PennLive Chats With Emilie Schram, Varekai Slippery Surface Performer

SlipSurf

Sean Adams, writer for the Patriot Times in Central Pennsylvania, had a moment to speak with Emilie Schram, one of Varekai’s Slippery Surface performers, which is scheduled to play in the city of Hershey soon.

# # #

Q. Thanks so much for taking the time to speak with us, Emilie. What is your role in ‘Varekai’?

“I’m a female dancer and singer. I’m doing breakdancing stuff, like head spinning and jumping on my hands, stuff like that.”

Q. How did you first become interested in breakdancing?

“So I was very young and still doing gymnastics, and I saw on TV some breakdancing. When I saw that, I was so inspired. Many years after I began to go outside on the street and practice with people out on the street in my hometown of Nice, in the southeast of France. I was 17, so that was in 2003.”

Q. I think a lot of Americans tend to think of breakdancing and hip-hop dance as a very American thing. What is that culture like in Europe?

“We got inspired by Americans, and so now the hip hop dance is very huge. We have many events everywhere, mostly Paris. It’s very huge, many young people begin to train. In France we have a very huge level. We don’t only have breakdance, we have many types of hip-hop dance. Popping and locking, house dance, new style, experimental.”

Q. When did you start performing with Cirque du Soleil? Did you run away and join the circus, as they say?

“I began last May, 2014. I’m replacing another girl who got hurt, so I sent a video one year ago and they found me. I came first in April. I was in Montreal for two weeks to learn her character. There are many other moments in the show where I dance, but it’s mostly the Slippery Surface act.”

Q. Can you explain the Slippery Surface act?

“Slippery Surface is part of the show where we are aquatic, [moving as if we are] underwater. We are seaweed and other creatures, and there are acrobatic gymnastics. There are also contortionists. Very light, very colorful. The music is very joyful. It’s very beautiful and impressive, all of the talents in this scene, for maybe five minutes. I love this act. It’s a light in the show.”

Q. What is an average day of rehearsal like?

“Usually I come very early, because I also like to sing and I come in early to train in singing. After I go and eat and stretch – that’s maybe two hours, because I like to take my time. I go do my makeup. After we have pilates with my coach, about one hour before the show and after the show.”

“Every day is different. Sometimes you stretch, sometimes you work out. Sometimes you just dance to make yourself feel good.”

Q. What does an average workout routine look like for a Cirque performer? How do you stay in shape?

“It’s a lot of, how you say, core work, yeah? To have strength in the legs, arms, we work on every part, every muscle. We do a lot of Pilates. I’m used to being my own coach, so I take exercises from many people that I met. But since I met this coach, he made me love Pilates, and he made me love to work out. I started very slow, a lot of breathing and we take our time. A lot of exercise is about doing things fast, push ups, as fast as you can. We work our muscles so much more when we take our time. For me, it’s mostly Pilates.”

Q. How do you rest and recover from a show?

“Every morning I’m trying to breathe and doing breathing exercises. We are always traveling. We are kind of out of our bodies sometimes. I’m always trying to be grounded. At night, I make sure to sleep well. I’m the kind of person who loves to sleep, so I will go to sleep around maximum 11 [p.m.], and to sleep around 9 [a.m.].”

“It’s good to find peace and peace of mind, and eat well! I’m careful of what I eat. Not a lot of bread or heavy stuff. I can feel the difference between when I eat heavy and when I eat healthy. A lot of vegetables and fruit, not a lot of meat. After a show, something very light.”

Q. What’s something unusual about being a Cirque performer that audience members might not know about?

“What comes to me right now is being an artist, at Cirque du Soleil or not, all the time I’m here to give, you know. I have a huge chance to be on stage and with Cirque du Soleil. I always dreamed to be in this family, and it’s good to travel and be with people all the time. But it’s very challenging to learn a lot how to live with each other and accept each other. It’s like a school of life, a fast school of life. Trying to be stable. People come and see us perform and get inspired, and that’s how I get inspired to be an artist.”

{ SOURCE: PennLive | http://www.pennlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2014/10/cirque_du_soleil_varekai.html }