direction dangling
by his feet. The song is the CD's "Into Me."
"Look out, ladies, cuz here comes Magnum. He's an undercover agent and
it's no secret he's on a mission. Who's gonna share that special bond,
is it you? Catch him if you can! Hurry up, Magnum, before that big
gadget explodes!" Rose Boy got a haircut ( :'( ). He now comes out of
a porthole in the stage dressed in a scuba suit, which he strips off
to reveal a formal suit, much like our beloved James Bond would do.
Even the opening music sequence sounds James Bond. Changed, but he
still tosses out the roses to the audience.
Scotch baggies! Our first clown act features Izzy pouring Scotch (or
tea rather) into sandwich baggies and having her new boyfriend from
the audience tape them on. Then she sticks in a straw and drinks them
down to perfect size. "So if you're interested in my tits, call 1-800-
BAGGIES, I'll sell you a pair! Cuz let's face it, you are not gonna
see this over at the Celine Dion show."
Cyr wheel was in on the 15th. It's a great act where Jonas spins super
fast around the stage, although he no longer appears as Comet.
Now the Dance on TV music starts to play, but surprise, it's Elena Lev
doing her hoops act! It's very reminiscent of her Alegría act though
much more sensual. School Girl is at it again! Yes, we "remember you!"
<3
"You know what I like? I like the illicit tingle of skin on skin, the
taste of sweat, and that pungent scent of passion. How bout you? Are
there parts of your lover's body you've left unexplored, untasted,
untouched? I guess my only question is, What are you waiting for?'
Sex is beautiful, isn't it? Well it is if you have a partner, or two,
or three, or seven
" It opens like Hand2Hand but now's Dislocation
with Araz Hamzayev. It's still just as amazing as ever before, as Araz
does remarkable tricks with his body in front of the Vixens and Li and
Lu.
"Now it's no secret that within all of us is male and female energy.
One is strong, the other even stronger. Let me and my incredible
dancers entice you, to unlock and unleash your inner diva." Another
new act, Perfect Jam. This one features Arnaud Boursain, Ashley
Galvan, Marie-Anouck Margueritte, Brianna McKee, Kaitlyn Reese Davin,
Leah Sykes-Hodgson and Monteece Taylor dancing, with Corinne, Cassie,
Melle Vasquez, Geneviève Dubé and Mariko Muranaka rocking out on stage
behind them (a lot like Amaluna's musician jam). This is by far the
loudest act of the night. The dancing is on point. This is also my
favorite song for Cassie. "If you call me, I'll be at the show
tonight!"
"Half way around the world, his loved one is away. It's raining and
descending in his thoughts are the warmth of their love, the softness
of their lips, the caress of their touch. It's late, he's restless and
alone again tonight, and not knowing when they'll be together again
sends his emotions flying." This act is Trapeze with Arthur Morel van
Hyfte. It's been in since April and will be leaving in December (so go
see it!). It's a beautiful act where Arthur takes to the skies in a
dance with the heavens. In the end, he descends onto a bed where
Brianna McKee waits for him. They embrace each other very roughly in
what hints at an opening to very lustful sex. The music still uses the
country-twang "Libera me" that Corinne sings so wonderfully.
Lite is a new clown act where Izzy and Dick bring an audience member
on stage to rave out with him. Edie then joins them and Izzy and Dick
take off all their clothes to reveal the old Pompoms fake sex organs.
:P
Dima Shine's Hand-Balancing is next, with a new pole! He ascends
higher and higher into the air balancing and dancing on the pole to
"Mio bello, bello amore."
"Are you still hiding from monsters under your bed, skeletons in your
closet? Follow me to a place where rules are broken and pleasure
dances with pain." First Antonio Moore, the Faun, break dances in the
Expressions act. This moves into Inferno, where Wes Scarpias appears
on stage with a whip, and Edie invites us to experience the Straps
act. This is my absolute favorite act, so I could say quite a bit
about how poetic and beautiful it is. I'll keep it short and say that
it hasn't changed. Jill still is surrounded by candles and silence.
Whispering in French, she asphyxiates herself with the straps in
masochistic pleasure. Geneviève plays on stage behind her (and always
makes me cry) until she descends with a sigh into the stage. It's
gorgeous.
Now we have our last Izzy and Dick clown act, Vegas Hookup. They
select a man and a woman from the audience. They're taught by the
Sexperts how to quickly progress to the point of sex during a date.
Then a bed appears on stage where they're told to mount and ride each
other. They descend into the stage and a bunch of silly string squirts
up into the air simulating you-know-what. ;)
The last acrobatic act of the night opens with a gorgeous piano,
violin and cello medley of "Wind" and "Mio bello, bello amore." Alan
appears to woo Mariko into loving him with his beautiful maneuvers on
silks. Eventually the music takes a turn into the hardcore with a
rave-like sequence, and Alan becomes his bad boy self again, flying
roughly through the air.
"You can't keep love locked up in the bedroom. Tonight, let your
imagination have free reign. Let your fantasies take you to unexpected
places." The classic Midnight Bath act is still in, where Monteece
Taylor, Marie-Anouck Margueritte and Chaun Williams foreplay in a tub.
This leads into the Lazy Susan of Sex, which is still just as
hilarious as it ever was. The entire cast drifts half naked onto the
stage for a gentle orgy. Edie brings a man and a woman on stage to be
played with and humped. She also goes around and once again questions
and jokes around the audience about their love lives.
As the night comes to a close, the entire cast reunites in their best
costumes for the Extravaganza. They do a few final dances and the show
ends.
Hand2Hand was out because of an injury Wayne Skivington sustained, but
both he and Ekaterina Bazarova are back in the show now. Also, Wes
Scarpias and Sebastian Castellanos will be performing 2Men starting
tomorrow. Michael McNamara and Marina Tomanova will be back in Aerial
Dream in January.
On a few final notes, I did enjoy the show very much. I will always
prefer the original routine, but the refresh is just a different side
of the world that is Zumanity, and just as wonderful. As a Cirque
music lover, I do miss Corinne's rock Libera me and Dance on TV, which
I thought were her best songs besides Waterbowl. I also miss her old
rock goddess outfit. My other complaint would be that they seem to
have done away with a lot of the characterization, as well as many of
the themed costumes. So many of the cast just mainly wear underwear
now throughout most of the show. The acts also do not have as much of
a story behind them like they did before. Other than that, it's a
beautiful show. I can't wait to see it again. Lastly, a shout out to
Edie to thank her once again for taking me backstage, and a thank you
to the members of the cast who met with me and let me take photos with
them. <3
"LUZIA Wows Chicago!"
By: Katherine Bull
----------------------
I saw Luzia in Chicago on Sunday, September 2, 2017. This is my
review...
My expectations for Luzia were very high. I was totally disinterested
when it was first announced and became even less so as details about
its development emerged, but since then come to look forward to Luzia
more than any new show to date. I've also known more going in than I
have for any new show in my experience, which in retrospect may have
been a tiny mistake. I knew the show front to back before I even saw
it live, so while I knew exactly where to look and what to appreciate
at every single moment, it took away a bit of the wow factor. I'm
going to try not to engage quite so deeply in the future just to
preserve a little more of the magic.
Luzia is the most human Cirque du Soleil show I've ever seen. For once
we aren't strangers in a strange world, we're visitors in a wondrous
one, and it's such a refreshing take that I didn't know I needed.
Luzia doesn't shy away from showing us the curtain from which artists
enter and exit, it's not afraid to clear a stage of set pieces right
in front of the audience, and at times it even celebrates both. The
props are simple and often huge and visibly held by the artists. It
has the occasional effect of a high school play, but in such an
honest, welcoming way that makes you love it all the more: this world
is real because they make it real for you. The rest is created by
lluvia y luz, just like the music promises, and the rain curtain and
sun disk are two of the most extraordinary and effective feats I've
seen in a touring show. My face hurt by the end of the show because I
spent every second smiling.
Pre-show animation: The most involved I've ever seen! They go far
beyond the usual characters milling around and messing with the
audience. Hummingbirds stretch their wings and preen, musicians strum
a calming melody right at the center of the stage, and dancers share a
brief waltz, all in a huge field of marigolds with the sun disk dark
and blinking with fireflies in the background. The show starts long
before the opening and I encourage anyone seeing Luzia to take their
seats at least twenty minutes in advance. It's so tender and
immersive.
Opening: My immediate reaction is that this is a show to be admired
from every angle. Right from the get-go the stage rotates so everyone
can enjoy the Running Woman's magnificent wings and the horse behind
her. I didn't have Shelli Epstein as the Running Woman, and while I
don't know who it was, she had a pretty different affect - she was
more aloof and I think it affected the initial "welcome" into the
show, but she turned up with a bigger role in Russian swings than I
expected too. I love love love this opening.
Hoop diving: They were having so much fun! The energy was incredible!
Oddly though, we had at least three major misses and only one trick
was attempted a second time. The act turned out to be a bit chaotic as
a result and maybe the music doesn't support extra attempts, but the
show was off to a bit of a rocky start because of it. The treadmill is
such an exceptional set piece that I'm surprised we don't get to see
it again after this act. Maybe it's tough to roll out again once they
start getting serious with the water, but I feel like it could have
been utilized more in a perfect world.
Adagio: As emotional as I expected, and the control shared by this
quartet is remarkable. Every toss, every trick was so smooth and so
collected. All we got was confidence, emotion, and calmness. It was
beautiful. The stage did feel a bit cluttered at times because there
are so many other artists in the background, though the silver animals
they're wearing are beautiful (especially the iguana). "Tiembla la
tierra" is a work of art and I can't even really go into it because I
will talk about Majo later and also because I don't have words to
describe it. It's a beautiful song delivered beautifully to accompany
a beautiful act.
Cyr wheel/trapeze: We only had one cyr wheel artist that night, which
I do feel like threw off the balance of the act a bit but I doubt I
would have thought that unless I knew there were supposed to be two of
them. (I hear they're training up a male replacement for the second
artist, which I don't personally care for, but who knows, I'm sure
it'll still be good.) The set in particular is beautiful in this act:
the yellow-orange sun blazes behind sparse, spindly trees, and you
really do feel like you're in a desert. The Running Woman kneels down,
checks the ground, and finding it dry, calls down the rain to the
wonder and delight of audience and artists alike. I can't imagine what
it must be like to perform trapeze or cyr wheel while soaking wet, but
you'd never think it made a difference watching them. The cyr wheel
dress held its spin beautifully, and the fact that I noticed this
detail at all is really something - they really thought of everything
in this show.
Handbalancing: I didn't expect to love this act but it was so much
fun! Ugo is a wonderfully expressive actor, the seagulls lowering the
equipment was an adorable touch, and the rest of the casts'
involvement as extras was so camp and fun. The mirror costumes are a
delight! They were exactly the kind of thing that made me skeptical of
Luzia in development but they really are great. This act was a big
crowd favorite.
Freestyle football: Is anyone in the cast having as much fun as Abou?
I honestly don't think so. His enthusiasm was so infectious. Laura had
a drop and maybe this wasn't her best day, because their interactions
didn't feel much like a competition or one-upsmanship. I wondered if
this act might be stronger as a solo. The teammates in the background
looked like they might jump in but they never really did. That said,
nothing prepares you for the intensity of "Pambolero" live! It was
incredible.
Cierra los ojos: This scene delivers on every possible level. The way
Majo's dress blooms is splendid, and I'll have to take another look at
the DVD to see if the rain curtain reviews the acts we've seen and
previews the ones to come because I suspect it does in subtle ways.
The reminder of the key got a gasp of recognition from the audience,
which I really loved. I wonder if the change in the Running Woman's
participation here was a good one: she used to be lowered from the top
of the tent while running, then lift away again, but now she wanders
out on foot, then spins upwards with her hand in a Spanish web loop.
It's beautiful, but I'm not sure it reinforces her transience as a
migratory character as well as the original version did. Regardless,
the curtain behind the sun disk opening up to reveal the entire cast
emerging from the bright fog is beautiful and powerful. This is
probably my favorite transition to intermission ever, or at least a
strong contender for Quidam. The band isn't shown often, but how can
you forget they're there when they're featured so wonderfully in
moments like this? This scene was as great a highlight as I hoped.
Poles: We're back! And suddenly we're in a jungle! And it's beautiful!
I think this act might have been stronger as a purely pole dancing act
rather than including Chinese poles - I know they're already there as
part of the 360 swing setup, but with so much going on it was a little
hard to see and appreciate the real star artist of this act.
360 swing: Adorable character moments, especially for Majo! I loved
her little interaction with the organ grinder, and her enthusiasm for
the act overall was just so cute. The crowd went nuts for this small
interim act.
Aerial straps: This was my favorite act of the night and the perfect
example of this show creating so much from some little. Show me eight
vines, two straps, one pool of water, and one jaguar puppet and I'll
show you an act that feels mystical, voyeuristic, and intimate all at
once. I slept on "Tlaloc" for far too long; it's one of the most
beautiful songs in the entire show. Aerial straps has long been a good
standby act for Cirque (much like cyr wheel) but this one screams
stand-out rather than standby. Beautiful in every way.
Juggling: Out for my show! I don't really care much about juggling,
but I was excited to see how fast he could spin them. And the song is
supposed to be great! I wanted to see those crocodile heads on the
marimba players! Oh well, next time.
Contortion: I have never seen a man that thin and that bendy in my
life and I feel like I probably never will again. Every time I see a
Cirque contortion act I think "okay, that's the best one I've ever
seen." Alegria had calm beauty, Kooza has magic, Kurios has frenetic
energy, O has grace, but Luzia's is the most extreme. I didn't even
know what I was looking at at some points. It felt like a true treat
to see him perform.
Russian swings: Wonderful finale act. I loved the Running Woman's
strong involvement and I loved the way the sun disk illuminated to
punctuate every landing. It was a huge crowd pleaser and as high as
the energy is, you do get the sense that the show is winding down. Day
has turned to night, the sun has become a moon. This act is really
unforgettable.
Finale: The water finally does what the tourist wants!! He remembers
he's just a visitor but can take his memories with him!! THEY'RE A
FAMILY I'm so emotional. What a wonderful show.
Clowns: None! A dream come true! The humor is built right into the
acts and characters but none of the momentum has to slow down for
traditional clowning. The tourist is definitely a clown character, but
he's never once annoying or over the top. The cactuses are cute,
unobtrusive, and I'd like to see practically every Cirque show take a
leaf or two from Luzia's book in this respect going forward.
Music: Ugh. I just. Jesus Christ. It was everything I had hoped.
Majo's sincerity and passion resonate through the entire tent and you
feel so present with her. Usually there's one song I don't care for in
every show, but I feel like every single one of them was great in
their own way. I didn't care much for the Indian Singer but now that
he's gone, I love it all across the board.
Sun disk: This is up there with the telepherique and sand cliff deck
for best CdS set pieces for me. The way it looks like paint smears
over it in adagio is the perfect example of the emotion and dynamism
this piece brings to the show: it's so elegant and essential, you
hardly need anything more to create a scene. And on top of that it
moves! it turns! it moves upstage and downstage!! Are you kidding me??
I thought it just sat there! This thing is a work of art.
Overall: I loved Luzia. My only regret is that I went in a little too
informed. There was so much to love there, I wish I had been just a
tad more surprised. I have no idea when it'll turn up in my home city
so I'm very glad I went out of my way to see it now. Can't wait to see
how things develop down the road!
"TORUK Down Under"
By: Aidan Lam
----------------------
So here comes my long delayed review. I can't stress enough that the
criteria I am reviewing the show is based on a generic live show NOT
by the typical criteria I look for in a cirque show. Toruk wasn't
designed to be a conventional circus show but instead a live Avatar
story. I understand why this would annoy/disappoint some people, but
by going in without any expectation for cirque I enjoyed myself 10x
more and so that is what I'm basing my review off.
Before I start, heres a few things I noticed from my trip: This is the
first cirque show to use mini GPS in the costumes that link to
autospots (I assume this is also used in Crystal). I've seen footage
of when the technology was first used in Disney on Ice and the lights
were jagged and delayed in movement, thankfully, it has been fixed and
is just as smooth as a human directed light. Also excitingly, Toruk is
getting a new, modified Toruk puppet which is being integrated this
month. Also, I heard from some friends that Cirque is changing
direction towards another mass production period, and we can expect a
burst of more portable, arena type shows in the next decade.
Opening: Slightly less energetic than I was expecting. The projections
were ok, but the fact that the stage was empty was very evident. 6/10
Omaticaya Clan/Hometree: This scene was so immersive and really
captured the essence of an extra-terrestrial world. I am a sucker for
percussion, and having the artists fly up was very exciting. The ball
game they play was also thrilling to watch, yet short enough that it
didn't get too repetitive. 9/10
Initiation/Cadre: Disappointing. Maybe its because I wasn't stage-side
but the Mother Loom was fairly small in terms of the whole scale and
none of the tricks were particularly impressive. The initiation
dragged on and was a bit confusing. I get that Entu dropped the seed,
but then he still received the bow and then snapped it in anger... Umm
what? I thought he failed the test... 5.5/10
Shaman's Vision: Love the use of the blowing cloth over the flower.
Very well conveyed artistically, but dragged on a bit much. 7/10
Aerial Strap: I love how they used the straps to show the way in which
Entu interacts with the Tree of Voices, but acrobatically lacking and
just a bit boring. 6/10
Tawakami Clan/Aerial Silk: I love the floral theme and the giant
flower petal costume. The silks were again well used in terms of
artistically conveying the stem of the flower, however again it wasn't
terribly strong acrobatically. 7.5/10
Contortion/Skeleton Balancing: Highlight of the show, I love the
concept of the aparatus and especially how they turn it to into
something reminscent of the Toruk. Baskaa was amazing as always, but I
feel her skills weren't highlighted to their potential. The
porjections were very well used to make the skeleton seem like it was
on a planet floating through space! 9/10
Chinese Poles: Ok act, but just leaves me wanting a decent
Saltimbanco-esque chinese poles. No standout tricks, but I did like
the dynamic element to the act. 6/10
Kekunan Tribe/Boomerang/Kites: Visually very beautiful, kites were
manipulated very well and really did look like flying birds. Boomerang
had such potential based on the trick shot video posted on here a
while ago, but instead ends up more as a juggling act using boomerangs
(instead of balls) which gets repetitive and lackluster. It is too
insignificant on the grand scale of the stage and doesn't make an
impact. 8/10
Floating Mountains/Toruk: The puppet is awesome in both scale and
vibrancy, the bridge looks very precarious and I loved the use of fog
to make it seem like they were suspended high up. But unfortunately a
floating boulder blocked my view for a lot of this scene. 7/10
Flooding Hometree/Flooding: The projections really came to life and
the interactive element of the dam wall is great, only problem is it
drags on for too long. Just hurry up and tear down the wall!! Finale
is beautiful and I LOVE the music. Talking about the music, hats off
to the Sequencing sound tech, GSM and singer, they coordinated it
really well (considering there's no band). 7.5/10
Overall: Beautiful show, but very lacking in wow moments
acrobatically. I know that wasn't their foucs, but cutting some of the
narrative elements and adding more circus elements will benefit the
show. Plot went on a little long, but it isn't a terrible show. I
enjoyed it, as an avatar show but not a circus show. 7/10
"Fabulous Like a CRYSTAL"
By: Josh Sobiecki
-------------------------
So, now that I have time. I will take this time to rate and review how
I felt about Cirque du Soleil's Crystal.
First, overall the stage was absolutely beautiful. The detail that was
out into the stage was just phenomenal. I will post pictures later,
but on top of the portal (as my love calls them) there is a lot town/
city. And it is so detailed you could even see the shingles in the
roof. Then, the lighting and the effects of the stage were even
better. It was such a beautiful piece. And the doors that they had
were very well hidden for the most part. Just one was obviously
visible. And the blues and pinks that used on the stage more was
fabulous like a crystal would be. It was huge. Not like most of the
other portals that I have seen.
Second, the music. Oh so heavenly! Had the electric violin which, I
feel produces an amazing sound. The few songs that they did use by
other artists actually fit the story line of the show. I will admit I
was worried about it at first. But, they blended them really well.
And, I like the show it had its dramatic changes. Which made it even
better. Not to mention the softness that was part of the closing. What
was to me a more up beat and faster passed song it was gentle like the
closing was.
Third, the acts. Unlike most of Cirques' other shows were the banquine
is at the end, they opened with it. It was amazing and dramatic. Then,
came juggling which I did not like. The ice is too slippery of a
surface for them to use. They should have performed on sliding
platforms instead. I got distracted by the balls that they were
dropping. After, was the solo trapeze with the first non-cirque song.
Which the act was astonishing. Then, came the extreme skating or the
pinball machine as i like to call it. The fast passed Irish music fit
really well with the amazement of the skating. And the smooth
transition from the icy stage floor to the synthetic ice ramps was
flawless. Then, we had a 20 minute intermission.
After, the intermission they opened with a weird dance as the stage
was covered with these fold-able glass panels that they moved around.
It was interesting. Later, they did the suspended poles which was
cool. They did some unique tricks, and the non-cirque song that they
used for that act was good. I found myself to focused on the act and
did not pay attention to the lyrics to the actual song. The aerial
straps act that they had which had the third non-cirque song was
absolutely breath-taking. Halo actual mixed so fluently with the act.
The duo trapeze act that they performed later was also great. Tossing
the main character from the stage floor to the guy on the trapeze bar.
It was beautiful. Then, there were two acts that I did not really care
for. They had these three couples doing some paired skating, but it
was lacking in unison and skill. They seemed to be afraid to do a lot.
But those same three couples came out during the finale and did some
more risky tricks. Almost as though they stored their energy until the
last minute. Aside from that act was this weird skating trio that
skated around and as they slide to stops you could hear the sounds of
the ice scrapping in the stereo system. It was not very good. Finally,
the closing of the show brought the last non-cirque song. I really
liked it the tricks and stuff that they did during that performance
was good.
Finally to finish my review of the show. The story line. It had a
seemingly similar story line as that of Quidam. It tells how Crystal
has a problem with doing the simple tasks she is given as she
elaborates them and brings them into her own world. And, the story
begins there as she tries to escape the pressure. She goes to skate on
the ice. And sees the girl she wishes she could be, but the world is
trying to prevent her from being. And as she sees this girl the ice
begins to break and she begins to sink, and that is when the show
transforms from her actual life to seeing what is going through
Crystal's head. And at the end she accepts that she has to abide by
the rules of the world in order to make in through. And we switch back
to real time as she fights to swim to the surface and break through
the ice. It is very obvious to see parts of the story line, but some
are more difficult.
Overall, I have had three shows that stood out for me and have been my
favorite. Number One was Kurios, La Nouba, and Varekai. But, now I
have to admit this blew Varekai out of the water and below the ice as
Crystal has taken the place as my third favorite Cirque Du Soleil
show. Now, I just have to wait for the dvd and cd for the show. Then,
I can enjoy the show more without having to travel to it. Because I do
not have the money to travel all over. And, hopefully it will come
back to Florida again very soon after its premiere. I will see it.
Jacksonville, Tampa, Orlando, Miami, which ever one takes it.
------------------------------------------------------------
THE BOOK OF JOYÀ - BRINGING CIRQUE TO MEXICO
Part 2 of 3: "SWEET, SAVORY, AND SURREAL"
Edited by: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
-----------------------------------------------------------
JOYÀ is an engaging, immersive, multisensory experience in which joy,
courage, and friendship conquer all, but with the show beginning its
fourth season in the Riviera Maya (on Wednesday, September 27th), I
realized there's very little I, here in the United States, know about
this unique show. A few weeks back I sought to rectify that by getting
my hands on a hardcover book Vidanta Resorts provides to its members:
THE BOOK OF JOYÀ. This book, while not a tell-all, is a wonderful
reference source about the production and has given me wonderful
insights into not only the show itself, but the Theater, the Grounds,
and the Menu!
So, in celebration of JOYÀ beginning its fourth season (it'll also
celebrate its third year of existence in November), I began sharing
the texts found in the book - in three parts. Part One (last month):
"A GEM IN THE JUNGLE" covered the development of the concept and the
grounds. Part Two (this month): "SWEET, SAVORY, and SURREAL" takes a
peek at the menu and the show itself. And in Part Three (next month):
"Innovator Profiles" we'll meet creators and some of the cast that
brought the show to life.
Let's continue, shall we?
----------------------------
THE BOOK OF JOYÀ, PART TWO:
"SWEET, SAVORY, AND SURREAL"
----------------------------
"The JOYÀ dinner experience should be as enjoyable and
surprising as the show itself. It should feel like you are
eating part of the show."
Alexis Bostelmann, Vidanta corporate chef.
Like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or the magically surreal
stories of Gabriel García Márquez, things are rarely as they seem
inside the Cirque du Soleil Theater especially at the dinner table.
Here, heavenly desserts hide inside giant library books. Caviar is
made from fruit. Breadsticks, like bonsai trees, grow from their
bowls. And it is perfectly normal for you to tip your dinner menu into
salsa and take a bite. The three-course JOYÀ dinner tempts every sense
with culinary wonders as spectacular as the Theater, music, and
performances of JOYÀ. It is the first dining experience of any Cirque
du Soleil production and another tasty step on an unforgettable
journey. So, if the Cirque du Soleil Theater and its immaculate
grounds are where you begin your journey into the world of JOYÀ, then
the dinner experience is where you cross the threshold into the truly
fantastic. The new aromas, tastes, and sights of the gourmet meal
fully immerse you in the magic of the moment. JOYÀ takes you on a wild
journey where you meet new characters and see things that only happen
in dreams. The JOYÀ dinner takes you on another trip this one
mouthwatering through the rich culinary history of Mexico, bite by
bite.
INSPIRATION WITH AUDACITY
-------------------------
If you've ever vacationed at a Vidanta destination, then you've tasted
the culinary gifts of Chef Alexis Bostelmann. Chef Alexis leads a team
of executive chefs, sous chefs, pastry chefs, butchers, and kitchen
assistants responsible for the incredible dining experiences at over
120 restaurants at the Vidanta destinations across Mexico. His
training began in his parents' kitchen in Mexico City. He then
traveled the world, cooking for celebrities and heads of state, then
returned home to Mexico and Vidanta, where his menu and presentations
for the JOYÀ dinner have garnered accolades from food critics and
audiences alike. To create the unforgettable dinner loved by so many,
Chef Alexis explored traditional and modern cooking techniques and
found inspiration in the geography of Mexico, the culinary heritage of
the Yucatan, and the story of JOYÀ. When asked about his goal for the
JOYÀ dinner experience, his answer is simple, "I want to surprise the
audience."
Vidanta Corporate Chef Alexis Bostelmann and his team combine
traditional Mexican flavors with modern cooking methods to create the
exquisite dishes on the Joya dinner menu. The flavors of the Maya
dance on the palate with herbs like Chaya and epazote, xcatic and
habanero peppers, annatto, pumpkin seeds, mole-inspired sauces, and
bright citrus. Special culinary styles open up a whole new world of
taste and texture for dinner guests liquid nitrogen is used to make
the Dragon Breath, and molecular techniques are used to create melon
caviar and other edible oddities.
Chef Alexis and Cirque du Soleil wanted to create the feeling that the
dinner was an extension of the show Mexican artists created the
plates and food presentation elements to match the JOYÀ set. But like
the JOYÀ show, the dinner menu is in constant transformation. So, the
dishes you enjoyed once before will be different when you return. But
they will always be delicious.
A MOST MAGICAL MEAL
-------------------
THE PLANNING The JOYÀ dinner had to be as unexpected and memorable
as the performances themselves, and it had to be delicious. This was,
after all, Cirque du Soleil's first production to include food.
Vidanta's Corporate Chef, Alexis Bostelmann, worked closely with
executives from Vidanta and Cirque du Soleil for over a year before
the show opened to create the menu and to design a kitchen that could
support such an incredible culinary experience. After experimenting
with hundreds of dishes and presentations, the menu was set. But
executing the JOYÀ dinner would prove to be the greatest challenge
Chef Alexis and his team at Vidanta had ever faced.
THE SERVICE - Each night, the three-course JOYÀ dinner is served to
almost 60 guests (twice if there are two show times) in less than 45
minutes, with full wait service before and during the show. To
efficiently and safely serve food and drinks among actors and acrobats
who often perform in the aisles and on top of tables, the dinner staff
routinely rehearses with the cast and crew. "This took an incredible
team because what is normally possible in a standard restaurant isn't
as easy to do from the belly of a strangely shaped theater," Chef
Alexis notes, "so timing is everything."
THE TIMETLINE A dedicated team of nearly 100 chefs, waiters,
bussers, and bartenders work throughout the day to prepare for the
JOYÀ dinner service.
o) 7:00am The tapas prep cooks arrive and prepare 1,200 tapas
servings
o) 9:00am At the Vidanta resort kitchen, breads are baked,
desserts made, and meat trimmed. Chefs and cooks arrive and
start preparation for dinner, sear and braise meat, prepare
dehydrated veggies, and begin slow-cooked items.
o) 12:00pm All the staff arrives at the theater and stars
preparation of fruits and vegetables.
o) 1:00pm Breads, deserts, supplies, and the staff meal are
transported to the Theater from the Vidanta kitchen
o) 2:00pm Staff enjoys lunch
o) 4:00pm Appetizer plating begins.
o) 4:30pm Waiters set up tables with glasses and flatware
o) 5:00pm All food preparation is complete
o) 6:00pm Plating of tapas and the dessert book
o) 7:00pm Bread basket set up
o) 7:30pm Entrée plating begins
o) 7:45pm Theater doors open for VIP guests.
o) 7:50pm - Appetizer and tapas served; Dragon Breath given to
guests.
o) 8:00pm Waiters take entrée orders
o) 8:20pm Entrée served
o) 8:30pm Dessert served
o) 9:30pm Tables cleared and kitchen cleaned
o) 11:00pm to 7:00am Deep cleaning of kitchen
MENU HIGHLIGHTS
---------------
MERCIER CHAMPAGNE When one takes an extraordinary journey to magical
worlds, one must stay hydrated. Because experiencing JOYÀ is an event
worth celebrating, champagne was the beverage of choice. After a
number of tastings, the Vidanta team felt that Moet & Chandon's
Mercier Brut Champagne was the only bubbly worthy of the JOYÀ
experience. It has a soft sweetness, delicate bubbles, and a clean
finish. This variety of Mercier Brut can only be found in France and
at the Cirque du Soleil Theater at Vidanta Riviera Maya.
DRAGON BREATH Another playful surprise waiting for JOYÀ dinner
guests is Dragon Breath, an amuse-bouche made tableside with freeze-
dried tropical fruits quickly dipped in liquid nitrogen. As you eat
it, your breath condenses and steam billows from your nose like a
dragon. This is a bite to remember!
THE BOOK OF DESSERTS The passing of knowledge is one of JOYÀ's
central themes, and the classic symbol of knowledge, the book, is seen
many times throughout the show and set. And in dessert. One of the
more memorable moments for dinner guests is when they receive their
dessert box. Uniquely crafted for JOYÀ, the dessert boxes are large
books that open to reveal a quartet of delectable desserts.
The JOYÀ gastronomic experience sets the stage, as it were, for diners
to experience the performance collectively in the spirit of the Mayan
greeting "In Lak'ech Ala K'in" (which means "I am you and you are
me"), which speaks of unity and oneness.
A PLACE WHERE ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE
----------------------------------
"JOYÀ is a unique Cirque du Soleil experience. The theater, the
dinner, and the show all contribute to a complete evening. It's
a fantastic privilege for guests to be so up-close to the
performers and to be totally immersed in a dream world where all
your senses are involved." Joel Bergeron, Director of JOYÀ.
Welcome to a place where anything is possible. Here, up is down. Left
is right. Backwards is forwards, and the past is really the future.
Our guides on this whimsical journey are sweet JOYÀ and her zany
grandfather, Zelig. They'll take us on a whirlwind of adventures
through time and space where we'll meet peculiar creatures with
superhuman powers. They will do things that bend the mind and baffle
the eyes. We'll battle pirate ships, cannon fire, and dinosaurs.
Rockets will shoot across the stage. We'll swim under sea and breathe
just fine. In this magical new world, statues come to life, giant
flowers grow in seconds, and paper butterflies fall like soft rain.
And you have a very important part to play. Welcome to JOYÀ.
But what is JOYÀ? Is it theater? A circus? A musical? Comedy or drama?
History or science fiction? Maybe fantasy? The beauty of JOYÀ by
Cirque du Soleil is that it is all of those things and much more. It
is a mind-bending, genre-blending show that has truly created a new
category of immersive entertainment. JOYÀ invites you to leave this
world for a while, forget what you know, and trust your imagination.
We are guests at a Parisian art deco theater in 1920. Then we're
aboard a traveling spaceship. Next we are inside a giant machine, the
belly of a robot. Maybe we're all just small creatures in an ancient,
giant library.
The performance happens in front of you, behind you, and sometimes
right under your nose characters emerge from every nook and cranny
in the theater. It is a show full of incredible energy, endless
surprises, and stunning physical and mental feats. JOYÀ combines all
of the artistic and technical disciplines acting, music, sound,
lighting, special effects, makeup, costumes, sets, props, and
storytelling to stimulate every sense and fully immerse you in a
magical world. Take your seat. You're in for a wild ride.
ALLUSIONS AND SYMBOLS
---------------------
Our story begins in the whimsical workshop / laboratory / library of
Mr. Zelig, an endearing old alchemist who performs mad experiments to
find the meaning of life, helped by his band of half-animal, half-
human assistants. Joya, his granddaughter, pays Zelig a visit and
accidentally leads them on a wild journey through the magical
mangroves. Along the way, they encounter strange characters who do
amazing things. Throughout their zany and mysterious journey, Zelig
passes generations of knowledge to JOYÀ, teaching her important
lessons about nature, the universe, and herself. The story of JOYÀ is
a story of love love for family and friends, love for learning, and
love for life.
The story of JOYÀ is about Mexico in many ways, drawing inspiration
from Mexico's complex history, diverse cultures, and the beauty of its
art, architecture, and environment.
THE BUTTERFLY Seen throughout the show, the butterfly is the classic
symbol of transformation, beginning life as a caterpillar, retreating
to its cocoon, and emerging as a magnificent winged creature. Joya,
the character, is our butterfly who transforms from a clumsy teenager
into an enlightened hero. The monarch butterfly is also famous around
the world for its spectacular 2,500-mile migration from Canada (the
home of Cirque du Soleil) to Mexico (the home of Vidanta), where it
spends the winter. A perfect symbol of JOYÀ's two parents.
BOOKS Symbols of knowledge, books are everywhere in JOYÀ a book is
the main prop in the show that gets passed between characters; large
volumes tower behind the stage; and desserts are even served inside
books. The set itself was inspired by the UNAM library in Mexico City,
the largest library in Latin America and one of the oldest in the
Western Hemisphere. Even the costumes of the pirates are made from
hundreds of pages torn from books.
METEORS The meteor that makes a dramatic appearance in the show
refers to the Chicxulub crater buried beneath the Yucatan Peninsula
where JOYÀ takes place. The crater is the result of a meteor that hit
Mexico millions of years ago, triggering a mass extinction of the
dinosaurs (we meet two dinosaurs in the show). The meteor is a visitor
from another world, like many of the show's characters, and symbolizes
the end of one era and the beginning of something new.
There are many other hidden symbols in JOYÀ. You'll see references to
Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera, allusions to the stories of Octavio Paz
and Carlos Fuentes, and hits at the work of Guillermo del Toro. We
can't divulge too many secrets here. You'll have to see the show
more than once to find them all.
THE MANY MUSICAL JOURNIES OF JOYÀ
---------------------------------
A singer with a soaring voice like a celestial being from another
time. A trumpeter whose sweet, sublime sounds come from everywhere
the stage, the aisles, and the catwalks. A percussionist who plays
mischievous beats. A guitarist who blends the sounds of rock, samba,
and merengue. These are the artists who make the stunning music of
JOYÀ a whimsical score for a wild night. The music of JOYÀ is your
incredible guide through a strange new world, zigging and sagging
alongside JOYÀ and her grandfather on their magical journey. In true
Cirque du Soleil fashion, the music and the artists who create it are
main characters in the show. Their unforgettable melodies bring all
the elements together to create the mind-blowing spectacle that is
JOYÀ. And also in true Cirque du Soleil fashion, there are surprises
everywhere. What guests don't realize is that there are really four
parts to the musical experience of JOYÀ:
THE WELCOME PARTY The music starts when you arrive. The sounds of
different Cirque du Soleil shows play throughout the grounds, filling
the air with excitement and whimsy, reminding you that this is a place
of magic and of fun you are in Cirque du Soleil's world now and
anything is possible.
THE VIP SHOW Guests who choose the VIP dinner experience are treated
to a spirited performance by Arpason, a lively trio of musicians from
Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Mexico. As you dine on exquisite dishes and
drink delicate champagne, the festive sounds of rumba, cha-cha-cha,
samba, and merengue fill the electric air. The musicians all sing,
snap, and clap along to well-known beats, play the harp, violin, and
drums and even do a little tap dancing to liven the mood. Sometimes,
guests get a lucky visit from the JOYÀ vocalist or trumpeter who join
the band. It's a bustling treat to an incredible evening.
THE MAIN EVENT When the house lights dim, ethereal music welcomes
you to the main attraction. Angelic vocals and regal trumpets announce
your arrival to Zelig's Naturalium. The beat quickens, and the amazing
trip begins. Live music is always a part of Cirque du Soleil's
performances the music is just as important as the acts themselves.
The musicians of the JOYÀ ensembles merge musicals styles from around
the world to create a beautiful and balanced score that sets the mood
and supports the actors and acrobats. You'll hear traditional Mexican
melodies, Caribbean drums, improvisational jazz, rhythms, merengue,
rumba, samba, and rock all in one show. The music guides you through
all the emotions of the story drama and deceit, comedy and the
absurd, elation and inspiration. Some songs are fast-paced and full of
action, some zany and unpredictable, and others delicate and
introspective. Each one takes you to a different dimension of the JOYÀ
universe deep under the sea, through the Mayan jungle, and even into
the afterlife. The final song leaves you energized and inspired with a
modern rock anthem backed by powerful vocals that linger playfully in
your head as you leave the theater still in awe of what you have
seen and tasted.
THE AFTER PARTY As you leave the theater, humming the JOYÀ songs and
wondering what you just experienced, you'll hear it from far away
the kitschy catchy sound of The Red Shoes. At Nektar, the all-female
group from Cancun performers covers of your favorite pop songs in
their signature quirky style to keep the experience going. And yes,
they do wear red shoes: red velvet heels, to be precise. And finally,
as you leave the JOYÀ grounds, the musical experience comes to a
close. But not to fear! With your newly purchased JOYÀ soundtrack
(wink, wink), you can relive the experience over and over again,
whenever you need to add a little magic to your everyday life.
* * *
JOYÀ BY THE NUMBERS
-------------------
o) 10,000 the number of beads and jewels in the masks worn by
Zelig's Masters.
o) 33 full time performers.
o) 35 full-time theater technicians
o) 15 months it took to prepare for JOYÀ
o) 6 months it took to build the set.
o) 6 - costume designers who take care of the actors' wardrobe
o) 6 - Zelig has six half-human, half-animal assistants: the Master
of Time (the rabbit), Master Physicist (the iguana), Master
Botanist (the cat), Master Archivist (the bird), Master
Alchemist (the ram), and the Master Entomologist (the lemur).
o) 4 times each performer rehearses his/her routine each week.
Being part of Cirque du Soleil show is often considered the pinnacle
of success for performers only the world's top talents are asked to
join the renowned organization. For JOYÀ, Cirque du Soleil assembled a
team of acrobats, aerialists, actors, jugglers, dancers, and magicians
from all over the world, including Mongolia, Ukraine, France, England,
Japan, Canada, USA, andMexico. Cast members follow a strict training
schedule, exercising every day and often practicing their full
routines four times each week to maintain the excellence and stamina
required for the rigorous JOYÀ schedule.
Next time we'll hear from some of the cast and creators of JOYÀ in THE
BOOK OF JOYÀ, PART THREE: "INOVATOR PROFILES".
------------------------------------------------------------
"We're Off and Running - A Series of Classic Critiques"
Part 7 of 16: Saltimbanco, Part 2 (1993)
By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA)
------------------------------------------------------------
A few weeks ago, as I was flipping through a few classic Cirque du
Soleil programme books (as is my wont), I was happily caught off-guard
by a brief history of the company that it had written about itself in
Saltimbanco's original European Tour programme, published sometime in
1996. Not because the historia was in English, French, and Spanish,
but rather I found the wording a bit more colorful
haughty
than what
you'd find from the company today. Something about its whimsical and
heady nature spoke to the way Cirque du Soleil saw itself then,
containing a youthful verve and arrogance that is simply no longer
present. When did Cirque lose this dynamic sense of self, this
liveliness, and vivacity about its past, present, and future?
Unfortunately, not long after. Thereafter the speak becomes less joie
de vivre and more lié aux affaires, and Cirque du Soleil turns from a
rag-tag band of street performers into a bona fide corporate entity
right before our very eyes. This is not a new revelation far from
it in fact but this re-discovery struck a chord of curiosity within
How did others see Cirque du Soleil during this period?
Think about it: as Cirque's multitude of shows travel around the globe
in either arenas or under the big top, at each stop, in each city,
there is a write-up in the local press. Sometimes the coverage is just
a brief blurb about the show and its theme, occasionally there's a
short interview with a performer, a stage hand, or creation director,
and other times it's an assessment of the show itself, evaluating its
technical and acrobatic merits with what had come through before. But
the reviews we see today are too current, discussing these shows
through a contemporary lens; shows that have/had 15 to 20 years
touring the globe, shows we would refer to as "classic" or
"signature". What I'd become interested in knowing was what some of
the first reviews, peeks, and evaluations of these shows were as they
took their first steps across North America. How did the press see Le
Cirque du Soleil in 1998, 1994, 1990, 1987?
It was time to peck through the archives.
What I found was extraordinary, and more than I expected. And I'm
sharing these discoveries here in Fascination through a series of
collections, beginning with the 1987 tournée of Le Cirque du Soleil
(better known today as Le Cirque Réinventé), and continuing on from
there. This month we continue on with 1993's reviews of Saltimbanco.
# # #
THE LIONS ARE ONLY HUMANS
By: Mel Gussow | New York Times
April 5, 1993
As a Big Top performance event, the Cirque du Soleil operates in a
sphere where myth meets magic. In keeping with the Italian name of its
new show, the Cirque takes a Fellini esque turn. "Saltimbanco" is
closer to "Satyricon" than to "Juliet of the Spirits," with an eerie,
erotic edge that makes it an entertainment more suitable for adults
than for the youngest children.
In contrast to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey extravaganza,
this French Canadian troupe is like a European circus: one ring filled
with singular acts. The difference is in the Cirque's high-powered
style, an unearthly mixture of commedia dell'arte and rock-concert
razzle. "Saltimbanco" is less innocent than the company's two previous
shows in its tent in Battery Park City. But the framework remains
free-form, one act flowing into another without introductory fanfare.
At times the show is breathtaking, as in the elasticized aerialism of
Claude Lergenmuller, whose team of trapezists bounces through the sky
like a quartet of balletic bungee jumpers.
Down to earth but no less phenomenal are the Tchelnokovs, a family of
unusually compatible contortionists (at the center is a 7-year-old boy
with an apparently boneless body). Twisting themselves into
unimaginable positions, they are as supple as serpents. The animal
imagery evoked by the Tchelnokovs is characteristic of the company.
There are no performing animals, just a ringful of human equivalents.
Anyone who has watched a cat leap from floor to cupboard should
recognize the catapultic wizardry of those who perform the routine
entitled "Russian Swing." Then there is the Chinese pole act, with
acrobats shinnying up and down bars and slithering from one bar to
another like a forest of monkeys. Circumnavigating the aerialists and
equilibrists is an army of extras, cheetering crawlers identified in
the souvenir program as worms (a questionable credit for a circus
resume).
Because of the garish, Martian-style costumes, there is an androgynous
element to the ensemble, but there is no mistaking the gender of the
Steben sisters and the Lorador brothers. The Stebens are a striking,
mirror-image pair of trapeze artists who perform with the symbiosis of
Siamese twins. The Loradors are the strongest of strongmen, Terminator
1 and 2, lifting each other as if they were 10-pound weights. Put the
Stebens and the Loradors together on a high wire and one could only
imagine what athletic and sensual intricacies might result. The oddest
of the acts is the Boleadoras duo, bolo-swinging flamenco dancers who
stop one stomp short of an Amazonian martial art. Personally, I prefer
the juggler, Miguel Herrera, who keeps so many (seven) lively balls
flying in circles around him as to make him the envy of the Mets
pitching staff.
In its last show here, the Cirque featured the clown David Shiner, who
is currently delighting theatergoers on Broadway with Bill Irwin in
"Fool Moon." His replacement is Rene Bazinet, who shares with his
predecessor a total lack of inhibition in accosting members of the
audience and drawing them into his act. By himself in the ring, Mr.
Bazinet is a skillful mime and sound-effects producer. He is just not
very funny, least of all in a scatalogical routine that deals with a
plumbing malfunction.
In tandem with an audience volunteer, however, he wins laughs, and at
a recent performance, so did the volunteer. The clown takes a willing
accomplice on a journey through the jungle, where they encounter
unseen threatening species. Sounds and zounds occur on cue, and the
adventurers battle back with imaginary arrows and spears. Mr.
Bazinet's childlike air in this sequence is a relief from the
freneticism that surrounds him and the insistency of the electrified
musical background. None of this should distract the audience from the
virtuosity of the individual performers, who bring a new dimension to
circus arts.
* * * * * *
WHEN CIRCUS WALKS A TIGHTROPE INTO THEATER
By: Frank Scheck | Christian Science Monitor
April 19, 1993
It is by now no secret that Canada's Cirque du Soleil is not a
conventional circus. Rather, it uses circus acts, and top-flight ones
at that, and blends them in a swirling melange of movement, sound, and
music to create a seamless theatrical experience. And it is one of the
most thrilling theatrical experiences to be found today.
There are no animals in this intimately scaled one-ring circus, and
its sophisticated nature is not particularly geared to children. The
current production, called "Saltimbanco," is the third one to tour
North America. Like repeated viewings of a movie, the more you see
Cirque du Soleil, the more you will become aware of the technique that
lies behind the magic. But knowledge of this technique in no way
diminishes your enjoyment.
The evening begins like most circuses, with controlled mayhem in the
crowd as clowns run wild and kidnap members of the audience. Soon,
however, the performance begins, and you are transported to a stylized
world that resembles a Hieronymus Bosch painting, infused with a
sensibility a la film director David Lynch.
The atmosphere is moody and mysterious, reinforced by the opening act,
"Contortion Acrobatics," performed by the Tchelnokov family: a father,
mother, and young son who intertwine their bodies in unimaginable
ways.
Other highlights include: "Chinese Poles," which utilizes no less than
15 performers on four poles, and includes such feats as climbing them
upside down; "Double Tightrope," which begins with Jingmin Wang
walking up an almost-vertical rope and continues with her doing back
flips from one rope to another; and "Russian Swing," which propels a
team of acrobats so that they seem to be literally flying through the
air.
There is a decidedly sexual tone to some of the acts that evokes an
eery, decadent atmosphere. These include the twin female trapeze duo
of Karyne and Sarah Streben; the balancing act of the Lorador
Brothers; and the "Boleadoras," who combine bolo swinging and flamenco
dancing to hypnotic effect. Simpler, more conventional acts, such as
juggler Miguel Herrara - who performs wonders with plain white balls -
are no less stunning to watch.
In this edition the principal clown is Rene Bazinet, who is less
sophisticated in audience manipulation than David Shiner (who
graduated from a previous version of Cirque du Soleil to a starring
turn in the current Broadway attraction "Fool Moon"). Bazinet began
with tiresome routines in which he simulated the loss of bodily
functions and played imaginary catch with audience members, but with
the help of a particularly eager recruit he fashioned an entertaining
mime routine involving a walk through a danger-filled forest.
Between acts there is a constant swirling of sound and movement. The
sets, costumes, sound design, elaborate choreography, and musical
score all combine to transport you to another world, a world where the
human body is seemingly not confined by natural law.
* * * * * *
CIRQUE ACTS WAY OUT OF THIS WORLD
By: Richard Christiansen | Chicago Tribune
July 29, 1993
Though they bear the names of ordinary mortals, the extraordinary
artists of Cirque du Soleil do indeed seem to come to us from another,
far more exotic planet.
Their world is the interior of their giant yellow and blue tent, now
stationed on the lakefront at Cityfront Center, and their environment
is one of supraheightened sensation, in which music, color, movement
and old-fashioned daredevilry come together in enticing new patterns.
For almost three hours in "Saltimbanco," the Cirque's latest
production, these extraordinary creatures allow us into that world, as
they sing, dance, clown and defy gravity.
Part old-fashioned showmanship and part New Wave razzle-dazzle, this
remarkable show spans centuries of circus performance. The brightly
hued costumes and striking makeup hark back to the 17th Century
Italian street players from which "Saltimbanco" gets its name; at the
same time, the uniquely colored clothes speak of a daring new era of
young and inventive talents.
Many of the acts that "Saltimbanco" presents would be perfectly at
home in any other circus, in Las Vegas or on the old Ed Sullivan show.
But none of these other places would ever present these performers as
part of such a brilliantly designed ensemble, showcased in a vibrant
theatrical experience through the combined effects of choreography,
electronic music and technical splash.
The result is not just an incredible juggler (Miguel Herrera) or a
rubber-limbed Russian family of graceful contortionists (father
Nikolai Tchelnokov, mother Galina Karableva and their 7-year-old son,
Anton Tchelnokov) or a breathtaking trapeze turn by teenage twins
(Karyne and Sarah Steven).
In Cirque du Soleil, these acts, thrilling in themselves, are
transported beyond themselves into a state of enchantment through the
ingenious, sometimes downright eerie stagecraft that the Cirque
creators bring to bear in putting together their world.
No individual act defines the Cirque mystique better than its closing
spectacle, an aerial act in which elastic cords attached to their
bodies allow the four performers the chance to dive from their high
perches, bounce magically through the air and then spring back to
their trapeze bars in coordinated splendor.
Some of the magic unfortunately is dissipated in the program's first
half with the clunky clowning of Gordon White, whose reliance on sound
effects of bodily functions is far below the rest of "Saltimbanco's"
sophistication. (He somewhat redeemed himself in the second half of
Wednesday's opening night, when he plucked a volunteer from the
audience to create an amusing comic ballet.)
The rest of the program, however, is marvelous. It includes the
ethereal Sun Hongli, who bounces from tightrope to tightrope with the
greatest of ease, and a team of 15 acrobats who one by one propel
themselves from a swing, sail into the upper reaches of the tent and
then come tumbling down to a feathery landing in a whirl of
somersaults and splits.
* * * * * *
A CIRCUS WITH AN ATTIUDE
By: Richard Christiansen | Baltimore Sun
October 10, 1993
Perhaps the most amazing aspect in the amazing growth of Cirque du
Soleil is that it began less than a decade ago as the brainchild of a
group of long-haired street performers, stilt-walkers and fire-eaters
who had the crazy idea that they wanted to start a circus of their
own.
Today, these graying, balding but still youngish entrepreneurs have
become proprietors of a Montreal-based operation that is spreading its
engagements, and its influence, on a global scale.
The highest profile in this enlarging empire belongs, of course, to
the newest edition of the Cirque productions. There is, for example,
"Saltimbanco," the fifth and latest presentation, which premieres in
McLean, Va., at Tysons II Thursday.
But that's just the tip of the Cirque juggernaut.
Elements of Cirque productions were incorporated into the venerable
Circus Knie in Switzerland last year; and "Nouvelle Experience," the
Cirque edition that played Washington two years ago, went to Japan in
1992 in a tour that sparked interest in creating a permanent
relationship there.
Quick to pick up on the tie-in possibilities present in Cirque's
scenic and costume displays, the producers also are marketing T-
shirts, sweat shirts, posters, balloons, dolls, umbrellas, tote bags,
coffee mugs, watches, baseball caps, key chains, lapel pins,
children's pajamas, jigsaw puzzles and boxer shorts -- available on
the site or by mail order.
Little wonder that in addition to such artistic prizes as a 1993 Obie
Award honoring outstanding achievement in off-Broadway or off-off-
Broadway work in New York, the Cirque won the 1992 "business of the
year" category for small and medium businesses, in a competition
organized annually by the Chamber of Commerce of the province of
Quebec, Canada.
"We're not trying to do the [producer Cameron] Mackintosh trip,"
keeping a big show running indefinitely in dozens of productions
around the globe," says Gilles Ste-Croix, the Cirque's veteran
directeur de la creation.
"Our success rests on fragile things; the maximum run for any of our
shows is four years, which gives the artists a certain job security
but doesn't keep them tied up forever. We try to treat our people
well, but it's very hard to keep a show alive and challenging and not
let down the quality over a long period," he said.
The maximum first-run tour for a Cirque production is now two years,
beginning in Montreal, its hometown, and then touring to large cities
in the United States and Canada for the rest of the run.
While one show is making the grand tour, another show is being
developed in workshops and think tanks at home. By the time
"Saltimbanco" ends its travels this year, for instance, the new Cirque
edition will be in preparation to premiere in April 1994, in Montreal.
And once the initial two-year tour is over, there is now a possibility
for further travel abroad.
The title chosen for this fifth production of Cirque du Soleil,
"Saltimbanco," derives from a 16th-century Italian word meaning
skilled street performers and acrobats.
The general theme for the show, however, is described as "urbanity,"
or as Mr. Ste-Croix explains it, the evolution of man from a naked,
newborn creature into a social being who lives and works in a complex
urban environment.
In describing one aspect of the show, the program says: "In
'Saltimbanco,' the characters, like all human beings, are born nude.
These are the Worms, at the very base of society. All similar in
appearance, yet different one from the other, they must, with time,
adapt themselves to their environment. Thus, as the show goes on, they
embody various types of social characters, hoping to one day accede to
the rank of Baroque, a cast of visionaries. The Baroques constitute
the most important family of 'Saltimbanco.' Armed with a deeply
perceptive vision of the world and sleeping under bridges, the
Baroques, throughout the fable, reveal the countless contradictions of
our civilization when imagination has not yet taken power."
Customers worried that all this might be too intellectual or rarefied
should relax.
The tickets, reflecting the show's Broadway-grade production values,
are more expensive than those for most circuses ($13 to $35.50 for
adults, and $6 to $23.50 for children); but such traditional circus
delicacies as popcorn and soft drinks are always on sale, and, more
important, "Saltimbanco" carries a full load of thrilling and graceful
circus specialty acts peopled with top-notch jugglers, acrobats,
aerialists, contortionists and clowns.
But, in the Cirque style, these are circus acts done with a
difference, with a definite attitude. The trapeze act this year, for
example, employs the elastic straps of bungee jumping to create a
unique aerial ballet. And the tightrope performance is given more
excitement by having the tightrope walker hop from one tightrope to
another.
Each of the circus artists, in addition to performing his or her
specialty, is given a personality that will fit within the structure
of the show's environment; and all the players, whether developed by
the Cirque staff or imported from other arenas, must be able to act
and dance and (new this year) sing as part of their duties within the
integrated production.
Over the last nine years, the Cirque team has developed into a solid
core of creative talent. In addition to Mr. Ste-Croix and founder-
creator Guy Laliberte, the team includes director Franco Dragone,
costumer Dominique Lemieux, scenic designer Michel Crete, composer
Rene Dupere, choreographer Debra Brown and lighting designer Luc
Lafortune.
This season, according to Mr. Ste-Croix, the total effect of
"Saltimbanco" may be "a little more aggressive, daring, more hard-
edged" than in past shows. The singing, which the producers felt could
finally be tackled by the performers, adds a fresh, operatic touch
that fits the already established image of balletic grace in the
proceedings.
Yet, even with this addition, "Saltimbanco" remains anchored in the
tradition of Cirque du Soleil performance. It is like nothing else in
the circus world.
"Through the last few years," Mr. Ste-Croix says, "we have been able
to build up a good team. We function well. We understand each other.
We know where we want to go. Our work is continuing, constant; it
grows and develops. It's like a painter. You have to look at all of
his pictures to see the complete range of his work, but they all
clearly come from the same artist."
* * * * * *
BODY SOLEIL
By Megan Rosenfeld | The Washington Post
October 31, 1993
Warren Conway, the acrobats' coach for the Cirque du Soleil, recalls
asking one of his charges how he was taking the excruciating bruises
and bangs that are commonly inflicted during the Chinese Poles act.
Not to worry, answered gymnast Jean-Paul Boun. The previous night he
had hardened himself by beating his legs with a stick for 20 minutes.
"They build up a tolerance of pain," says Conway, 29. Boun also
performed while he had a scab on his leg that was ripped off during
each evening's exertions, leaving a meaty sore under his latex body
suit.
The Canadian Cirque du Soleil is a different kind of circus -- "the
circus of the future, if there is going to be one," says acrobat Alain
Gauthier. There are no animals, there is a unifying theme that is
manifested in all the design elements, there is weird music that does
not include drum rolls, there is only one ring. But even a fantasy-
flavored, whimsical concoction like the Cirque has at its core highly
trained human specimens, whose leaps and hangs and plunges require
bodies so muscled that at times you think they must exercise even
their eyebrows.
Each daily workout routine is individually tailored, be it a 10-minute
warm-up for Chinese Pole expert Huang Zhen or an hour and a half in
the gym for strongmen Marco and Paulo Lorador. The hardest physical
work, Conway says, was done when the show -- "Saltimbanco" -- was
being put together. Designing and learning the routines took 14 hours
a day for nine months. For the 18 months spent on the road, the
challenges are maintaining precision and avoiding injuries and
boredom. To this end, Conway conducts thrice-weekly rehearsals in
addition to the nine performances, makes occasional changes to liven
things up, and checks out each acrobat's pre-show warm-up.
"Ten minutes is exactly what Huang Zhen needs," says Conway. "But
another guy was having serious back problems, and then I discovered he
was not doing any warm-up at all. I spent three weeks teaching him one
and now he has no more problems." The oldest acrobat, Russian Oleg
Kantenirov, 42, warms up with a punching bag and karate exercises.
Conway has 17 generalists under his direction, the youngest 14.
Success as an acrobat, he says, is a matter of training, gene-given
physique, psychology and luck.
"There are two types of strength," he explains, "absolute and
relative. Absolute is lifting a barbell over your head. Relative is
strength in relation to your body weight. That is what we need. So
instead of the regular push-up, our training would be a push up from a
handstand."
The ideal physique is "the shape of a Vick's cough drop," no taller
than 5 feet 9 inches, short-legged with upper body strength and the
center of gravity closer to the head than the hips. Conway calls them
"mesomorphs," the kind of people who in the wrong environment could
turn into fatsos.
You would think that defying gravity by being catapulted from a swing
and landing on a bar being held by two men who are standing on the
shoulders of two other men -- as in the Russian Swing act -- would
require some special sort of muscles, but apparently it is more a
question of physics than strength.
"The trajectory is key," explains Conway. He started flier Neomi
Tamilio, 21, at a 45-degree angle, but found that with the velocity of
the swing she could end up in the second row instead of on the bar. So
the angle now is closer to 50 degrees, but much depends on the push
she gets on the swing (which looks like a large replica of a wooden
glider), the weight of the guys at either end of the swing, and the
way she holds her arms while she zooms.
And this can get boring?
The Portuguese-born Lorador brothers -- Paulo, 27, and Marco, 26 --
started their workout about 17 years ago. Their father, Alexis, after
whom their act is named, trained them to be the equilibrists that he
and his four brothers were in the circus first owned by their father.
No amount of barbell lifting can replace the trust and familiarity
born of a lifetime of brotherhood.
But they work out nonetheless, quickly locating the nearest agreeable
gym in every town they visit. Paulo lifts Marco; they weigh and lift
about 20 pounds apart. If Marco gains weight, Paulo gains weight. If
Marco is lifting 45 pounds, Paulo is lifting 65 and up to 80.
"He goes to the gym more than I do," admits Marco, who is still
recuperating from arthroscopic surgery for a damaged rotator cuff this
summer. Marco used to smoke, as well, and "eats more like a junkie."
(He means junk food.) Paulo is careful about his food and consumes
about 15 multivitamins every morning. He keeps a close eye on his
younger brother and makes sure he gets into every picture. After all,
if Marco can't work, Paulo can't work.
At a gym at Seven Corners, Paulo starts with a 70-pound barbell and
Marco with 45. They lift them 10 times and pause. Ten more lifts, and
then on to the deltoids workout, 75 pounds for Marco and 95 for Paulo.
Marco winces in pain. He stops, not wanting to overdo his healing
shoulder muscles.
Paulo lists their weekly regimen: "Today is shoulder day. Tomorrow is
chest and triceps. Then back and biceps. And day four is legs." They
don't work out on the three days that they have two shows.
At a recent performance Paulo had a hard time with some parts of the
act and appeared to some audience members to have injured a hamstring.
But according to a circus spokeswoman it was nothing serious.
Alain Gauthier, 32, has been an acrobat with the Cirque off and on
since 1986. He started studying gymnastics at 11 and moved into
trampolining at 15. He has major parts in the opening (he's the one
who tells the audience not to take flash pictures), the Chinese Poles
and the Russian Swing acts -- but the only way you might recognize him
is if you look for the yellow hat and short burgundy-colored jacket he
wears, along with a big nose and fake bald head, most of the time.
Gauthier stays in peak condition by practicing a trapeze act that he
and Marie-Eve Dumais are putting together with an eye to the future.
She was in the company until having their son, Guillaume, who is 2,
and now she works in the costume shop. They practice the act for an
hour and a half a day. That, combined with working onstage for about
an hour every night, is enough exercise, plus the three rehearsals
each week.
"Your body becomes very specific," he says. "If I tried to do weight
lifting, I'd be sore as hell. I probably could not run a marathon.
Well, I could, but it would take me six hours. But I am in shape for
what I have to do professionally." He has tough calluses on his hands,
and rolls up a sleeve to reveal a forearm so muscled it looks like the
bulb end of a butternut squash.
"I have weird forearms," he says.
He is a vegetarian, and supplements that diet with health food
concentrates like algae and wheat germ. Once a week he gets an
"adjustment" from the company's resident physical therapist / masseuse
/ osteopath, Pietro Bondo. If Gauthier is doing a lot of jumping, he
says, his spine tends to contract, but this year the trapeze practice
has made it expand.
The performers have a week's vacation between cities, and Gauthier
routinely takes four days to do "absolutely nothing." Then he usually
tries to find a mountain to climb or a cave to spelunk. During the
last break he flew to Las Vegas and spent five days walking in the
desert by himself.
He and Dumais are working on the duo act because they'd like to settle
down for a while, get booked at a casino in Nevada or someplace like
that. "Five years on the road is quite a lot," he says, looking down
at Guillaume, who has parked himself and a bottle of apple juice on
his father's lap.
Gauthier notwithstanding, the troupe is not exactly a collection of
health nuts.
"Too many smoke," says Conway, puffing on his own. He sighed. "If I
was a gymnastics coach, I'd put my foot down. But, you know, these are
adults, it's their choice," he says. The amount of smoking has not
been helped (or has been, depending on your perspective) by the fact
that the Canadian cigarettes most of the company prefer cost $2.50 a
pack here and $8 a pack at home.
Furthermore, "this circus runs on coffee," says kitchen manager
Laurent Comeau. "If they do not have their coffee and croissants in
the morning ..." His face says the prospect of such an event is too
hideous to contemplate. The coffee is "three times as strong" as the
norm in this country, and the care he takes to make it right is itself
a kind of high-wire art -- two kinds of coffee, espresso beans and a
pre-ground mix for the filter drip, are flown in from Montreal; the
coffee makers are cleaned with baking soda, and only bottled water is
used to make the brew.
Comeau and his two shifts of cooks serve between 300 and 400 meals a
day to the company of 110 from a portable kitchen-cafe that is open
from 7 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day but Monday. He says there are two
kinds of attitudes toward food in the company -- "those who care, and
those who don't" -- so he tries to provide a choice that encompasses
the full range of food ideologies. But he has limits.
"I cannot contemplate the idea of a fat-free, sugarless, tasteless
dessert," he says.
You would expect nothing less from a French Canadian.
* * * * * *
SHE RAN AWAY AND JOINED THE CIRQUE
By: Kenneth Turan | LA Times
December 1, 1996
"I just love the air."--Shana Carroll
Settled comfortably one recent night under an enormous white tent
topped with delicate spires, a capacity crowd of 2,500 in Antwerp,
Belgium, is understandably astonished by the combination of circus
tradition and postmodern inventiveness that characterizes Saltimbanco,
the Cirque du Soleil show that has been touring Europe since 1995. As
always, a special reverence and delight is reserved for the aerialist,
the slender, blond trapeze artist in the silvery-bluish unitard whose
dazzling moves and poetic presence on the bar 20 feet above the ground
compel reverential silence followed by massive, relieved applause.
Yet dazzled as this crowd is, I feel considerably more astonished by
the performance than anyone else under the Big Top. For I first met
Shana Carroll, the young woman on the trapeze, 17 years earlier, when
she was a 9-year-old scrambling around the Santa Monica Canyon home of
her journalist father. Whatever your range of expectations may be for
your friends' children, having one of them end up as the premier solo
aerialist of the Cirque du Soleil's European tour is off the charts.
The younger daughter of Jon Carroll, once the editor of New West
magazine and now a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle, and his
former wife, Sandra Rosenzweig, a Northern California writer and
editor, Shana is the only American of the more than 40 performers in
Saltimbanco. She is married to a fellow circus professional, a
remarkable acrobat named Huang Zhen, and is well aware that to the
people who knew her in California, she has settled into "such a
peculiar, out-of-the-blue life, the strangest thing anyone could
imagine."
The norm in Shana's new world is typified by a scene glimpsed earlier
in the day in the backstage practice hall, dressing area, game room
and all-around home away from home, known collectively as the artists'
tent. Casually perched high up on two parallel floor-to-tent-top ropes
is a small boy of perhaps 8 or 9, being rigorously instructed by his
Russian acrobat mother. Though in the front of the house, Cirque
employees are selling tickets via computer, back here skills are being
passed on in the old-fashioned way, which Shana, to her colleagues'
surprise, did completely without. Equally out of the ordinary is that
Shana did what she did by choice. After her performance, Shana
introduces me to pair of charismatic Portuguese brothers, Marco and
Paulo Lorador, masters of acrobatic hand balancing and considered
close to circus royalty because their family has been in European
shows for generations.
"They're working hard, trying to earn a lot of money so their children
can be educated and have the kind of choices I had but didn't want,"
Shana explains, bemused at the contrast. "It's a hard lifestyle, and
the people who had no choice think I'm a little crazy to be here."
This is the mystery I've come to solve: How did it happen that a
California girl, dividing her time between her divorced parents,
neither of whom are celebrated for their athleticism, came to embrace
this arduous and foreign life?
Shana sees a possible parallel with her mother, Sandra, noting that
Jon has written about her as " 'a woman of sudden and intense
enthusiasms.' I'm an extremist myself, and this was the most extreme
path I could take. I've always bitten off more than I can chew, and
this seems the epitome of it."
Sitting in the small cafe on the Cirque back lot and wearing sneakers,
green cotton pants and a plaid flannel shirt over a white sweatshirt,
Shana Carroll could be a UCLA graduate student killing time between
classes--except for the almost tangible air of physicality that she
radiates, the self-assurance of the truly fit and the reveling in
movement that has her run where others might walk. She throws herself
into conversation, loving to talk when she gets the chance, she says,
because it's so much the opposite of the physical work that takes up
most of her life.
To spend any time with Shana is to realize that, far from being some
idiosyncratic fling, the trapeze is a passion for her, an almost
monastic calling. She expresses frustration at family friends who see
this as the equivalent of a junior year abroad or "like I ran away and
joined the circus. It's such a frivolous cliche and a misconception.
What people are trying to find in meditation, that's what I find
here."
All of which is ironic, for as a child Shana remembers not liking
circuses at all ("I didn't get it, I didn't really believe it was
real") and preferring the world of musicals and the stage. She did all
the plays at Berkeley High School and, after graduation, thought she
might become an actress. When that didn't work out, her father, a
member of the board of the San Francisco-based Pickle Family Circus,
suggested a box-office job with the troupe as a stopgap measure.
In retrospect, there were indicators for what happened next. Years
later, looking at family photographs, Shana saw someone who "in every
picture was upside down, hanging from a tree or dangling off a diving
board." And then there was an even older incident:"When I was 2, I
tried to fly. I jumped right off the stairs and broke my arm." (Her
father says "she hurled herself just like Superman.") But at the time
she went to work for the circus, no one, least of all Shana, was
prepared for what that minimum-wage job would lead to. "She went
backstage," her father remembers, "and was transformed."
What Shana saw was the Pickles' trapeze artist, Sky De Sela, and so
many emotions hit her at once that it's hard even in retrospect to
sort them out. "I really fell in love. I thought, 'This is so moving,
so close, so human, so simple.' I saw it as celebrating being human,
testing the limits of what a human can do. Unlike the theater, this
wasn't woven in metaphors: Instead of alluding to flying, someone was
flying. When I first saw it, it seemed so automatic that this was what
I was going to devote my life to."
De Sela was departing the Pickle Family Circus, but she had time to
give Shana one lesson. "The first time I touched the bar, I felt at
home--it just felt right," Shana says. "On the ground I felt heavy and
awkward, but in the air I felt I could move gracefully. I'd never been
athletic--this was the first time I felt a sense of pleasure in doing
something physical."
"It isn't given to very many of us in life to find our calling," says
her mother. "So the first day Shana came home and said, 'Mommy, I
found it,' it was a major thing. She knew she belonged there."
Shana auditioned for and won a job as a performing apprentice at the
circus, which meant doing everything from group acrobatics to selling
T-shirts. Every day she put up a little practice trapeze, three feet
off the ground, and began to teach herself to master it. "I had this
funny idea it would be more impressive if I learned on my own," she
says now. "I was lucky I had a very limited knowledge of the trapeze,
or else I would've been intimidated about what I couldn't do. My
knowledge of what was out there increased at the same rate I was ready
to do new things."
Though at 18 she was twice as old as most trapeze beginners and didn't
have the gymnastics background considered critical, Shana compensated
with hard-core desire. "It was an insane amount of hard work," says
her father. "She worked incredibly long hours training and lifting
weights. I wouldn't have stood for it, but it never occurred to her
not to do it."
Then in November 1989, about a year after she'd first experienced the
trapeze, a genuine Hollywood moment occurred. De Sela's replacement
abruptly left the Pickle Family Circus, and Shana was asked if she
thought she could learn the aerialist's act in two weeks before the
group's grand opening at San Francisco's Palace of Fine Arts. She
agreed to try.
"I was so nervous I was crying all the time," Shana says. "So elated I
couldn't sleep." Her father stayed away from rehearsals, not wanting,
he later wrote, "to embarrass myself by screaming 'my daughter, my
daughter!' like some grieving peasant woman at the site of a
Mediterranean aircraft disaster." And, in fact, there was a horrible
moment when Shana, not realizing that her head was still in a rope
loop, let go and nearly hanged herself. "I just got a big yank" is how
she describes it now. "By the time I realized what had happened, that
I could've died, it was over."
"She came home with rope burns on her neck, sobbing, and I was
terrified," remembers her mother. "I didn't know anything about her
world--I was helpless. I had to just respect that she was going to
take care of it. It gave me emotional calluses right away, and I
haven't worried since."
Shana stayed with the Pickle Family Circus for a year and a half. "It
was not glamorous," she says. "There were two shows a day, with
training after and before, because I was always pushing myself to gain
strength. We were living in tents, without heating, backstage, rained
on, playing to three people. You have to be loving it to do it, and
that's what made me sure."
That was also when Shana met circus artist Huang Zhen, a specialist in
pole climbing, who had been taken into the Nanjing Acrobatic Troupe in
his native city when he was 9 years old. "When representatives of the
troupe came to his school to look for recruits, he was scared, so he
jumped up and crouched over a door frame to hide," Shana relates.
"When the men turned around and saw this, they said, 'We want him,
that kid up there.' "
Shana and Huang Zhen were married three years ago, and he is now
attempting to start his own Chinese acrobatic troupe in the United
States. A highlight of their wedding was a trick, done by an old
friend of the groom's, that involved balancing three raw eggs on the
tip of a chopstick, in turn balanced on the bridge of the acrobat's
nose. "It defies all notions of conventional physics," says Jon
Carroll.
Though she adored the Pickle Circus, after a year and a half Shana
knew she needed more schooling if she was to progress. She got a one-
way plane ticket to Montreal from a friend, hoping to study with Andre
Simard, considered one of the top coaches in the world, at the Ecole
Nationale de Cirque. The school said it was full, but Shana showed up
anyway, and after nearly a year, her persistence paid off and she was
able to work with Simard. When he moved to the Ecole de Cirque Rosny-
sous-Bois outside Paris, she was one of the two students he asked to
make the trip with him. The stint with the Cirque followed soon after.
As it now stands, there are two parts to Shana's act, called the
ballant and the fixe in French, usually translated as "swinging" and
"fixed." The more showy ballant requires raw physical strength to
stand on the trapeze, swing it in a 180-degree arc (the hardest part)
and then do a series of moves while in motion. Shana is drawn to the
beauty of the physics involved, but she considers the ballant a series
of tricks that she has mastered. What she loves is the fixe.
A fluid series of expressive/acrobatic moves on the unmoving bar, the
fixe is, in effect, a choreographed modern dance moment in midair. It
is, Shana explains, "a performance piece I do on the trapeze, using it
as a dance partner. Fixe is more free-form and creative than the
ballant, and there are no prescribed moves I need to incorporate. It's
considered passe if you can recognize classic trapeze positions.
"What I learned in circus school was that everyone had a different
style, and the ways I wasn't a typical trapeze artist were advantages.
I was from Berkeley, I had all this other background and I had to use
it. I wanted to be different, not just fill a mold that was already
there."
The amount of strength (but not bulk) and conditioning necessary to do
trapeze work was and continues to be considerable. Even now Shana (who
alternates with a duo trapeze act done by a pair of Canadian twins)
practices every day for at least an hour whether she performs or not.
Her hands are callused, she wears leather ankle guards to prevent
painful and possibly dangerous rope burns, and it takes but two weeks
off her routine to get out of shape.
"The bar is solid steel, very heavy and very hard, and when you're
sitting on it every day, it deadens the nerves in your thighs," Shana
explains. "When I come back after two weeks off, the nerves have grown
back, and it's so painful I can't even sit on the toilet."
Doing all these stunts 20 feet off the ground without a net may look
death-defying, but, Shana says, "I know people outside the circus who
take many more risks with their lives. All my risks are calculated.
And there's a difference between something being dangerous and feeling
scared. Losing fear completely is what's dangerous. You don't want to
be nonchalant--that's when accidents happen."
Shana has, in fact, fallen twice in the more than 500 performances
she's given, with a rigging system of safety lines having absorbed the
fall both times. "It's mildly embarrassing. You have to try and figure
out what you did wrong and get back up and do it again," she says.
"It's an incredible feeling having the audience behind you, to hear
2,500 people gasp at one time, and I was overwhelmed by that amount of
support. The fact that someone can always fall makes the performance
feel quintessentially live, more than any other kind of performance
does. The people who were in the audience the nights I fell, they're
not going to forget it."
The Cirque's Saltimbanco tour ends next February, at which time Shana
will take stock and see where she wants to go next. She believes she
has at least another five years of the strenuous ballant ahead of her,
more for the fixe, and after that, teaching is a possibility. For now,
there is always the lure of the air. To see her is to understand it
all, and the question becomes not how this young woman from California
became a trapeze artist, but how anyone could have thought she'd be
anything else.
# # #
That's all for in this issue, but there's plenty more to come!
o) Issue #167, DEC 2017 - Alegría, Part 1 (1994)
o) Issue #168, JAN 2018 - Alegría, Part 2 (1995)
o) Issue #169, FEB 2018 - Quidam, Part 1 (1996-1997)
o) Issue #170, MAR 2018 - Quidam, Part 2 (1998)
o) Issue #171, APR 2018 Dralion, Part 1 (1999-2001)
o) Issue #172, MAY 2018 Dralion, Part 2 (2001-2003)
o) Issue #173, JUN 2018 Varekai, Part 1 (2002)
o) Issue #174, JUL 2018 Varekai, Part 2 (2003-2004)
o) Issue #175, AUG 2018 Varekai, Part 3 (2005)
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COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER
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Fascination! Newsletter
Volume 17, Number 11 (Issue #166) - November 2017
"Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (C)
2001-2017 Ricky Russo, published by Vortex/RGR Productions, a
subsidiary of Communicore Enterprises. No portion of this newsletter
can be reproduced, published in any form or forum, quoted or
translated without the consent of the "Fascination! Newsletter." By
sending us correspondence, you give us permission (unless otherwise
noted) to use the submission as we see fit, without remuneration. All
submissions become the property of the "Fascination! Newsletter."
"Fascination! Newsletter" is not affiliated in any way with Cirque du
Soleil. Cirque du Soleil and all its creations are Copyright (C) and
are registered trademarks (TM) of Cirque du Soleil, Inc., and
Créations Méandres, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No copyright
infringement intended.
{ Nov.07.2017 }
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