A fear of heights is terribly inconvenient when stepping into a harness and getting attached to a bungee cord.
But fear is something you check at the reception desk when entering Cirque du Soleil headquarters here in Canada.
“Push yourself to see what you can achieve,” says Rob Bollinger, acrobatic performance designer at the 30-year-old entertainment troupe. His words of encouragement come right before I am to be lifted nearly 30 feet into the air. I manage to maintain my composure.
Cirque du Soleil is known worldwide for performers accomplishing acrobatic feats at vertigo-inducing heights while wearing enough sequins to make Liberace proud. Now this icon in circus entertainment is teaming up with another icon—this one in the hospitality industry.
Club Med CREACTIVE by Cirque du Soleil will debut at Club Med Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic in June. Adults and children will be able to try activities—at no extra charge–under the supervision of instructors trained by Cirque du Soleil. Some instructors will even be former Cirque performers. If all goes well, Club Med will dispatch Cirque-approved instructors to its other resorts across the USA, Caribbean, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
“Who hasn’t said they would like to run away and join the circus? Here’s their chance,” Bollinger says.
USA TODAY and a small group of journalists got a preview of the program at Cirque’s training facility here. With CREACTIVE, Club Med is introducing a new, more immersive concept in the experiential travel industry. Hotels and resorts are increasingly curating traveler’s visits by offering activities that go beyond rounds of golf and swimming pool activities.
“All elements of experiential travel are expanding,” says Chris Vasiliou, a professor at the masters of hospitality management program at Georgetown University and former chief operating officer of Travelocity. “Most hotels, destinations and attraction brands are continuing to explore ways to reach their customer segments through as many channels as possible.”
“Major hotel companies are expanding their brand portfolios to attract customer segments that they traditionally did not serve,” he says. “The growth and influence of the Millennial guest segment is having a significant impact on all travel-related products and marketing offerings. As such, experiential travel is at the core of most of the emerging strategies.”
Marie-Josee Lamy, executive director of Cirque du Soleil Hospitality, says providing memories is the best way to attract new fans.
“More and more consumers are savvy and looking for new experiences,” Lamy says. “They want something to talk about.”
Club Med, a pioneer of the all-inclusive resort concept when it debuted 65 years ago, has provided circus instruction for more than 25 years. Involving an entertainment behemoth like Cirque will kick the classes into a higher gear. In its 30 years, Cirque has delivered over-the-top performances in more than 300 cities around the world.
“This new concept will leverage, for the benefit of Club Med guests, the expertise and knowledge of Cirque du Soleil, who are unrivaled innovators in the realm of circus artistry,” says Henri Giscard d’Estaing, Club Med’s CEO. “It will also capitalize on the heritage and talent of Club Med in creating extraordinary memories in beautiful vacation destinations.”
Other activities that guests will be able to try include high bungee jumping, unicycle, tumbling and juggling. They can also participate in artistic activities such as percussion and dance and mask painting.
How will the average Club Med guest fare at flying trapeze? Bollinger acknowledges that it’s not for everyone, but he urges them to give it a try.
“The fear of trying new things prevents people from doing it,” Bollinger says. “Kids are more apt and more willing to try new things. Adults are tentative.”
I am certainly tentative as Emmanuel Jacquinot, a Cirque coach, instructs me to clutch the trapeze bar firmly with both hands. I grab the bar and bend my knees. All I have to do is let go, and I’ll swing across the gym. Below me is a pit of foam for a soft landing if my arms give out.
The goal is to land on a mat on the other side. But Jacquinot says it’s okay if I just want to swing across and return to the starting point. He promises to catch me when I swing back.
“Let go,” he says.
I hesitate for a few minutes, and then I obey his gently delivered order. The wind in my face feels refreshing. I don’t manage to land on the other side. But I do manage to keep holding on to the bar despite my sweaty palms. As promised, Jacquinot catches me upon my return.
My coach for the German wheel is equally reassuring. A German wheel is an apparatus made up of two rings joined together by a set of parallel bars.
Coach Serguei Volodine straps my feet into one of the bars, but I’m still not convinced that I won’t crash on my head when the wheel spins.
“I will spin you so don’t be afraid,” he says. “Both feet will be in straps and you can never get out.”
I feel like a hamster in a wheel, but I enjoy the sense of accomplishment after a few turns.
Juggling proves to be an easier task, at least on the arms. Or so, I think, when I first meet coach Samuel Roy.
It turns out that juggling is one of the most difficult activities.
“In juggling, we like to mess with the mind,” Roy says as he has us throw balls with our forearms in directions I never would have thought of.
My mind is definitely messed up.
More mind-bending activities happen in Pierrette Venne’s studio.
Let’s not forget that Cirque du Soleil performers are doing just that–performing. So part of their training is learning how to act. Venne is one of their acting coaches.
In an hour, she has us play Simon Says and Red Light, Green Light. There’s a method to her madness.
“You have everything you need in the game,” she says. “Impulse.”
In other words, those games we played as children make us react in ways that get us to let down our guards.
“The straightest way to go is not always the most interesting,” she tells us. “Forget that people are looking at you, judging you.”
At Club Med CREACTIVE, you don’t judge.
You join.
{ USA Today Travel | http://goo.gl/l7sT7t }
