Halifax’s “The Coast” took a moment to chat with Boris Verkhovsky, a Cirque du Soleil acrobatics director who is in town with Alegría’s Arena tour:
- When racing greyhounds retire, they have to be retrained for life off the track. When athletes—-gymnasts, tumblers, divers, synchronized swimmers—-leave competition for a life in the circus, they also have to be reprogrammed. And that, in part, is Boris Verkhovsky’s job. As Cirque du Soleil’s acrobatic performance and coaching director, he’s responsible for 700 to 800 acrobats, out of 1,200 artists working for the circus worldwide.
Almost 80 percent of the acrobats, says Verkhovsky, arrive through amateur sport. Others come from the stage or circus schools. General auditions happen around the world each year, run by a casting department of 60 people. Verkhovsky says that many candidates arrive through a virtual scouting process through their website. But just because you’re a top tumbler, doesn’t mean you’re Cirque material.
Read the full article here.
{ SOURCE: The Coast.ca }
