What’s it like to be Cirque Mom? Jeana Blackman — mother by day and Nanny to the Imperial Twins of KÀ by night — offers an inside look at the joggling between life as a performer and life at home with her young daugther.
Right now, I perform in 10 shows a week. You can see me dangle in the air, climb on a rotating wall and play with giant creatures in my role as Nanny in KÀ by Cirque du Soleil, at MGM GRAND. I never expected to jump on a trampoline and fall into an airbag my first day on the job. Let’s just say a lot of swearing was involved! Not surprisingly, I also swore a lot on my first day as a mom, which came two years later.
During the day, I am a mom who cares for my 1-year-old, Penelope. At night, as Nanny, I care for a set of Imperial Twins who tragically lose their parents in an attack, get separated, find love and reunite to fight against the villain. I’m not sure which part of my life is more dramatic — or fun. Over time, I became quite comfortable with dangling upside down in a harness 100 feet in the air, and I learned to navigate around a moving wall with pegs shooting at me.
Still, I had a new skill to master: how to successfully care for a newborn. She couldn’t go more than three hours without eating, which meant that I couldn’t go more than three hours without sleeping. This was definitely more difficult than being onstage in front of 2,000 people. But the gibberish I use in the show seemed to make sense to my daughter!
After three months of caring for my baby, it came time to return to work. When I first joined the cast, it wasn’t uncommon for me to stay up until 3 or 4 a.m. and sleep until noon, the typical life of a nighttime performer. Now, Penelope wakes at 7 a.m. — or God forbid earlier — so I go to bed soon after I get home at midnight hopeful she sleeps through the night. On the plus side, the fact that I work nights means that I spend a lot of time with her during the day. It’s not uncommon to see us at the library, swim class or playing in the park.
The best part about being a Cirque Mom is when my lives as a mother and performer collide. Did my daughter cry hysterically when she first saw me in the unfamiliar makeup? Yep. But now it’s as familiar to her as my unadorned face. Artists from all over the world have greeted her in several languages, including Chinese, Russian, Mongolian, French, Portuguese and Japanese. On her first birthday, a former hand-to-hand Russian giant balanced her in one hand. As a close friend once told me, this is an amazing environment to be raised.
It’s not always easy to balance work and home, but it is rewarding. The biggest surprise is what being a mom at home did to my performance abilities onstage. Being a real-life caretaker gave me a great insight into my role as Nanny. Being a protector is now second nature. It’s made me a better actress and definitely a better mom.
Read the CirqueClub post here.
Read the original article here.
{ SOURCE: CirqueClub, Las Vegas Sun }
