======================================================================= ______ _ __ _ __ / ____/___ ___________(_)___ ____ _/ /_(_)___ ____ / / / /_ / __ `/ ___/ ___/ / __ \/ __ `/ __/ / __ \/ __ \/ / / __/ / /_/ (__ ) /__ / / / / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / / / /_/ /_/ \__,_/____/\___/_/_/ /_/\__,_/\__/_/\____/_/ /_(_) 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 ------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.CirqueFascination.com ------------------------------------------------------------ ======================================================================= VOLUME 15, NUMBER 12 December 2015 ISSUE #143 ======================================================================= Welcome to the latest edition of Fascination, the Unofficial Cirque du Soleil Newsletter. It's been quite a wild month, hasn't it? Between the fervor around the announcement that Cirque2016 is officially Lúzia and SodaCirque (the previously announced musical collaboration between Cirque du Soleil and Soda Stereo), to the excitement surrounding TORUK-The First Flight's premiere in Bossier City, the airing of The Wiz on NBC, and PARAMOUR being featured aboard the DREAMSEAKER in this year's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade... yeah, it's been quite a month for Cirque du Soleil. But that's not all! It seems Cirque is ramping up its plans to begin construction on that resident show in Hangzhou, China, will once again set sail upon the high-seas with experiences on MSC Cruise Line ships, and has even signed a contract to place some kind of show or experience at a theme park in France. Details regarding all of these announcements can be found in our NEWS section this month. And throughout all of this chaos, at 9:00pm on November 20th, La Nouba celebrated its 8,000th performance! How about that! Check out an image here: (http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=6889). It's a bittersweet milestone though, as La Nouba continues to change. We've already discussed some of the upcoming changes - that a B-Boy dance group will replace the opening jump rope number and an aerial pole performance (similar to what was featured in ZAIA before it closed) will replace high-wire - but it also seems that by the new year La Nouba will lose its counter-tenor too. Ralph Daniel Rawe, who has performed the male counter-tenor voice at La Nouba since January 2004 with aplomb, will be moving on... and Cirque du Soleil has decided not to fill that role. (Just as they decided not to fill the Pierrot Acrobat's role when he left.) Counter-Tenor was a major part of that show and its loss is disheartening! On a brighter note, on November 23rd, Cirque du Soleil's twitter feed teased that the world of OVO was buzzing with action again, and it didn't take long for a new tour - an arena tour - to be announced! Check out dates in our ITINÉRAIRE section this month to see when OVO will be coming to your city. The tour begins on April 8, 2016 in Lake Charles, LA! JOYA celebrated it's 1 Year anniversary this month too, and we're quite excited to announce that a CD featuring the show's music is on the way! According to JOYÀ’s Facebook page, in just a few more days, the JOYÀ CD will be on sale at the theatre’s boutique. No word yet whether it will be available digitally (on iTunes or Amazon), or be for sale through Cirque du Soleil’s online boutique. But it's finally here Cirque music fans! Did you miss watching THE WIZ LIVE on NBC the other night? If so, don't fret! You can still catch the special in a number of ways: first, via a re-broadcast the evening of December 8th. Second, you can now find a stream on Hulu. And third, on DVD, beginning December 22nd! Also included on the DVD will be the NBC special, The Making of The Wiz Live, featuring the behind-the-scenes story of producing this live television event. Thursday's live telecast of The Wiz Live delivered hit ratings, averaging a 3.4 rating, 11 share in adults 18-49 and 11.5 million viewers overall to dominate the night for NBC. It was the network's best Thursday average in total viewers, excluding sports, since September 2014, and nearly tripled NBC's best 18-49 Thursday average, excluding sports. In FEATURES this month we continue our look back at Guy Laliberte's Poetic Social Mission into space. In Part 1, "The Countdown Begins" we listened as Guy took us through his first steps. In Part 2, "Training Kicks Up a Notch", Guy got settled in, and passed a few essential tests. In Part 3, "Getting My Hands Dirty", Guy gets down into the nuts and bolts of his training, and now we continue with him getting a bit more hands on with the actual equipment he'll be flying in, covering the month of August 2009. We're half-way through! The second feature is a fantastic read on the 2015 Pan-Am Games Opening Ceremonies by Lighting & Sound America. This lengthy article by Alan Hardman, was published in the magazine's October 2015 issue, and dives right into the technology and staging of the opening ceremony that 45 DEGREES wonderfully put together. It may have looked easy but it was quite an undertaking! And we thought we'd honor Corteo's closure with something a little special: an interview our friends over at TheChapiteau did with Gabriel Christo a couple of months back when he was still with the show. We’ll miss Corteo when it closes later this month, but it warms our heart to hear how favorable Gabriel talks about Corteo, and, of course, what he’s doing now (which is also relevant!) As always we also have the relevant posts made to Cirque's Facebook pages, and updates to Cirque's touring schedule. So, let's get started! /----------------------------------------------------\ | | | Join us on the web at: | | < www.cirquefascination.com > | | | | Realy Simple Syndication (RSS) Feed (News Only): | | < http://www.cirquefascination.com/?feed=rss2 > | | | \----------------------------------------------------/ - Ricky "Richasi" Russo =========== CONTENTS =========== o) Cirque Buzz -- News, Rumours & Sightings * La Presse -- General News for the Month * Q&A –- Quick Chats & Press Interviews * Special Engagement –- More In-depth Articles 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 * Club Cirque -- This Month at CirqueClub * DidYaKnow? -- Facts About Cirque * Networking -- Posts on Facebook & Other o) Fascination! Features *) LOOK BACK: Guy Laliberte's Poetic Social Mission PART 4 of 8: "From Training to Reality" By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) *) SPECIAL: "The Canadian Panorama: The 2015 Pan Am Games" By: Alan Hardiman, published in Lighting & Sound America – October 2015 Issue *) INTERVIEW /// "Gabriel Christo - Teeterboard, Corteo" By: The Chapiteau, a Cirque du Soleil Fan Club o) Subscription Information o) Copyright & Disclaimer ======================================================================= CIRQUE BUZZ -- NEWS, RUMOURS & SIGHTINGS ======================================================================= --------------------------------------------------- LA PRESSE – General News for the Month --------------------------------------------------- Cirque Gearing Up For Hangzhou Resident Show {Nov.03.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- According to an article on La Presse this morning, it looks as if Cirque du Soleil is gearing up to construct its Hangzhou Resident Show. Translated from La Presse: The first permanent Cirque du Soleil in China is scheduled for early 2018. Creative Guide Jean-François Bouchard showed the media animated 3D plans for this new theater, to be built in the city of Hangzhou in the coming year. These plans were approved in the last few months by its Chinese partner, Fosun Capital Group. The building in question is an old warehouse that is part of an old rail yard recently transformed into apartments, and work to transform the area into a new Cirque du Soleil theater is to begin in the coming weeks. According to the plans of the new theater, the audience will first be asked to enter a room where they will view video projections. “It will be a kind of appetizer or introduction to the performance,” says Jean-François Bouchard. The island where the spectator seats are located will move. At one point the audience will face each other. “One way to illustrate the yin and yang,” says Jean-François Bouchard, who is working on the basis of this show with creative director Toruk, Neilson Vignola. “There are still many things to be clarified, but what I can tell you is that the public is always moving, and that’s completely new to Cirque. Even the sets will position themselves automatically to the different performance spaces. ” In the coming weeks Bouchard will introduce the creative team. Discussions are underway with a director whose identity will be revealed later. { SOURCE: La Presse | http://goo.gl/qZLwY7 } Cirque Goes Cruising Again, with MSC Cruises {Nov.09.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- MSC Cruises -- the Geneva, Switzerland-based global cruise line -- today announced a long-term partnership with Cirque du Soleil -- the Quebec-based world leader in artistic entertainment -- that will set new standards in live entertainment at sea. In a first at sea, brand new Cirque du Soleil shows will be created exclusively for MSC Cruises guests aboard the cruise line’s next-generation Meraviglia ships in a multi-million dollar, ground-breaking entertainment and dining venue, designed in collaboration by MSC Cruises and Cirque du Soleil. Exquisite dining and award-winning entertainment are two key distinguishing elements of the MSC Cruises experience. To elevate these two elements to the next level, MSC Cruises and Cirque du Soleil together imagined and are building a completely custom-made, latest-technology dining and entertainment venue -- the first of its kind at sea -- for MSC Cruises’ Meraviglia ships. This is where MSC Cruises guests will be able to enjoy brand new, exclusive Cirque du Soleil shows, six nights a week, two performances per night -- all while enjoying an extraordinary MSC Cruises culinary experience. The specifically-designed venue represents an industry-first $21 million investment, in which the custom-built entertainment and dining Aft lounge is equipped with the latest technology and best-suited to the needs of both Cirque du Soleil artists and guests. The 10,760 sq ft, 450-seat Aft lounge will feature a 200-seat dining area so that guests can enjoy an exquisite dinner or drinks before the performance. Cirque du Soleil’s world-class artists will deliver two shows created exclusively for MSC Cruises that will capture the imagination of all guests. Shows and related dining options will be available only to MSC Cruises guests aboard the four next-generation Meraviglia project ships, the first of which -- MSC Meraviglia -- is set to sail its inaugural season in the Mediterranean from June 2017. “MSC Cruises is a company built on innovation, from the unique, prototype ships we design and build to the on-board experiences we conceive and create,” said Pierfrancesco Vago, Executive Chairman of MSC Cruises. “Together with our newest world-class partner, Cirque du Soleil, we imagined and are now designing a totally new, live entertainment experience exclusively for our guests; an original show in a multimillion-dollar custom-built venue aboard a ship we designed ourselves, down to the last detail. It’s this commitment to innovation, and the vision and creativity that only a family-owned company can apply, that make MSC Cruises so distinct.” “We have found in MSC a long term partner with a clear vision about trends in the cruising industry and a strong desire to be the leader by bringing entertainment on board to a whole new level,” said Yasmine Khalil, President 45 DEGREES, Cirque du Soleil’s Special Projects Company. “For Cirque du Soleil, this is what inspires us and provides us with a great creative challenge that we require for each new relationship and project that we embark on.” This ground-breaking new offering will first be available aboard MSC Meraviglia, the most innovative cruise ship ever built by a global European-based cruise line. The cutting-edge 4,500-guest (based on double occupancy), 167,600-GRT ship -- due to be delivered in May 2017 -- will spend her first summer sailing the western Mediterranean, and will be the first to have three major ports of embarkation: Genoa, Marseille and Barcelona. Cruises for MSC Meraviglia’s inaugural season are already on sale and can be accessed here or via preferred travel agents around the world. For more information on MSC Cruises partnership with Cirque du Soleil, visit https://www.msccruisesusa.com/en- us/Partnerships/Cirque-Du-Soleil-MSC-Cruises.aspx { SOURCE: 45 Degrees } More on Cirque creating new shows for MSC Cruises {Nov.10.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Gianni Onorato, Geneva-based CEO of MSC Cruises, said the shows have yet to be designed, but will be in the typical Cirque style, adapted for the conditions of a cruise ship. The company plans to invest $20 million on each of the four Meraviglia ships to build a theater space that will be co- designed by Cirque. The 450-seat space will seat about 200 for a pre-show dinner, with another 250 seats for spectators who can order drinks. Like at a club, those not dining will pay a cover charge, Onorato said. Renderings of the theater show an aft lounge close to the water with dramatic high window views. (See them here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=6805) Onorato said the dinners will be as stylish as the shows, and food will be served “with spectacular interventions of artists.” The 4,500-passenger MSC Meraviglia, the initial ship in the class, will debut in June 2017 in the Mediterranean, followed by three similar vessels. Cirque will create a pair of new shows for each ship. Performances are planned six nights a week, with two shows a night. Cirque has previously been to sea with Celebrity Cruises, which in 2004 announced a plan to rebuild a bar on two of its ships as “The Bar at the Edge of the Earth.” Costumed Cirque artists interacted with guests accompanied by special effects, visual projections, music and ambient sounds. But the program was put on hiatus in its second year and eventually disappeared. “I understand it was something completely different from what we mean this time,” Onorato said. (ED: Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil once had a partnership with Celebrity Cruises, the former line of Richard Sasso, current President and CEO of MSC Cruises (USA). While the creative collaboration with Celebrity received a mixed response due mostly to poor integration with its existing fleet, the MSC one is on track to be a more tailor-made fit.) { SOURCE: USA Today | http://goo.gl/IJGCZB } Criss Angel’s ‘Believe’ honored as ‘Best Magic Show’ in Las Vegas {Nov.11.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Magician Criss Angel has yet another milestone to celebrate with his “Believe” production. It was named “Best Magic Show” by In Vegas Magazine. This marks the third consecutive year that Angel and his team receive this honor by In Vegas Magazine. The show is a combination of magic tricks with the charm and charisma of Angel, coupled with the theatrical production of Cirque du Soleil. “Thanx for the amazing honor EVERY YEAR since it began & NO other magician EVER received-not even for 1year @ Luxor LV,” Angel posted on his Facebook page. Most impressive about “Believe” is that it is a newly-updated show, which encompasses the magic tricks presented in Mindfreak Live! in an atmosphere that is both dark and Gothic. Angel and his team just celebrated the 7th year anniversary of “Believe” at the Luxor Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, where he has done over 3,000 performances. The master magician is making his world premiere in his latest magical production, “The Supernaturalists” at Foxwoods Resort Casino’s The Fox Theater. He served as director, creator and executive producer of “The Supernaturalists.” { SOURCE: Digital Journal | http://goo.gl/3mwxmV } One Drop Unveils Fourth Edition of ‘One Night for One Drop’ at The Smith Center March 18 {Nov.12.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Tickets are now on sale for the fourth annual One Night for ONE DROP charity gala, an extraordinary, one-night-only experience created to raise funds and awareness for critical water issues. Presented by MGM Resorts International, the star-studded benefit will make its debut at The Smith Center on Friday, March 18, as artists from all eight Cirque du Soleil shows in Las Vegas come together to present a completely original production alongside world-renowned guest performers. Individual, tax-deductible VIP tickets, which include the post- show extravaganza and after-party, are available for $3,000, with show-only tickets starting at $100. Sponsorship packages and individual tickets are available at onedrop.org/onenight or by calling 1.844.33.WATER. In addition to the show, packages will include exclusive backstage experiences and pre-and-post- show parties complete with live performances, breathtaking attractions, Cirque du Soleil artists, delectable hors d’oeuvres, celebratory cocktails and more. { SOURCE: Las Vegas News | http://goo.gl/aqzjMp } New Show for France: ‘La Forge aux étoiles’ {Nov.13.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- 45 DEGREES and the Futuroscope are proud to announce a joint project to create a new evening show entitled ‘La Forge aux étoiles’, an aquatic fairytale from the creators of Cirque du Soleil! The show will be performed on a 7,000 square-meter outdoor stage “through a system of laser projections, water fountains, fireworks, and fire.” It is scheduled to open in 2016, play 250 times a year, and run for “four to five years” at the park. “This collaboration will allow us to pool and share the creative spirit that drives us in creating extraordinary visual experiences, issues of marriage between technology and art,” said Dominique Hummel, CEO of Futuroscope “Approaching our 30th anniversary, this new creation is intended as a gift to our visitors inviting them in a magical universe and unrivaled and unique dream world,” he added. In the coming months, the team of 45 DEGREES, the company of special projects of Cirque du Soleil, will thus take ownership of the 7000 m² of aquatic scene Futuroscope. “We are excited to work with the Futuroscope to offer a new experience, combining visual and sound technology with water. The night show is custom designed for the Futuroscope, by the creative team of Cirque du Soleil. The Park is an outstanding laboratory for us to develop new visual sensations,” says Yasmine Khalil, President of 45 DEGREES. This is a panel of visual, water and pyrotechnic effects that merge in the next night show Futuroscope. In a constellation of poetic paintings he will invite young and old to become the privileged witnesses of the friendship between a young girl and a real cosmic giant with feet on the ground and head in the stars. By adding the talent, increased creativity and expertise internationally renowned Cirque du Soleil, Futuroscope reaffirms its willingness to partner with its development talent of big names in the art world, by providing a framework and unprecedented technological jewel. { SOURCE: La Presse | http://goo.gl/PbclUx } Rokardy is Back in Zarkana! {Nov.15.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- According to his Facebook page… I’m back to the amazing show ZARKANA in Las Vegas for several days coming to enjoy the show and my new chairs balancing act. Rokardy … he’s back (for a few days)! TOTEM Officially Debuting 2 New Acts! {Nov.16.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- According to TOTEM’s Facebook page, they are officially premiering their two new acts in rotation – Contortion & Escalade – with Singapore media and 1,000 local Cirque Club members! Thank you to DHL for the support in the creation of these two new scenes! Contortion: Two industrious creatures emerge from the sea, to play, crawl, twist and build complex pyramids on the seashore. Their incredible figures seem to defy both gravity and physics. Be prepared to be awed by the flexibility and agility of these two artists – Ulziibuyan Mergen and Oyun-Erdene Senge. Escalade: The businessman is stripped bare and flung into the heart of the jungle where his inner struggle is put to test. Atop a tree-like structure inspired by the acrobatic discipline of Chinese pole, man and primate circle and climb in a battle for dominance. Gael Ouisse shared that it was with more than 8- months of intense training to master the act as it combines multiple skills such as parkour, pole and acrobatics. Check out the images here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=6838 Check out a teaser video of Escalade here: https://www.facebook.com/Totem/videos/1071271586226864/ { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } Grammy-Nominated Composer Joins Paramour Creative Team {Nov.17.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Five-time Grammy Award nominee and two-time Emmy Award winner Andreas Carlsson has joined the creative team of Cirque du Soleil’s forthcoming first-ever, made-for-Broadway musical Paramour, scheduled to open at the Lyric Theatre in May 2016. He will be co-composer with the previously announced team of Bob & Bill (a.k.a. Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard). Carlsson will write the show’s title song. Carlsson has written for The Backstreet Boys, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Katy Perry, Leann Rimes, Britney Spears and Carrie Underwood. In 2001 he won the ASCAP Songwriter of The Year Award as the most performed pop writer on radio that year. Paramour, the story of a young poet in Hollywood, will mark his debut as a Broadway songwriter. { SOURCE: Playbill | http://goo.gl/iOUez0 } VIDEO /// Paramour Auditions for Broadway {Nov.18.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Prepare to get swept off your feet by PARAMOUR, a rapturous and passionate new experience that unites the signature spectacle of Cirque du Soleil with the storytelling magic and music that define Broadway. Set in the glamorous world of Golden Age Hollywood, this groundbreaking event spins the tale of a beautiful young actress forced to choose between love and fame. PARAMOUR seamlessly blends a romantic plotline, musical numbers and exuberant dancing with heart-pounding acrobatics to create a journey of unprecedented depth and dimension. Featuring a cast that brings together the world’s best circus and Broadway artists, PARAMOUR will transport you to a world of sublime beauty and emotion as it walks the exhilarating tightrope of the heart. Check out another video about Paramour here: LINK /// < https://youtu.be/PlAD7lVysls > { SOURCE: YouTube } Rogue Films & Cirque du Soleil Beautifully Visualise a Revolution in Lipton Tea {Nov.19.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Saam Farahmand at ROGUE FILMS created this revolutionary advertisement for Lipton’s new TO Tea machine for Tribal Worldwide London in collaboration with adam&eveDDB. Saam Farahmand is an award winning music video director, and in this project he works with a renowned team of artists and performers including Cirque du Soleil. The advert combines cutting-edge filming techniques with beautiful in-air and underwater performances by Cirque du Soleil. These tangibly visualize T.O by Lipton in action and show the ‘revolution in flavor’. The ad draws inspiration from T.O by Lipton’s visible brew orb, a unique aspect of the product – in which you can see the tea brewing. To create a visualization of the tea leaves dancing and blending inside the orb, Cirque du Soleil performed underwater in colorful outfits representing specific flavors – each one behaving as the tea leaves and capturing the spirit and essence of the brewing process. EXPERIENCE VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/143997522 BEHIND THE SCENES: https://vimeo.com/143718956 { SOURCE: Little Black Book | http://goo.gl/2AT48K } Catch Zarkana’s Lobby Performance on Periscope {Nov.20.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Miss Zarkana’s performance at Aria Las Vegas? Check it out on Perisope! LINK /// < https://t.co/rYPkCkynt3 > { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } Grupo Vidanta Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary of JOYÀ {Nov.26.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Grupo Vidanta celebrates the one-year anniversary of JOYÀ by Cirque du Soleil, a first-of-its-kind culinary and theatrical experience in Riviera Maya. Located at Vidanta’s Riviera Maya destination, JOYÀ is Cirque du Soleil’s first resident show in Mexico housed at the award-winning, custom designed theater. The production debuted in November 2014 as a result of a unique collaboration pioneered between Cirque du Soleil and Grupo Vidanta, a leading developer of resorts and tourism infrastructure in Mexico and Latin America. In its first year, JOYÀ has successfully attracted thousands of destination visitors to the region, and has garnered international recognition as one of the most unique Cirque du Soleil experiences in the world. To date, JOYÀ has performed over 300 shows, which have been consistently sold out and met with rave reviews. Renowned throughout Mexico for its innovative architecture and engineering, the 600 seat theater was custom-built for JOYÀ and offers a one-of-a-kind, intimate experience with elements of Mexican art and heritage. Inspired by the natural beauty of Riviera Maya and rooted in the richness of the local culture, the Cirque du Soleil Theater, designed and constructed by Grupo Vidanta, was awarded the 2015 Building of the Year by leading Mexican architecture and construction magazine Obras by Grupo Expansión, recognizing it as the most important facility constructed in Mexico this year. “Vidanta is proud of the success that JOYÀ and its magnificent theater have experienced in the first year,” said Iván Chávez, Executive Vice President of Grupo Vidanta. “The show has had a positive impact on the economy in Riviera Maya through the creation of jobs and increase in destination visitors, and we look forward to the continued growth and success of our partnership with Cirque du Soleil.” JOYÀ is an innovative theatrical experience, combining culinary and performing arts that engages the audience’s five senses. Drawing on Mexico’s history and heritage, JOYÀ tells the story of an alchemist and his granddaughter embarking on a transformative quest to uncover the secrets of life. Mexico’s culture inspires the entire show, from costumes and set design to the acts included in the production. Unlike any other Cirque du Soleil show, JOYÀ provides a culinary and champagne experience for guests, featuring an inspired menu and the original Moët Champagne Mercier, available exclusively at the Cirque du Soleil Theater. “We are thrilled about the enthusiasm surrounding JOYÀ over the past year,” said Yasmine Khalil, Executive Producer of JOYÀ, Cirque du Soleil Group. “The response has been extremely positive and our artists and technicians look forward to sharing the JOYÀ experience with the audience at each and every show. This unique production and setting touches the audiences and offers each guest a unique culinary and entertainment experience.” Grupo Vidanta, together with Cirque du Soleil, celebrated the anniversary of JOYÀ on Saturday, November 21st with a celebration of 600 esteemed guests at the Cirque du Soleil Theater in Riviera Maya. Guests were treated to the JOYÀ VIP dinner experience and show, followed by an after party. Check out the images associated with this post here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=6964 { SOURCE: PRNewswire | http://goo.gl/8YNphr } Cirque’s Sama-Sama Live Experience Enabled With W-DMX {Nov.27.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Wireless Solution recently participated in the performance Sama- Sama – Live Experience for Cirque du Soleil. The project invites the audience to immerse themselves in a parallel universe where they will follow the story of a mysterious community known as the Samis, who have built a unique space for creativity and inspiration, bringing people together through the joy of creation in a way never experienced before. They call this place Sama-Sama, which means “together” in Filipino. The Samis (performers) danced and sang in the middle of the crowd holding and juggling a long light pole, designed by interactive experience’s designers Rafael Mizrahi and Mickey Martin – the object was made of telescopic aluminium poles and 3D printed plastic parts, making it lightweight for the performers. “Wireless Solutions provided the most reliable Wireless technology, and the fastest to communicate with the lighting in such a crowded radio environment” says Mizrahi when asked about the choice of brand. Inside each staff there was a Nano RX OEM module of 5 volts with an internal antenna. “We used Madrid’s Arena, a venue of 100m x 60m – wireless range of very important to us, also considering the thousands spectators with in the area with mobile phones. We also a single Blackbox F-1 with a standard 3dBi antenna, placed at the centre of the venue to transmit the signal – this covered the area seamlessly!”, added Rafael. Sama-Sama takes the audience on a 360-degree immersive journey to a parallel universe. A dozen large-scale interactive installations urge the audience to unleash their creativity, become performers, to play and have fun. Each pole had two rings of 25 RGBW addressable LEDs. There was only one universe of DMX transmitted through the F-1, which was connected to a grandMA2. “We assigned 8 DMX channels for each pole and controlled the RGBW colours of each ring – each DMX channel was a colour for the ring, per pole. In addition to the 8 channels per 12 sticks, we added 200 more to control the same pixel in all the sticks, making a total of 296 channels. We were able to play the same light chase together and different chases individually”. As for the power consumption, each pole contained a 5200mAh LiPo battery that lasted for over 3 hours, of which 80mAh were used by the Nano RX card. The individual installations were created exclusively by the Sama-Sama team and featured user-friendly interfaces and intuitive instructions designed to fully engage the audience. The Sama-Sama journey culminated in a grand finale where all audience members became part of the Sami community. Recognized for its innovative approach and high quality artistic entertainment, Cirque du Soleil provided guidance in the development of this live experience as well as acting as a business partner in the venture. “We see great potential in Sama-Sama’s new immersive concept and have decided to come on board. This innovative approach is unique and we believe it will touch audiences in a brand new way” said Charles Joron of Cirque. Videos can be watched here: LINK /// < https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwNyiC5VPzg > Credits: W-DMX Electronics & Software: Rafael Mizrahi http://rafaelmizrahi.blogspot.com Model Design & Manufacture: Mickey Martin http://fuznot.wix.com/fuproductions Artistic Director: Amir Schorr http://samasamalive.com Lights Architecture: Cochavi & Klein http://www.cochavi-klein.com { SOURCE: Live Design | http://goo.gl/ni3n5K } --------------------------------------------------- Q&A –- Quick Chats & Press Interviews --------------------------------------------------- Q&A w/ Quidam’s Australians on Tour {Nov.16.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Running away to the circus might be the childhood cliche, but Cirque Du Soleil performer Lisa Skinner and assistant head of rigging Robert Wilson are two Australians who have travelled the world living the dream. As a gymnast with three Olympic Games, four World Championships and two Commonwealth Games gold medals under her belt, Skinner was used to performing in front of big crowds before joining Cirque Du Soleil almost nine years ago. But switching from the competitive to the creative side of gymnastics had one fundamental difference for the only Australian performer on the final tour of Cirque show Quidam. “In competition you’re trained to block out the crowd and just concentrate on what you’re doing perfectly,” she says. “Here [with Cirque] no matter what you’re doing, whether you screw up or do it better or worse, you have to bring the audience in to what you’re doing and express things in a theatrical sense. “They don’t care if you’re perfect or not, they just want to see something cool.” And in Quidam “cool” is what she and the two other aerial hoop performers aim to deliver when they pivot, twirl and spin so fast hoops and performers become indistinguishable silver-and- red blurs high above the stage – although she insists they could spin faster if it weren’t for the weight of the metal apparatuses. It’s Wilson’s responsibility, with his two fellow riggers, to keep people and objects suspended safely. He started as a casual crew member on Cirque’s previous Australian tours in his home town of Brisbane, after leaving the printing industry, before he started touring as “part of the family” in 2007. “I did it for a few weeks then I looked up to the roof and there were guys climbing around and hanging stuff and I thought, ‘That looks like fun, how do I get to do that’?”, he said. “In a job where people’s lives are in your hands it takes a little while to get established, but after a while when you get a reputation it snowballs from there.” Before her time with Quidam, Skinner performed on the trampoline in Alegria; she is now also the back-up for one of Quidam’s principal characters, Target, putting her hip-hop and breakdance background to use. When she tours with Cirque’s Quidam from December, it will be her first time performing on Australian soil and she admits it’s a prospect she finds nerve-racking. “Ordinarily, you can do it [perform] half asleep,” she said with a laugh. “You can be in front of thousands of people that you don’t know and you’ll be fine, but as soon as you know one person like your mum or dad is out there you get butterflies.” Although the Brisbane-born artist isn’t playing to her home crowd, she expects to see a few familiar faces when she returns to Canberra’s Australian Institute of Sport Arena after spending two of her teenage years training at the institute. “I went to Canberra High and we had house parents and lots of other kids there to play with, even though you were mostly training,” she says of her time in the capital. “It was freezing in winter, I was like ‘what is this white crunchy grass’?” Although the Aussies credit Cirque with allowing them to see the world, both admit there is a downside to the touring lifestyle. Skinner says living out of two suitcases gets old fast, and Wilson misses the home comforts and says it’s the little things in life that make him happy, such as scoring accommodation with his own washing machine and kitchen. “You get a bit of a tweak at times like Christmas, it would be nice to be with your family but it’s not always practical, but the good definitely outweighs the bad,” Wilson says. { SOURCE: Canberra Times | http://goo.gl/KF582e } --------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL ENGAGEMENT –- More In-depth Articles --------------------------------------------------- Cirque 2016 is Lúzia – Inspired by México {Nov.23.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Co-written by Daniele Finzi Pasca and Julie Hamelin Finzi directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca IN MONTRÉAL’S OLD PORT STARTING APRIL 21, 2016 AT TORONTO PORT LANDS AS OF JULY 28, 2016 Cirque du Soleil is thrilled to announce a new production for next spring in Montreal: LUZIA, directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca. Presented under the Big Top in Montréal’s Old Port starting April 21, the show will then go to Toronto on July 28. THE SHOW -------- Where rain predicts the future and light reveals the truth. The name LUZIA (loo-zee-ah) fuses the sound of “luz” (light in Spanish) and “lluvia” (rain), two elements at the core of the show’s creation. LUZIA is a show inspired by the richness of the Mexican culture. CREATIVE TEAM ------------- LUZIA’s creative team comprises 16 creators under the artistic guidance of Guy Laliberté (Guide) and Jean-François Bouchard (Creative Guide): o) Daniele Finzi Pasca -- Co-writer and director o) Patricia Ruel -- Director of Creation o) Julie Hamelin Finzi -- Co-writer o) Eugenio Caballero -- Set and Props Designer o) Giovanna Buzzi -- Costume Designer o) Simon Carpentier -- Composer and Musical Director o) Edesia Moreno Barata -- Acrobatic Choreographer o) Debra Brown v Acrobatic Choreographer o) Sylvia Gertrúdix González -- Acrobatic Choreographer o) Max Humphries -- Puppet Designer o) Martin Labrecque -- Lighting Designer o) Johnny Ranger -- Projection Designer o) Jacques Boucher -- Sound Designer o) Philippe Aubertin -- Acrobatic Performance Designer o) Danny Zen -- Acrobatic Equipment and Rigging Designer o) Maryse Gosselin -- Makeup Designer TEASER VIDEO: https://youtu.be/hHwZKR5cf90 SHOW IMAGE: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?p=6894 { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } “The Real Moms of Cirque du Soleil” {Nov.24.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- THE REAL MOMS OF CIRQUE DU SOLEIL By: Mitchell Sunderland | Photos by: Amy Lombard Many women star in the famous Las Vegas circus, and typically at night. We met up with the circus moms and their kids to find out how they handle the balancing act. For over a decade, Canadian clown Shannan Calcutt has performed topless in Cirque Du Soleil’s Zumanity. The sex-themed circus (tag line: “18 +: Rated Cirque”) plays nearly every night at the New York, New York hotel in Las Vegas. Calcutt regularly rehearses to remember cues and freshen up her scenes, but after she gave birth to one of her children, her body interrupted her performance. One night, Calcutt remembers, another performer chased her down the hall: “Shannan, you forgot your milk!” she screamed. Calcutt had been breast pumping backstage for her baby and left the bottle behind. This wasn’t surprising to the clown or her fellow Cirque star. Many women star in the circus, typically at night, and their work lives often overlap with their raising kids. “We got a baby boom here--every girl in my group and the characters group started getting pregnant one after another,” says Kristina, a Cirque Du Soleil actress who received six months of maternity leave. “They redid my corset for me and turned it into a baby doll dress so it could hide the bump. A few girls have [continued performing at] seven or eight months, but my character--since I’m the rag doll--requires a lot of back bending and splitting.” While most corporations allow mothers to take up to three months of maternity leave, Cirque du Soleil also allows some women varying amounts of unpaid leave before her baby is born depending on her doctor’s recommendation. An aerialist left work for an entire year, while a clown missed shows for only five months. The approach to leave protects everyone involved, and many mothers find it to be family friendly. “Cirque du Soleil and its Maternity Policy works with each expectant mother to ensure their well-being and safety and the safety of their coming child is the priority,” the company’s human resources department said in a statement to Broadly. “We rely on the guidance of the artist’s doctor to dictate when she needs to modify or end her unique duties at the show in order to keep healthy.” Kristina finds the policy normal. Although she looks like your average young mom-- she wears a black and white and grey cardigan--she grew up in Cirque Du Soleil in the late 1990s. She joined her acrobat father on Cirque’s international tour of the Quidam show in 1996. For over a decade, she studied in the tour’s school and lived out of six suitcases. She joined the cast as a character actress at age 16. “I don’t remember any other lifestyle,” she says. When she was 17 years old, Kristina started dating an acrobat in his early 20s who performed with her father. Eventually they married, and three years ago, they moved, with her parents, to Las Vegas to perform in Zarkana at the Aria hotel. During the show, Kristina’s father carries her husband around the stage. “The guys do pyramids on top and toss each other in the air, and my dad is the base and my husband is the flyer,” Kristina explains backstage. “All of his friends laugh: ‘You carry your son-in-law in your hands!'” Kristina’s 21-month-old daughter, Nika, will likely follow the family tradition. On stage at the Aria’s theatre, Nika wears a furry pink vest and sits on a wooden barrel, smiling under the spotlight. As Nika kicks her feet through the air, her 21st century light-up Sketchers sparkle. Our photographer takes out her camera, and Nika immediately smiles and waves at her. Later, backstage, Kristina places a yoga ball in front of Nika. “Do you want to go on [the] ball?” Kristina asks. Nika jumps up, and Kristina lays on the ground, rolling the ball over her. Nika kicks her legs and laughs. “Boing!” Kristina yells. “Boing! Boing!” In the background, we hear people screaming. Kristina giggles. “It’s a clown workshop,” she says. Zarkana tells a loose story about an old theatre coming back to life, and the set includes a rusted proscenium, trap doors, and an old piano. Both behind the scenes and on stage, Cirque Du Soleil’s performers embrace century-old European practices. In the green room, Kristina says, the men ignore the PlayStation to play dominos and Russian pool on a Russian pool table a cast member bought. Kristina’s mother also works for Cirque as Zarkana’s production coordinator (she previously worked as Quidam’s accountant), so Nika stays on the family’s schedule. The baby wakes up at noon and goes to sleep after midnight. “For children this young, I think our schedule is pretty awesome,” Kristina says. She understands this will change when Nika goes to school. Kristina is currently waking up around six or seven in the morning to attend college herself. She’s studying accounting, recognizing that, in the circus, women’s careers are shorter than men’s. “Women are required to be more flexible,” Christina explains. “Men need strength, and we need a balance between strength and flexibility, which gets harder with age.” Other circus moms plan to keep performing. Aerialist Noara, for instance, has performed in a hanging hoop in “O” for 13 years. Every night, she wears a blue braided wig and soars across the show’s onstage pool. She only knows circus life. As a child in Brazil, she watched her parents work as touring clowns while raising a family. Performing and childrearing is in her DNA, and, since she first moved to Las Vegas in 2002, she has come to see the city as a place where it’s easier to balance circus life and family. It helps that her husband works a nine to five, meaning he can keep the baby at night, and that her mother-in- law regularly assists. “In Vegas I feel like, when people want to settle down and have their home to go to every day, [the circus is] a job,” Noara says. “You go to work. It’s not a nine to five. It’s a job you go to every day--it’s this routine that helps with your everyday, especially if you have a family.” Noara doesn’t look like a new mom, let alone a mom who gave birth six months ago. When we meet, she looks more like action hero Sarah Connor from Terminator than an acrobat, in black jeans, boots and dark blue and white eye shadow. She says she took a full year off the show: her entire pregnancy and then four months after giving birth. The day she found out she was pregnant she called Sandi Croft, the resident director who maintains the show’s quality. “We have your backup in place,” Noara says Croft told her. “Do you want to stay home?” After hearing from Noara’s doctor, the two agreed that she’d take the time off. According to Croft, the women’s time off depends on their role in the show. Where an aerialist’s doctor may recommend they immediately cease working, Calcutt, the clown I meet, says many clowns can work more months while pregnant. Cirque leaves the decision up to performers’ doctors. After they give birth, mothers receive three months to get back to work. During this period, the performers say, Cirque provides them with conditioning programs, doctors, and physiologists to get back into shape for the stage. “It’s really [performers’] responsibility,” Croft says. “They are highly driven athletes, artists, so when they come back to work they know that they are going to be in a costume that is not very forgiving. So they need to come back in very good shape.” Croft has seen this process numerous times. Before Cirque, she worked as a dancer in Celine Dion’s Las Vegas residency and was the artistic director of Cirque’s Mystère. She has helped many women work out their maternity leaves, support that isn’t so common in most industries. Even she recognizes the insanity of getting a six-pack three months after giving birth. “Stamina wise I am very impressed,” she says. “I didn’t know it was possible until I did it,” Noara tells me. “We look at ourselves and go, ‘How am I going to go from this big to show?’ It’s hard, but it’s also what our body knows, you know? I eat very healthy. I am very conscious of what I eat. I like to cook. I like to bring my food to work.” Although strength isn’t as pivotal to clowns’ performance, Calcutt says childbirth affected her in other ways. “After I had Ella, I was getting three to four hours of sleep at night and I would go on stage. I was so tired, and I remember my clown partner Nick would say, ‘That’s a form of torture, sleep deprivation,'” Calcutt says. “It’s a juggling act--excuse the circus pun, but it really is. The scheduling is the hardest part.” Once they return to performing, some of the women rely on MGM properties’ daycares, like Jenyne Butterfly, who plays Dirty Diana in Michael Jackson ONE. All of the MGM resorts provide childcare for employees who work at night, whether they perform or work on the casino floor as cocktail waitresses. The company may promote American vices, but in some ways, it also promotes better maternity policies than many other employers. Cirque life isn’t perfect, but it provides mothers with some support, in a country where the only woman running for the Republican presidential nomination opposes government-mandated paid maternity leave. When Calcutt can’t find a babysitter, she says she knows she can rely on the other women to watch her kids in a pinch. “You’re really tight with the other artists, I think, because we’re on the same schedules,” Calcutt says. “We can’t all have a dinner on Saturday evening because we’re working, or a barbeque that starts at five o’clock.” “[Cirque] is a lifestyle,” Noara adds. “This is our life. It’s not hard. It’s just a lifestyle, and we’re proud of it.” { SOURCE: Broadly @ VICE | https://goo.gl/xreyns } #SodaCirque is Coming! {Nov.29.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Soda Stereo imagined by Cirque du Soleil is coming in 2017 and the following video is a behind the scenes view of the announcement as well as a meeting of some of the creative team behind the show. As for a teaser, check out the following video on Facebook, which features Soda Stereo music and images from KA and La Nouba. TEASER VIDEO: https://youtu.be/WYN91EQz-ho What we know of the creative team so far is: o) Michel Laprise -- Director o) Chantal Tremblay -- Director of Creation o) Dominique Lemieux -- Costume Designer o) Heather Shaw -- Sceneographer o) Hernan Nupieri -- Sound Designer o) Mathieu Poirier -- Projection Designer o) Germain Guillemot -- Acrobatic Performance Designer o) Ewen Seagal – Acrobatic Equipment Design o) Charles Goron – Creative Guide o) Jean-François Bouchard – Creative Guide o) Diego Saenz – CEO of Pop Art Music o) Daniel Kon – Soda Stereo Manager The show, which is scheduled to premiere in Buenos Aires in 2017 before turning to Latin America, will follow the model of the Cirque du Soleil productions inspired by the life and work of music icons such as The Beatles and Michael Jackson Love The Immortal World Tour and One. Producers have already confirmed the show will tour with OCESA in Mexico and Colombia, Lotus FiveMusic in Chile and Peru. “We are honored to be part of this great project because it certainly represents another major step in the wonderful work of our dear Charly, Zeta and Gustavo” he said from Miami Afo Verde, Chairman & CEO of Sony Music Latin Iberia . See #SodaCirque on… Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SodaCirque/ Website: http://www.sodacirque.com/ { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil } ======================================================================= ITINÉRAIRE -- TOUR/SHOW INFORMATION ======================================================================= o) BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau {Amaluna, Koozå, Kurios, Luzia & Totem} o) ARENA - In Stadium-like venues {Quidam, Varekai, TORUK & OVO} o) RESIDENT - Performed en Le Théâtre {Mystère, "O", La Nouba, Zumanity, KÀ, LOVE, Believe, Zarkana, 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/ >. ------------------------------------ BIGTOP - Under the Grand Chapiteau ------------------------------------ Amaluna: Paris, FR -- Nov 5, 2015 to Jan 3, 2016 London, UK -- Jan 16, 2016 to Mar 6, 2016 Amsterdam, NL -- Mar 17, 2016 to May 1, 2016 Frankfurt, DE -- May 11, 2016 to Jun 12, 2016 Knokke-Heist, BE -- Jul 14, 2016 to TBA Koozå: Vancouver, BC -- Oct 29, 2015 to Dec 27, 2015 Montevido, UY -- Mar 9, 2016 to Mar 20, 2016 Buenos Aires, AR -- Apr 21, 2016 to May 8, 2016 Next Stop: Australia Kurios: Costa Mesa, CA -- Oct 15, 2015 to Nov 29, 2015 Los Angeles, CA -- Dec 10, 2015 to Feb 7, 2016 Atlanta, GA -- Mar 3, 2016 to May 8, 2016 Boston, MA -- May 26, 2016 to Jul 10, 2016 Washington, DC -- Jul 21, 2016 to Sep 18, 2016 New York City, NY -- Sep 30, 2016 to Nov 27, 2016 Luzia Montreal, QC -- Apr 21, 2016 to Jul 10, 2016 Toronto, ON -- Jul 28, 2016 to TBA San Francisco, CA -- Nov 17, 2016 to Jan 22, 2017 Totem: Singapore, SG -- Oct 28, 2015 to Dec 13, 2015 Tokyo, JP -- Feb 03, 2016 to Apr 10, 2016 Osaka, JP –- Jul 14, 2016 to Oct 2, 2016 Nagoya, JP –- Nov 10, 2016 to TBA Fukuoka, JP –- Feb 2017 to TBA Sendai, JP -– Apr 2017 to TBA ------------------------------------ ARENA - In Stadium-Like Venues ------------------------------------ Quidam: Canberra, AU -- Dec 10, 2015 to Dec 20, 2015 Wollongong, AU -- Dec 23, 2015 to Jan 2, 2016 Hobart, AU -- Jan 6, 2016 to Jan 10, 2016 Newcastle, AU -- Jan 15, 2016 to Jan 24, 2016 Aucland, NZ -- Feb 5, 2016 to Feb 14, 2016 Christchurch, NZ -- Feb 17, 2016 to Feb 26, 2016 ** FINAL SHOW: February 26, 2016 ** Varekai: Munich, DE -- Dec 2, 2015 to Dec 6, 2015 A Coruña, ES -- Dec 22, 2015 to Dec 28, 2015 Barcelona, ES -- Jan 1, 2016 to Jan 10, 2016 Valencia, ES -- Jan 14, 2016 to Jan 17, 2016 Malaga, ES -- Jan 21, 2016 to Jan 24, 2016 Vitoria-Gasteiz, ES -- Jan 27, 2016 to Jan 31, 2016 Lyon, FR -- Feb 3, 2016 to Feb 7, 2016 Hamburg, DE -- Feb 10, 2016 to Feb 14, 2016 Luxembourg, LU -- Feb 17, 2016 to Feb 21, 2016 Hanover, DE -- Feb 24, 2016 to Feb 28, 2016 Antwerp, BE -- Mar 2, 2016 to Mar 6, 2016 Bordeaux, FR -- Mar 10, 2016 to Mar 13, 2016 Montpellier, FR -- Mar 17, 2016 to Mar 20, 2016 Nice, FR -- Mar 23, 2016 to Mar 27, 2016 Moscow, RU -- Apr 14, 2016 to Apr 24, 2016 St Petersburg, RU -- Apr 27, 2016 to May 8, 2016 Kazan, RU -- May 11, 2016 to May 15, 2016 Chelyabinsk, RU -- May 18, 2016 to May 22, 2016 Togliatti, RU -- May 25, 2016 to May 29, 2016 Sochi, RU -- Jun 2, 2016 to Jun 5, 2016 Nantes, FR -- Nov 16, 2016 to Nov 20, 2016 Toulouse, FR -- Nov 23, 2016 to Nov 27, 2016 Strasbourg, FR -- Nov 30, 2016 to Dec 4, 2016 Paris, FR -- Dec 6, 2016 to Dec 11, 2016 TORUK - The First Flight: Allentown, PA -- Dec 4, 2015 to Dec 6, 2015 Worcester, MA -- Dec 11, 2015 to Dec 13, 2015 Montreal, QC -- Dec 21, 2015 to Jan 3, 2016 Toronto, ON -- Jan 7, 2016 to Jan 10, 2016 Quebec City, QC -- Jan 14, 2016 to Jan 17, 2016 Auburn Hills, MI -- Jan 22, 2016 to Jan 24, 2016 Houston, TX -- Feb 11, 2016 to Feb 14, 2016 North Little Rock, AR -- Feb 17, 2016 to Feb 21, 2016 North Charleston, SC -- Feb 26, 2016 to Feb 28, 2016 Sunrise, FL -- Mar 3, 2016 to Mar 6, 2016 Miami, FL -- Mar 10, 2016 to Mar 13, 2016 Tampa, FL -- Mar 17, 2016 to Mar 20, 2016 Tulsa, OK -- Mar 24, 2016 to Mar 27, 2016 Kansas City, MO -- Mar 30, 2016 to Apr 3, 2016 Oklahoma City, OK -- Apr 6, 2016 to Apr 10, 2016 Louisville, KY -- Apr 28, 2016 to May 1, 2016 Cincinnati, OH -- May 4, 2016 to May 8, 2016 Columbus, OH -- May 11, 2016 to May 15, 2016 Hamilton, ON -- May 20, 2016 to May 22, 2016 London, ON -- May 27, 2016 to May 29, 2016 Providence, RI -- Jun 3, 2016 to Jun 5, 2016 Duluth, GA -- Jun 15, 2016 to Jun 19, 2016 Raleigh, NC -- Jun 22, 2016 to Jun 26, 2016 Ottawa, ON -- Jun 30, 2016 to Jul 3, 2016 Denver, CO -- Jul 21, 2016 to Jul 24, 2016 Lincoln, NE -- Jul 27, 2016 to Jul 31, 2016 Chicago, IL -- Aug 3, 2016 to Aug 7, 2016 Brooklyn, NY -- Sep 7, 2016 to Sep 11, 2016 Newark, NJ -- Sep 14, 2016 to Sep 18, 2016 OVO: Lake Charles, LA -- Apr 8, 2016 to Apr 10, 2016 Baton Rouge, LA -- Apr 14, 2016 to Apr 17, 2016 Greensboro, NC -- Apr 20, 2016 to Apr 24, 2016 Cleveland, OH -- Apr 27, 2016 to May 1, 2016 Syracuse, NY -- May 4, 2016 to May 6, 2016 Bangor, ME -- Jun 2, 2016 to Jun 5, 2016 Bridgeport, CT -- Jun 8, 2016 to Jun 12, 2016 Hartfort, CT -- Jun 15, 2016 to Jun 19, 2016 Charlotte, NC -- Jul 6, 2016 to Jul 10, 2016 Cleveland, OH -- TBA Philadelphia, PA -- TBA Portland, ME -- TBA --------------------------------- 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 2016 Dark Dates: o January 2 – 13, 2016 o February 7, 2016 o March 16, 2016 o May 7 – 11, 2016 o July 6, 2016 o September 10 – 14, 2016 o November 9, 2016 Special / Limited Performances: o December 31, 2015 (only 7 pm performance) o March 12, 2016 (7pm Proceeds Donated to One Drop) o June 18, 2016 (Only 7pm performance) o June 19, 2016 (Only 7pm performance) o December 29, 2016 (Two Shows) "O": Location: Bellagio, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday Two shows Nightly - 7:30pm and 10:00pm 2015 Dark Dates: o November 30 - December 15 Added performances in 2015: o December 29 La Nouba: Location: Walt Disney World, Orlando (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark: Sunday/Monday Two shows Nightly - 6:00pm and 9:00pm 2015 Dark Dates: o December 7 - 9 Zumanity: Location: New York-New York, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Tuesday through Saturday, Dark Sunday/Monday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm (Only 7:00pm on the following days in 2015: January 20, May 8, May 15, May 19, May 20, and December 31) 2015 Dark Dates: o December 6 - 14 Added performance in 2015: o December 27 KÀ: Location: MGM Grand, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Saturday through Wednesday, Dark Thursday/Friday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm (Only 7 pm performances on May 9, 16 and June 21) LOVE: Location: Mirage, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Thursday through Monday, Dark: Tuesday/Wednesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm (Only 7:00p.m. performances on May 15-16, June 19-21, December 31) (Only 4:30p.m. & 7:00p.m. performances on July 4) 2015 Dark Dates: o December 1 – 16 Added performances in 2014: o December 30 CRISS ANGEL BELIEVE: Location: Luxor, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Wednesday through Sunday, Dark: Monday/Tuesday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm 2015 Show Schedule: o Wednesday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 7, February 4 - 25, September 30) o Thursday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 8-29, December 31) o Friday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on January 9–30, February 6, February 20 – 27, March 6 – 13, May 1 – 22, June 5, June 19, September 11–25, October 2–9, October 23–30, December 4 11, December 25) o Saturday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on May 2–16, June 20, July 4, October 31) o Sunday: 7:00pm & 9:30pm (only 7:00pm on February 8–22, March 1–15, April 26, May 24, June 7, June 21, September 13–27, October 4–25, November 1–8, November 22–29, December 6–13) 2015 Dark Dates: o December 14 – 22 Added Performances in 2015: o December 29 ZARKANA: Location: Aria, Las Vegas (USA) Performs: Friday through Tuesday, Dark: Wednesday/Thursday Two Shows Nightly - 7:00pm and 9:30pm Added Performances in 2015: o December 28 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 2015 Dark Dates: o December 15 Added performances in 2015: o November 25 o December 30 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) Club Cirque -- This Month at CirqueClub o) DidYaKnow? -- Facts About Cirque o) Networking -- Posts on Facebook, G+, & YouTube --------------------------------------------------- CLUB CIRQUE: This Month at CirqueClub --------------------------------------------------- Meeting TORUK Costume Designer Kym Barrett {Nov.04.2015} ------------------------------------------------------- Turquoise shimmers, glorious attires and greenery-inspired garments… TORUK – The First Flight’s costume workshop is a mix of colors and fabrics from which costume designers, artisans, and assistant designers get to create the artists’ second skins. Let’s follow TORUK – The First Flight costume and makeup designer Kym Barrett inside her workshop, where every decision is always a calculated one. Inside the TORUK – The First Flight costume workshop, dozens of skilled hands are busy drawing, dyeing, cutting and fitting all sorts of cloths. Amongst them are Kym Barrett’s, who is responsible for designing every single costume. Originally from Australia, she became famous after dressing Leonardo DiCaprio in the movie Romeo + Juliet and creating the mythical style of The Matrix trilogy characters. She had already worked on Cirque du Soleil’s TOTEM, but this new show TORUK – The First Flight presents unique challenges : for one, the story is being told mostly by one of the main characters, the Narrator, played by Raymond O’Neill. “This means that the costumes must also tell a part of the story,” says Barrett. Pandora’s inhabitants, the Na’vi, are divided into five clans – Kekunan, Omaticaya, Anurai, Timpani, Tawkami – each with its own colors and attributes. Some wear elaborate headdresses while others are adorned with organic accessories. And each character has its own look. “Just like in real life, each has its own personality and style.” Picture: one for each clan with a description saying that this is an example for a member of that clan You also need to strike the perfect balance between comfort for the artist who wears the costume, and authenticity for the audience. “We’re trying to create Pandoran fibers which, of course, don’t exist in our world”, observes Barrett. What’s more, the costumes need to look like they were handmade by the Na’vi. “We use certain materials that imitate objects that would normally be found in nature,” she adds. For example, crinoline is used to give the illusion of a loin cloth made of leaves. “The main challenge with TORUK – The First Flight lies in transforming a stadium into a whole other universe while giving a 180 degree panoramic view to the audience,” explains Barrett. In spite of the sheer size of the set, the audience should feel immersed in Pandora’s landscape, even when the action takes place a bit further away. “All characters and actions need to be clearly visible from all angles,” and the technical intricacies of the costumes should remain invisible to the audience. That’s why the costumes need to show just enough details so as to look handmade when seen close-up, and still have that organic, shimmery, intriguing feel from afar, explains the costume designer. The flamboyant fabrics, elaborate cloths and detailed accessories should satisfy even the biggest fans of James Camerons’ Avatar. These costumes will add a lot of color and vitality to TORUK – The First Flight, and will largely contribute to making the audience feel like they are traveling to faraway lands, planets and universes. { SOURCE: Cirque du Soleil | https://goo.gl/PZcSIi } Cirque du Soleil Webseries ------------------------------------------------------ *) KURIOS ABOUT... Two new episodes of the Kurios About... webseries were posted this month. Follow the cast and crew of KURIOS on tour, and find out what hides in their Cabinet of Curiosities. From the Big Top to Costumes, Make-up, Food and much more, the 12 episodes KURIOS About The Webseries gives fans a behind-the-scenes peek at the Cirque du Soleil’s 35th creation. Explore our universe and reality from the eyes of an insider, see the artists and the staff work with devotion to make the show happen day after day and discover how unique our on tour lifestyle is. o) EPISODE 4: THE GEARS November 3, 2015 KURIOS About The Gears will make you discover more about the different technical aspects of our very unique kind of LIVE entertainment. See how everything takes form behind the scenes and around our stage: Who does what and how the magic happens show after show. LINK /// < https://youtu.be/udi8fWVtTKo > o) EPISODE 5: THE ACRONET November 17, 2015 In this 5th episode of KURIOS About find out what it is like to fly 40 feet high over the stage on this new bouncing technology called the Acronet. LINK /// < https://youtu.be/iPwkhg5Y9kg > Check out the other episodes here: http://www.cirquefascination.com/?page_id=6868 *) ZUMANITY: RATED CIRQUE Zumanity [zü’man-eh-tee] is described as “an intense visit to a world where human inhibitions are both unveiled and discarded, where style and intense sensual passion share an uncommon stage.” Cirque recently offered this definition of the word: “n. n. Neologism dating from 2003, contraction of the words “zoo” and “humanity.” 1. A human zoo. 2. A new form of eroticism which blends dance movement, acrobatics and beautiful bodies with the sensual caress of the human voice and the pulse of exotic rhythms. 3. An exploration that awakens the most primal urges in human beings.” Cirque du Soleil explore the human zoo in a brand new web series! o) EPISODE 1: YANIS MARSHALL – THE CHOREOGRAPHER November 13, 2015 Assembled by YouTube sensation Yanis Marshall, the 9 dancers are all incredibly different and bring completely unique aspects to the Professional choreographer and YouTube sensation Yanis Marshall talks about incorporating his signature dance concept Men in Heels into the story and production of Zumanity by Cirque du Soleil. The magic pairing all began with a video of Yanis shared by Beyonce and discovered by the Cirque team, and resulted in a phenomenal revamp for Zumanity. LINK /// o) EPISODE 2: NO LIMIT ZONE November 19, 2015 The one thing that unites them is phenomenal talent. Reflecting the uniqueness of its cast, Zumanity is a no limits type of show that takes you on a journey like no other. LINK /// < https://youtu.be/1TgGs2WBmPE > o) EPISODE 3: EXTRAVAGANZA! November 25, 2015 Yanis Marshall reveals the inspiration behind the brand new act he added to Zumanity, Perfect Jam, and the revamp of the final act, Extravaganza. Go behind the scenes of the rehearsals with him and his dancers as they build one of the only pure dance acts in Cirque du Soleil history. As described by one of the dancers, Perfect Jam is very powerful, raw, rough rock; and you don’t want to miss that! LINK /// < https://youtu.be/evoroAdmV64 > --------------------------------------- DIDYAKNOW?: Facts About Cirque --------------------------------------- o) Did you know: There are over 12,000 sq. ft. of 3/16” plate steel supporting the show deck in Criss Angel Believe? o) Did you know: In KA, the Spearmen's shoes are created to look like they aren’t wearing shoes, with molded rubber toes affixed to a shoe base. o) Did you know: During load-in, Varekai's crew will set up 330 trees from the enchanted forest. --------------------------------------------------- NETWORKING: Cirque on Facebook, YouTube & Twitter --------------------------------------------------- {Compiled by Keith Johnson} ---[ AMALUNA ]--- {Nov.10} Watch our Amaluna special sneak peek performance at the Royal Albert Hall celebrating 20 years at the venue in London! Opening January 16th! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/Iv4wC4 > {Nov.12} Amaluna offered a brilliant performance at the AirBnB open 2015. Here are some pictures of the event. A big thank you to our friends at AirBnB for inviting us! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/WDCLQm > FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/kaXDFF > {Nov.20} Bonjour Paris! After a little break from a few days, the artists and technicians of Amaluna are ready to welcome you again. All the shows planned from today are maintained. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/60O7jv > ---[ CORTEO ]--- {Nov.03} Come and meet the big show which is Corteo! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/bXQn6F > {Nov.12} This is how Corteo gets in to the spring of things! Video produced in partnership with Activeon Action Cameras VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/0d50iN > {Nov.13} We are here in Quito! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/39fqg4 > {Nov.19} The entire cast ready! To enjoy together our last premier! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/IfBtgb > {Nov.24} Paradise training! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/YtcITg > {Nov.25} Teeterboard! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/Llnrzk > {Nov.29} From the top of the Corteo Big Top. VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/Se2S3G > ---[ JOYÀ ]--- {Nov.21} 438 new photos to the album: NUESTRA GRAN NOCHE DE CELEBRACIÓN "1er ANIVERSARIO JOYÁ". FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/mIisRd > ---[ KOOZA ]--- {Nov.02} One of our very own singers delivered two powerful anthems at the Vancouver Canucks game tonight! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/ntIORX > {Nov.04} We were so excited to perform at a very special holiday event at Holt Renfrew tonight! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/zKvVVi > {Nov.26} Thank you for kicking off the holidays with us! The celebration continues, with performances through Dec. 27. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/uj6Twr > {Nov.27} Did you miss our Holiday Spectacular? Not to worry, there's plenty more magic for you to see under our Big Top! Check out the video to see what the event was all about! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/WRGIpx > ---[ KURIOS ]--- {Nov.06} Early morning for some of our artists today! KTLA 5 Morning News was on-site to give you a glimpse of our show and the behind the scenes! Did you see us performing LIVE this morning? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/rhcTSo > {Nov.20} Did you see usthis morning on CBS Los Angeles morning news? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/lQQx6g > {Nov.29} Time to pack it up and move up the road to Los Angeles! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/gtfDSI > ---[ LUZIA ]--- {Nov.23} Where rain predicts the future and light reveals the truth. Discover LUZIA! Premiering April 21st at the Old Port of Montreal under the Big Top. VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/JxE1zZ > {Nov.30} The inspirations for LUZIA? The experiences that brighten our heart & spirit and set in motion the mysterious forces of attraction that bind us to a place and its inhabitants. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/xDRrgg > ---[ MJ ONE ]--- {Nov.27} Allmusic.com reviewed Michael’s performance of “I’ll Be There” saying “Rarely, if ever, had one so young sung with so much authority and grace, investing this achingly tender ballad with wisdom and understanding far beyond his years.” ---[ PARAMOUR ]--- {Nov.08} PARAMOUR spins a glamorous story – let it pull you in… VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/7dR01C > {Nov.16} Leading lady, Ruby Lewis, and breath-taking Cirque du Soleil artists will perform the world premiere of the song "Paramour" from our upcoming Broadway production on the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! LINK /// < http://goo.gl/ws0CU2 > {Nov.17} Love at first listen! Ruby Lewis, the "Leading Lady" in PARAMOUR, sings the title song in this behind-the-scenes recording session. VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/Ew89D0 > {Nov.25} Our PARAMOUR team is hard at work rehearsing for the parade tomorrow! Beginning at 9am Thursday, see our Macy's Thanksgiving Day float throughout the parade and hear Ruby Lewis debut the title song from the show. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/hYJIIY > ---[ QUIDAM ]--- {Nov.05} Circus people are not known to wake up early unless it's for a very special reason... Witness our Backstage Cirque Cirque du Monde workshop in Seoul. VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/GU1pSp > {Nov.10} The Quidam red curtain fell one final time under the Grand Chapiteau in Seoul. An emotional goodbye before we pack it all up and move back to Arenas down under. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/WXTztH > {Nov.10} Hop skip and a jump with Richard Wilkins on the Today Show in Sydney. VIDEO /// < http://bit.ly/1PBG1BS > {Nov.12} More interviews Down Under and a street performance in The Gong today hope to see you at lunch time at the Crown Street Mall Wollongong, but for now, a quick break staring at the sea... FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/8xwPuD > {Nov.15} Ready for our close-up. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/diLAv2 > ---[ THE BEATLES LOVE ]--- {Nov.09} We're so excited to be on Dancing with the Stars! Here's a sneak peek of what's to come! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/nfICM5 > ---[ TORUK ]--- {Nov.03} Cirque Selfie time at TORUK with our Storyteller! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/3LCPJ5 > {Nov.04} Roller coaster of emotions for our opening next week. VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/nYgR54 > {Nov.05} Cirque Selfie time behind-the-scenes at TORUK! VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/aF0N0x > {Nov.06} It's finally Friday, time to bust a move and kick off the weekend. What are your plans for the weekend? VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/B9dQtT > {Nov.07} HuffPost Entertainment has a sneak peek at TORUK, click through for some great pics from the show! LINK /// < http://goo.gl/BkZt5w > {Nov.09} The first TORUK dress rehearsal was last night and among the audience were a few very special guests... including Cirque du Soleil Co-Founder Guy Laliberté and Avatar Director James Cameron. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/1okfw0 > FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/v4gTdj > {Nov.11} Entertainment Weekly explores what's to come in TORUK, just in time for the soft opening tomorrow night! LINK /// < http://goo.gl/U5S1Kk > {Nov.11} Striking the pose before our soft opening tomorrow in Bossier City Will we see you there? VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/YvVqSQ > {Nov.12} Less than thirty minutes away from the Soft Opening of TORUK! Can you feel the excitement? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/fHFaLZ > {Nov.12} Thank you Bossier City for an incredible first Show! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/yGUEYR > {Nov.13} The calm after the storm. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/s6lGi1 > {Nov.17} What do you think our best profile is? VIDEO /// < https://goo.gl/lcQA17 > {Nov.17} The first TORUK load-in is officially underway in Lafayette! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/pNTwlV > {Nov.19} Throwback to our testing sessions. Can a shield also be used as a mask? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/HSB5J2 > {Nov.20} We're in a colorful state of mind. Are you? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/hvM9IV > {Nov.21} Lafayette?'s The Daily Advertiser captured some great behind the scenes photos of TORUK. Check them out! LINK /// < http://goo.gl/wsxBrI > {Nov.23} Experience the hypnotizing beauty of TORUK. What is her gaze telling you? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/HPwL7u > {Nov.29} Thank you Richmond for a great weekend! Allentown is up next... get ready with a behind the scenes look! LINK /// < http://goo.gl/j8PYoS > {Nov.30} Can you guess what this gesture means? (Answer: I See You) FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/89Vn91 > ---[ TOTEM ]--- {Nov.12} Valentino is exploring Singapore on a trishaw today and will surprise lucky ladies with tickets to come see him perform! Chinatown, watch out he's on his way! FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/Vum0SL > FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/ayN6gM > {Nov.18} Backstage fun! Alya, Rings Trio, and Ulzii, Contortion, trying new tricks during intermission! Kudos to our Cosmonauts for the photobomb. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/LUBKwO > {Nov.18} In the past few months, we modified the Toreador scene to incoporate a spectacular Diabolo performance by our Tracker, Sebastien Nicaise. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/yMvRZi > ---[ VAREKAI ]--- {Nov.16} Good morning Luxembourg! We are getting ready for a sneak peek of Varekai. FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/NucLar > FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/WiFTVB > FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/fQTqsb > {Nov.16} After a fun media tour in Luxembourg, we say "see you later" Hello Cologne, are you ready for us? FOTO /// < https://goo.gl/Asaf0M > ======================================================================= FASCINATION! FEATURES ======================================================================= o) LOOK BACK: Guy Laliberte's Poetic Social Mission PART 4 of 8: "From Training to Reality" By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) o) SPECIAL: "The Canadian Panorama: The 2015 Pan Am Games" By: Alan Hardiman, published in Lighting & Sound America – October 2015 Issue o) INTERVIEW /// "Gabriel Christo - Teeterboard, Corteo" By: The Chapiteau, a Cirque du Soleil Fan Club ------------------------------------------------------------ LOOK BACK: Guy Laliberte's Poetic Social Mission PART 3 of 8: "Getting My Hands Dirty" By: Ricky Russo - Atlanta, Georgia (USA) ------------------------------------------------------------ Six years ago, on September 30, 2009, a civilian became a spaceflight participant aboard Soyuz TMA-16, a manned flight from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Joining two members of the Expedition 21 crew - Russian cosmonaut Maksim Surayev (Commander, from the Russian Federal Space Agency, FSA) and NASA Astronaut Jeffery Williams (Flight Engineer) – was Guy Laliberté, who paid approximately $35 million USD for his seat through the American firm Space Adventures, becoming the first Canadian space tourist in the process. Besides fulfilling a life-long dream, Laliberté’s spaceflight was dedicated to raising awareness on water issues facing humankind on planet Earth, making his spaceflight the first – in his words – “poetic social mission” in space. And much of this experience was captured on film and recently spun into a feature-length documentary entitled TOUCH THE SKY. While the documentary is a compelling visual look into the experience, the adventure was also captured by Laliberté himself in the form of an online journal. At the time these events were originally taking place, we here at Fascination were more concerned with the happenings here on Earth – with BELIEVE, ZAIA, ZED, OVO, VIVA ELVIS, and BANANA SHPEEL – so we didn’t give much thought to this endeavor. However, thanks to the recently discovered documentary (the aforementioned TOUCH THE SKY), we recently re-discovered a text-copy of this journal in our archives, which allows us to explore this extraordinary time in Cirque du Soleil’s history in more detail. Thus in this series we’ll be taking a look back at Guy’s Poetic Social Mission through his eyes, from the journal, in monthly installments, taking you through the initial steps Guy undertook all the way through to the launch and landing. In Part 1, "The Countdown Begins" we listened as Guy took us through his first steps. In Part 2, "Training Kicks Up a Notch", Guy got settled in, and passed a few essential tests. In Part 3, "Getting My Hands Dirty", Guy gets down into the nuts and bolts of his training, and now we continue with him getting a bit more hands on with the actual equipment he'll be flying in, covering the month of August 2009. * * * POST 36 | DAY 126 - August 01, 2009 GOING FROM THEORY TO REALITY After my week in Houston and the one I just spent in Star City, I really feel like I’ve entered the transition phase, going from theory to reality. To prepare myself well for this adventure and help me adapt psychologically and physiologically to life in space, I’ve been meeting with psychologists and doctors. I also now know more about what everyone seemed so eager to find out about: how the water supply system and the toilets work! Next week, I should be applying what I learned! As for the poem, it’s almost finished and I’m quite pleased with it. We had productive work sessions and everyone in the team finds the result inspiring. I can’t wait to tell you all about it, which should be during our next press conference in a few weeks. Time is whizzing by, and the launch date is fast approaching. I’m busy from morning to night, since each time I finish one project, another one pops up, so the “to-do” pile never seems to go down! The good thing about all this activity is that I’m never bored! The bad thing is that I’m not getting enough sleep, at least, not as much as I’d like. :( * * * POST 37 | DAY 128 - August 03, 2009 LULL BEFORE THE STORM And so, to recap, I left for Ibiza on Friday evening without my film crew. (Yes, I fled from my entourage!) I saw friends, my two youngest kids and my love. It was our last chance for a romantic weekend before the launch. It was just the little family and I, no nanny. We went sailing and swimming, played backgammon, watched a few movies with the kids. Actually, both parents dozed off during one of the films. It makes you wonder just who was babysitting who! * * * POST 38 | DAY 130 August 05, 2009 WATER ON THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION A big week of work awaited us on our return to Star City. I took a deep breath and plunged, ready to inject the required dose of humour in our next 2 days of training, part 2 of last week’s training. Tuesday morning, we went to Energia, a company involved in various projects. For example, Energia is responsible for approving the payload material and developing the Russian modules at the ISS. The purpose of our visit was to go over the equipment that we’ll be taking along with us into space. My time on the rotating chair hasn’t improved :( But I have to say that I had woken up early that morning and hadn’t eaten - obviously not a brilliant idea! When I arrived at the airport late Tuesday afternoon for my departure to Montreal, a little blond-haired stray dog gave me a generous dose of affection by laying down on my feet. My heart melted right then and there, and I had to adopt him on the spot! My plan is to take him along with me during my next stay in Ibiza, so off he went with my driver to Star City to be examined and cared for. Claudia and I had been talking lately about adopting another dog, but I guess he found us instead! I have a feeling though that he’s on his way to becoming a Canadian, and not a Spanish, Hound --my dog Jack will be so pleased! My three oldest kids and I looked for a name and our choice was unanimous: SOYUZ! * * * POST 39 | DAY 131 - August 06, 2009 A BUSY DAY It felt very odd to be alone at home in Montreal. It was just too quiet… I got up early on Wednesday morning to do my workout, followed by a soothing and VERY enjoyable massage. I was now ready to take on the next 5 hectic days! Let’s start with the first meeting: the presentation of the vaudeville show in Chicago. The name is now official, but we won’t tell you yet! The clown acts made me laugh and I was impressed with the dancers. I think this production shows great promise. It’s very timely, too: I find we all need to laugh and unwind a bit more today, and I’m sure it’ll do the trick! I then joined my CityCenter and CKX partners as well as Priscilla Presley for an artistic performance (music, execution, costumes, etc.) in order to see the Elvis show as a whole in Montreal before it leaves for Las Vegas. The whole team is thrilled about this project that immerses us in the world of a performer who was one of the best, if not THE best! I’m very satisfied with the result: these are high-calibre artists and there’s no doubt in my mind that the production will be outstanding. I was also very pleased to see the level of commitment of the artists, the creative and production teams, etc. This is teamwork at its finest. The day ended with a cocktail at Le Latini, a great Italian restaurant in downtown Montreal, where I popped in after sorting out some paperwork. I left early for home--and a nice big well-deserved sleep! * * * POST 40 | DAY 133 - August 08, 2009 TRIP TO MEMORY LAND I started work with my osteopath to correct some of the consequences of my training and ease some bones back into place! They no longer cracked when I arrived at the meeting with my space project gang! ;-) I was happy to see they were still as hard-working, as committed and as motivated as ever. My day in Montreal ended with a good 3 hours in the dentist’s chair to replace a tooth that broke during one of my (intense!) training sessions, have a filling done and get my teeth cleaned. My dazzling smile is now ready to compete with the stars when I’ll be up there in space! I then hopped on a plane for Québec City (my native town) with my 3 eldest kids to see OVO, where my parents and all my relatives (aunts, uncles, cousins) had gathered. An almost perfect family portrait--only my love, my brother Jean and my 2 youngest were missing! The timing was perfect, since I was able to see my whole family before my departure. A family who watched me grow, took care of me and showed me the importance of strong family bonds. A festive and tightly knit family. I was very moved to see them all and spent a wonderful evening with them. I spent the night at Château Frontenac in Old Québec with my 3 eldest who just couldn’t keep still! A very precious moment given this was my last weekend with them before my departure. The next day, we visited the houses in which my parents had lived as kids (Limoilou and St-Sauveur). It felt odd to see the alleyways where I had played and to return for a short moment to my childhood days. The little boy in me was very touched to come face to face with himself… and that little boy is still alive and kicking! We stopped in a boutique, Gagné & Frères, that is still in business after 100 years, and where my grandfather, my father and I bought our accordions. In the window, I saw an accordion that was made to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the store. I just couldn’t resist: I bought it! And while we were there, my father and I played a bit of music in the store. My kids had a good time watching and listening to us! It was a beautiful moment, filled with memories. I then went for a nice long walk in the streets of Old Québec with the kids and showed them the apartment in which I had lived. Sharing all these moments with them was so much fun. After a family dinner at Charbon Steakhouse, we went off to see Les Chemins invisibles, a free urban street show that takes place in the Saint-Roch district of Québec City. There was quite a crowd and it was great to see all these spectators marvel at the stunts of the show’s emerging artists. After an emotion-filled day, we were pretty tired, but this didn’t keep us from truly enjoying the show. * * * POST 41 | DAY 134 - August 09, 2009 TOGETHER WE CAN DO IT The next day, I left for Baie-Saint-Paul to participate in L’Éveil du géant, an event organized by the city and my ex-partner Daniel Gauthier and his spouse, my friend Hélène Dufresne. Baie-Saint-Paul is where it all started for Cirque du Soleil, so the purpose of this event was to highlight the contribution of the creators and artists of the Échassiers de la Baie and the Fête foraine, i.e., the origins of Cirque. What deserves to be mentioned here is that, even though the shows we put on in those first years were not considered very conventional, Baie-Saint-Paul welcomed us with open arms. And that’s something I’ll never forget. On my way there, I stopped at the Balcon Vert youth hostel with my kids and my friend Gilles Ste-Croix. I was amazed and thrilled to discover that some of the staff was still there after 30 years! The Balcon Vert is where I met some of the most significant people in my life, such as Gilles, so I absolutely had to include it in my weekend pilgrimage. * * * POST 42 | DAY 135 - August 10, 2009 IMAGES AND MEMORIES FILL MY HEAD I promised these boys (Marc Duchesne and Martin Dufour) that I would mention them in my blog. They were part of a little group of musicians who played during the unveiling of L’Équilibre précaire by artist Danielle April at the Parc du Citoyen in Baie-Saint-Paul. After the sculpture L’Équilibre précaire by artist Danielle April was unveiled at the Parc du Citoyen, we headed towards the big top to meet old colleagues. It was filled with the sounds of long-lost friends greeting each other. Francine Léonard (aka Dolores) and Serge Roy were very funny as MCs, and the artists who performed that night dazzled us and warmed our hearts. It was an unforgettable evening. I saw people I had lost touch with so many years ago. My heart was filled with all sorts of emotions and I headed back to my room with a smile on my lips and images and memories dancing in my head. * * * POST 43 | DAY 136 - August 11, 2009 HAPPY TO BE LIVING THESE MOMENTS On Sunday morning, I treated myself to a very relaxing massage and said goodbye to my parents and friends before leaving for Moscow. A pretty difficult moment. I still had a lump in my throat sitting on the plane. I’m very thankful for all these amazing moments I’ve just lived, but I now feel a growing need to stay still for a little while. The upcoming weekend is the last one I have left to unwind a bit and then, I’ll have to remain in Russia. Time is going by so fast! * * * POST 44 | DAY 137 August 12, 2009 FROM CLOUDS TO SPACE I returned from Québec City on Monday feeling quite tired. Of course, the long flight didn’t help much. I haven’t been able to sleep a whole lot and can’t find the time to get my feet back on the ground (my head is still in the clouds?or in space!). The week ahead is an important one though, with other medical tests. We also continued to study the communications systems and conduct simulations. I was all happy to see that there was no vestibular training planned for me this week, but at noon on Monday, I learned with dismay that I did have one to do. ? The good news though is that I managed to beat my record by 5 minutes! I then did a few laps in the pool to recharge my batteries. Let’s just say the ice-cold water gave me the boost I needed! Later on, I went back to my room to clean up my e-mails and put my paperwork in order but quickly tired of this, so I decided instead to watch the 24 series, to which I have always been addicted. In my case, the “24 hours” lasted 24 minutes that day: by then, I had already dozed off and was sleeping like a log! * * * POST 45 | DAY 139 - August 13, 2009 SPACE TOILET I underwent some more medical tests: some new ones and others that were similar to those I had already passed. We also continued learning more about the life support system, including a demonstration on how to use the toilet aboard the ISS and a fine sampling of food for astronauts! Needless to say, we had a good laugh! Later on, during one of the meetings I had in the evening, we came to an agreement on which cameras I’ll be using. The next morning was also busy with medical testing. My crew was there, too, and none of us escaped a mighty thorough inspection! Eyes, teeth, blood sampling, blood pressure… here we go again! On a positive note, I found the atmosphere much more relaxed than the first times. Late afternoon, my doctor informed me that for next week’s visit of the GMK (Russia’s Main Medical Commission), I’ll need to do 10 minutes of vestibular training. WAIL!!! So we’re back to testing drugs once more. They injected a very strong sedative in my backside and 2 minutes later, I was using the walls to keep me upright as I staggered to a chair in the hall. I took a 45-minute break sitting still in that chair, absolutely unable to head for my workout. And guess what? It worked! Thanks to a powerful drug and intensive positive image visualization, I was able to get through the full 10 minutes of vestibular training! After this phenomenal feat, however, the great Olympic athlete that I am passed out in bed and completely skipped lunchtime! * * * POST 46 | DAY 141 - August 15, 2009 FIRST SIMULATION STEPS I headed for my simulation preparation with Max, my captain. This would be our first simulation together. I was so tired, though, that I kept nodding off, looking pretty sheepish at the other end of the table. My interpreter was translating the course content for me, but I couldn’t even hear what he was saying. I was simply ready to drop! And so, I was given a doctor’s permission, just like in school, and didn’t have to play hooky. :) I simply went to bed. During the evening, another episode of 24 didn’t survive more than 24 minutes--again! I have the feeling I’ll eventually have to rename it 24 Days or 24 Weeks! On the other hand, and even though I could only sleep on one side because of the injection I had received earlier on, I slept that night like never before since my arrival in Russia. When I awoke the next day, all my senses were wide awake. In the morning, I had a centrifuge test, during which my arrival/departure profile was prepared, and everything went well. Instead of more vestibular training, I was very willing to do 10 centrifuge tests, but they didn’t accept my offer. Go figure! Good news! I won’t have any more vestibular training to do before my departure for Baikonur. I’ll drink to that! As for my simulation with Max, was it the power of my subconscious that took in all the information it received the day before, despite my almost unconscious state? Whatever the reason, the fact remains that everything went amazingly well! * * * POST 47 | DAY 143 - August 17, 2009 BYE, BYE SPAIN... At the end of the day, I left for Ibiza, where I would spend my last weekend before my departure for Baikonur. By this time, SOYUZ, all nice and clean, had been issued his little passport so he was ready to come along with me and be introduced to the family. Jack, my other dog, looked a little puzzled at first, but it didn’t take long for the two of them to start playing together and become good buddies! Lots of friends were there to greet me and I was really happy to see them. They had come to celebrate my birthday a bit ahead of time (since it falls on THE BIG DAY and I’ll be in Russia). We had dinner and spent a wonderful evening together. Saturday, I woke up early and headed for the pool to do a few laps and swim with the kids. With my friends, we threw a Cool Margarita Pool Party. We laughed, went for a swim and chatted. At sunset, I was treated to a fire show, a birthday present I truly enjoyed. We returned home for a BBQ and had some good discussions throughout the evening. At midnight, “Dad” went to bed while everyone else stayed up, even the kids! Could this be a side effect of the sedative I took? The result of too many Margaritas? Or am I simply losing the habit of partying? Of course, I was the first one up on Sunday so I did some more laps in the pool. It’s such a great way to start the day. In the evening, I treated myself to a good homemade spaghetti, admired a magnificent sunset and, with a heavy heart, said goodbye to the whole gang: “I’ll see you all soon, when I get back!” * * * POST 48 | DAY 144 - August 18, 2009 ON MONDAYS, I WRITE We kicked off the week on a grey note: the clouds and cold weather are back in Moscow, along with another medical exam with various tests. We studied the Life Support System more in depth, including the oxygen mask, signals, extinguishers, emergency evacuation procedures aboard the ISS, and so on. I had my altitude chamber test at 10,000 metres as well as other medical exams. I didn’t reach the top of Mount Everest, but I did reach my own personal heights! Like always on Mondays, my evening was quite busy. There’s the Mission Log to update and pictures to choose for the Poetic Social Mission, e- mails received over the weekend to read and answer… so you can see that I don’t get a whole lot of sleep! * * * POST 49 | DAY 146 - August 20, 2009 FIT TO FLY As if it wasn’t enough to bend my body like a contortionist in my spacesuit last week, I had to put it on again for another 2 hours, this time squeezed into a little box at an altitude of 30,000 metres! The purpose of this relaxing experiment was to test my endurance… I just hope they won’t ask me to wear my spacesuit for a whole night in my little bed! We also did quite a lot of preparedness simulations. Everything went well and I was even able to sneak in a power nap once again! Let’s just say these little naps help me regain a few hours of sleep here and there. Along with other medical exams, I was tested on the Life Support System simulation. These exams were followed by a second, and equally important, test from the GMK, Russia’s Main Medical Commission. While the first GMK test cleared us for training, this one will give us the go-ahead to fly. So here we were, Max, Barbara, the back-up captain and I, going from one office to the next, meeting with one doctor after another. We were all smiles when we received confirmation that we were medically fit to fly. What a relief! There was a very important exam coming up on Friday. Since I still wanted some stars in my notebook, I studied all night! * * * POST 50 | DAY 148 - August 22, 2009 SPACE CAMERAMAN I had absolutely no time to work out this week, so in order to squeeze a bit of exercise in the day, I had to steal a few minutes at lunchtime or get up really early. I guess I’ve become addicted! After the exam, we got some good work done. As soon as the test was over, we launched into emergency procedures and did another thorough review of all the ISS systems. The day ended with a hands-on video training session using the equipment I’ll be taking up with me to make videos for my Mission Log and the Poetic Social Mission. I should be a real pro in no time! Training with the team starts next week and I can’t wait! We’ll be testing and putting into practice everything we’ve learned in the last few weeks. * * * POST 51 | DAY 150 - August 24, 2009 AN EXUBERANT FILM CREW I spent the weekend in Moscow and, like all my other times there, the weather wasn’t that great. So I stayed at the hotel and treated myself to life’s little pleasures: good food, a few massages, a few workouts, some movies, putting my paperwork in order… But my head was so filled to the brim with everything I learned in the last days that I went to bed late. I just couldn’t fall asleep. On Sunday, I simply shut off my phone, something I’ve never done since the beginning of my training. Well okay, I did answer, but only when my partner or Renée-Claude called… and, in her case, it was just to get a phone number from me! The film crew was with me and I had to throw them out of my room--they just wouldn’t leave otherwise! But can you blame them? They’re so enthusiastic about the Poetic Social Mission. ;-) And to think I could have done all this in Star City! But it did me good to take it easy for an entire day (well, almost). The sun finally appeared for a brief 15 minutes late Sunday afternoon. Will I one day enjoy a cloudless weekend in Moscow? To be continued… next week! * * * POST 52 | DAY 151 - August 25, 2009 AND THE TRAINING CONTINUES... Since I felt quite rested after my weekend, I had planned to leave Moscow at 7:00 a.m. for the obvious reason: that’s when Starbucks opens! When I arrived there, you can imagine my surprise to find out they had changed their opening hours! The look of utter despair on my face must have moved the staff since they accepted to open at 7:20. So off I went with a smile on my face and a Frappucino in hand, ready for a 1-hour drive to Star City. I was also cheered up by the prospect of training with my crew all week. We started with consultations on topics I had already touched on but need to master well, such as making a diagnosis, identifying the medication on board the ISS, understanding how the belt (the one that controls blood circulation) works and, of course, learning to wash oneself… When we perform simulations, we need to prepare them by consulting each other beforehand on various matters (e.g., the duties to carry out). We had our first preparation Monday afternoon, and everyone was in a good mood. * * * POST 53 | DAY 153 - August 26, 2009 SPACE CLOWN! Our official photo session took place this morning but, happily, we weren’t asked to wear a tie over our flight suit. Phew! Max was there with his wife and two kids, Jeff was with his wife, and I was, well… without my love. :( We’ll have to do some Photoshop later on! I know that I had to be a good sport for these official photos, but I still wanted to get them involved in my madness: my objective was to let them take a picture of the good citizen… and of the artist. I took some clown noses out of my goody bag and we had lots of fun posing for more official photos, version no. 2 this time! It really touched me that my 2 partners played along with me. And the children--who also put on clown noses, of course!--had a good laugh. * * * POST 54 | DAY 154 - August 28, 2009 FIRE SIMULATION IN THE ISS Our work plan in hand, we started the simulation exercise: a fire in the ISS. Our task was to conduct an emergency evacuation and return to our Soyuz. Among other things, this simulation involved putting on our suit and oxygen mask, so my 6th baby (the green one, remember?) served me well! According to my partners, this is one of the most difficult exercises. And I have to agree, since what started out in a cool, calm and collected fashion ended in sheer exhaustion, with sweat pouring down our faces! This fire drill really helped me apply techniques that I hadn’t yet put to the test. I made a few beginner’s mistakes but gained precious experience along the way. There are two important lessons here: first, in an emergency situation (involving fire, in this case), “Roll yourself on the floor” is not the kind of advice we want to follow! Second, it’s important for us to remain calm since, with all the equipment we carry, it doesn’t take long to either run out of energy OR breath AND everything becomes heavy AND our masks fog up. It was such a great experience! That night, I had a series of interviews with a Québec journalist who came to pay me a little visit. A bit far to come for an interview, don’t you think? * * * POST 55 | DAY 155 - August 29, 2009 IT TAKES THREE TO TRAIN I had an exam on several topics we studied last week concerning the design and layout of the ISS. I feel like an aspiring young space architect! At lunchtime, I slipped away to do my workout. Once you get into the habit, it’s hard to stop. We had an exercise to carry out while wearing our flightsuits but my 2 partners did most of the work. It’s reassuring to see how well they know what to do and how well trained they are in the sequence of steps to take. In a nutshell, the exercise went smoothly. I was interviewed by a journalist from AFP (Agence France-Presse). I have to say, the official photos were taken at just the right time! Barbara and I also went to Energia, where we were shown how to pack our equipment. We also went over the functioning of the photo and video cameras and learned how to use SIGMA, an application that lets you capture all GPS points you wish to photograph from up above. (And no, I won’t be photographing all Starbucks store locations around the world!) Then, we took (and passed!) our exam on the on-orbit health maintenance system. I promise to do my best to be a credit to the medical profession! ;-) During another exercise, while we had our spacesuits on, they caused a leak in mine but I reacted quickly and everything went well. I had planned on taking it easy after this little “deliberate” incident, but found myself driving in the rain through traffic instead, trying to get to Moscow to pick up my Kasakh visa. I had made an appointment, but still had to wait 90 minutes once I got there. The good news is I can now check this off my to-do list, since I now have my visa in hand for my return to Earth! * * * POST 56 | DAY 155 - August 29, 2009 TOURIST IN MOSCOW I spent the weekend in Moscow with my good friend Stéphane Francisci from Paris. We had dinner at Mario, in my opinion the top Italian restaurant in Moscow. If ever you’re in the city one day, I recommend that you try it out! Our evening at the Pacha club (where we were very well received by the manager) was cut short though. After boldly attacking the vodka, Stéphane felt the vapours quickly go to this head. Let’s just say the effects of his jet lag were quite volcanic--or should I say “vodkanic”? ! And so, we were back at the hotel a bit earlier than expected… Luckily, a massage at the hotel’s spa helped us relax and the Russian banya helped melt all those nasty toxins away. Welcome to the Russian version of a detox, Stéphane! Nothing like a good whipping after sweating it out! It’s always quite amusing to see the expression on someone’s face after trying out this unusual experience for the first time. It’s really a form of shock treatment! Respecting tradition, the banya is followed by a good Armenian meal right on sight (including shashliks--yummy!) and some good beer. We then went to a supperclub to meet some friends but we were so exhausted, we could barely keep our eyes open! I enjoyed my first day of sun in Moscow the following day and just couldn’t believe it! We made the most of it by playing tourist, walking around the city for hours and buying souvenirs. And we watched the Grand Prix on television--a must-see! We ended the day with a flourish, in my favourite restaurant: Nobu. Delicious! * * * POST 57 | DAY 156 - August 30, 2009 LIFT-OFF IN 30 DAYS! The celebrations for my 50th birthday have officially started and it was very pleasant to start my 50th year in the company of a good friend. Life is beautiful… so I’ve chosen PLEASURE as my favourite word this year, since this is how I intend to live this stage in my life. True to my promise to myself, I took a real break last weekend. Part of my team was in Kiev, also playing tourist. It always does a lot of good to take a little pause and forget about everything for a while… and not trip on camera cables or wear a hidden microphone for the boom operator! I had a nice family get-together via Skype for my young son, who was celebrating his birthday. I felt heavy-hearted for not being physically present, but I was very much so in spirit. I’ve started to feel a true adrenalin rush. The countdown began on Sunday and lift-off is now in 30 days. I’m feeling it, I’m living it and I’m so excited! Finally, I’d like to apologize for the delay in sending you my mission log this week, but the press conference kept me very busy. See you next week then! * * * POST 58 | DAY 157 - August 31, 2009 FEW WEEKS BEFORE THE BIG DAY Geneviève, my coordinator, joined me at 7:15 a.m. at the hotel, where we were meeting our lift to Star City. Of course, at 7:30 on the dot, I made my usual pit stop at Starbucks and left for Star City with happy thoughts of my weekend in Moscow. Monday mostly involved training preparations with my crew. I also skipped my Russian course to work out at the gym and go swimming! It hit me all of a sudden that, as off yesterday, I only have one month left before lift-off, which means that it’s now a question of weeks--and not months--before the big day. This thought gave me butterflies in my stomach and quite an adrenalin rush! When I swim, I usually have to stop after each 2 or 3 laps because water seeps into my goggles. Was this accidental or only due to the fact that I hadn’t yet found the right technique for putting them on? Whatever the reason, my goggles fit tightly that day and I was able to do some 50 laps non-stop, which amounts to more than 1 kilometre! I was in a sort of trance, totally absorbed with going over everything I had learned and the various sensations I had recently experienced. This was the first time I truly felt I was back in shape. Though I haven’t been preparing myself physically for my mission in space for a very long time, this 1-kilometre swim confirmed to me that my fitness program is working well. In short, this moment in the pool made me happy. In the afternoon, I had to return to the Mission Control Center (MCC) in Moscow with Max, Jeff and the backup crew, among others, to meet each group in charge of our flight program, e.g., communications, the on-board computer system and all other elements that are linked to the interface between the control center and the ISS. We also had a meeting with high-ranking officials of the MCC involved in the mission. For the most part, Max and Jeff were the ones who actively participated since they’re leaving on a 6-month mission. I mostly listened and found all of it very interesting. We drove back to Star City under the sun (yes!). In fact, my Russian friends are surprised by the current temperatures, since it’s almost like summer all over again. The forecast is sunny and warm--all week! Monday evening was devoted as usual to writing my log mission and then reviewing material for Wednesday’s press conference. # # # TO BE CONTINUED... Next month we’ll continue with “T-30 Days and Counting! (September 2009, Pt 1), “Departure for Baikonur” (September 2009, Pt 2), “Moving Stars and Earth for Water” (On Orbit), and finishing up with “Back on Earth – Mission Success!” Stay tuned! ------------------------------------------------------------ SPECIAL: "The Canadian Panorama: The 2015 Pan Am Games" By: Alan Hardiman, published in Lighting & Sound America – October 2015 Issue ------------------------------------------------------------ With a spectacular fusion of music, dance, acrobatics, aerialists, BMX stunt cyclists, lighting, video, and pyrotechnics that spanned close to three hours, Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil kicked off the 17th Pan American Games in Toronto with an opening ceremony like none other before it. More than two years in the making, the July 10 show--the largest event the Cirque has ever produced--inaugurated the largest Pan Am Games in history, with 6,200 athletes from 41 countries participating in 36 sports. The show’s broad theme was the coming of age of Canada as a nation, sketched in parallel with the maturation of an individual from childhood to adulthood, all of it overseen by five gods representing the original Olympic Pentathlon, the guardians of javelin, long jump, wrestling, discus, and running. Bruce Rodgers’ set design centered on an 85' x 85' diamond-shaped stage flanked by four satellite 20' x 20' stages on the field of the domed Rogers Stadium, dubbed Pan Am Stadium for the duration of the games. Directly behind the stage, five spaced 22' x 40' Strong MDI screens hung side-by-side to form a 126' x 40' surface for video artist Johnny Ranger’s stunning projections, which complemented the live action on the stage and high above it, where Cirque du Soleil aerialists held the sold-out stadium audience of 45,000 in thrall for much of the evening. Throughout, composer Maxim Lepage’s original score underpinned the performances as well as the parade of athletes, for which he composed a different variation for each and every country, reflecting its own unique music while providing continuity to the parade. Lepage maintained a brisk 120bpm tempo to keep the athletes moving and to prevent this slight diversion from the stage show from dragging down the proceedings. To serve up the score, Marc Laliberté designed a sound system consisting of 120 Meyer MILO elements--15 in each of eight line arrays flown over the stage, supplemented by 36 deck-mounted Meyer 700HP subs and the stadium’s house PA. Befitting the spectacle, lighting designer Martin Labrecque lit it in dramatic fashion, using several truckloads of instruments, chief among them Philips Vari-Lite units and Clay Paky Sharpy moving beams. The show was broadcast live to hundreds of millions of households around the globe, with a feed generated from 29 cameras that also served three IMAG screens flown above the aerialist grid and loudspeaker rigging. THE BEGINNING ------------- The story unfolded through five major set pieces, or tableaux, beginning with the sound of heavy drumming. The program notes relate that “the entire stadium represents the womb, where tradition says indigenous peoples learned drumming from their mothers’ heartbeats. Drumbeats announce the arrival of the all-knowing eagle that comes to deliver a message.” As the eagle transformed into a human Messenger on the projection screens, dancers mounted the steps to the main stage and that same Messenger arose live from the onstage fog as a group of First Nations People ascended to each of the four satellite stages. (MDG supplied the show’s fog and haze machines.) The notes explain that “the four ancestral nations of the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario--the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, the Métis Nation of Ontario, the Six Nations of the Grand River, and the Huron Wendat Nation--welcome the Messenger, each in their own way. In this first tableau, the PowWow Carnival of cultural diversity, 183 dancers from 21 dance troupes perform traditional and contemporary choreography from many countries.” DJ Shub, formerly a member of the powwow-step band A Tribe Called Red, scratches along with the pre-recorded score. Rodgers says, “It was so exciting, just the way they work, because every single person at Cirque du Soleil is so highly creative. For me, it was just a question of jumping in and holding on! I’ve got a number of large-scale stadium shows on my resume--I’m well into my 10th consecutive Super Bowl halftime show as we speak--and they said they needed expertise in set design for television and live events, to take their incredible conceptual design and help sculpt it into a form that could be loaded in on budget and on time without losing the essence of the concept. I’ve done a lot of big shows--with Prince, Bruce Springsteen, and Madonna, for example--and I had always dreamed of working with the Cirque. “They were about a year into their design process, and as they started to crunch the numbers, they realized they had only a fraction of what the budget needed to be,” Rodgers says. “I got invited in as a production designer, to help them identify the essence of what it is they were trying to do, and somehow help them bring it off. Their storyboards were completely out of this world, and profoundly inspiring. It sounds like I’m going overboard, but I’m not. The visuals and the ideas they had would rival any Cirque show that anybody has ever seen, and any opening ceremonies ever staged across the planet.” The torch’s arrival early in the proceedings provided a focal point for the rest of the show. Via video projection, past winners handed the flame off to the Canadian Olympic sprint gold-medalist Donovan Bailey, whose stunt double, in a scene reminiscent of the Daniel Craig-James Bond segment at the London 2012 Olympics, BASE jumped from the top of the adjacent CN Tower--the tallest freestanding structure in the Western Hemisphere--and then appeared live, descending to the stage in harness, torch in hand, to wild applause. Bailey handed the torch to 15-year-old diver Faith Zacharias, who placed it in a cobra head- shaped receptacle, to await the lighting of the cauldron at the end of the evening. “The cobra head--that sliver of pyro pipe that came out of the stage--is just about on the pitcher’s mound,” Rodgers explains. “We did a boatload of spatial studies. As a set designer, you’re always kind of ground-based: what’s happening on the floor to allow for the movement of performers, and also to allow for good sightlines, not only up in the tiered seating but down on the main floor as well. And what are the broadcast cameras going to see? You start working with these floor-based calculations, but with Cirque they are heavily in the air, and you’re in a whole different dimension so that you don’t get a lot of time on any other sort of set design, because nobody flies like the Cirque! You’ve got this massive, amazing rigging for the magnificent aerialist flying rig that you have to work around. It was so exciting to look up at what Danny Zen and his team had done technically with the rig overhead.” Rodgers hung three 26' x 15' IMAG screens at a trim height of 111' above the stage, facing forward and to both sides. “The Rogers Centre is one of the better roof-covered baseball stadiums in North America, so as long as you’re designing near where they play the game of baseball, you know the sight lines are automatically going to be pretty good. But because we’re telling a story, we needed to add IMAG screens all around the upper part of the set design--not very many, just enough to provide a closer picture of some of the little things on the stage way down there,” he says. “The whole show felt like IMAG in a very cinematic way, especially when seen together with Johnny Ranger’s video, which was so beautiful,” Rodgers says. “He and Martin Labrecque worked so closely together on balance--you really want to be pushing 50fc off those screens, and the iris on the camera wants to be F2.8 or so, and you feel like you’re watching a very rich presentation, not only in the foreground on the stage, but on the screen content in the back. That was one thing we were super worried about. We had to find the magic number for broadcast that might feel a bit strange in a live setting, but we tweaked that little bit of science between camera and lighting and projection, and we found the sweet spot.” INTERPLAY OF LIVE ACTION WITH VIDEO PROJECTION ---------------------------------------------- To begin the second tableau, The Fire Line, four costumed stilt walkers representing the bear, caribou, woodpecker, and owl, guided 150 children holding illuminated floor lamps “along trails of discovery, bathed in the glow of the aurora borealis” and a pair of lasers, beneath the steady gaze of the live javelin goddess, who had risen to her apotheosis high atop a scissor lift. Aerialists performed above them, suspended in transparent globes and decorated baskets. In an effective interplay of live action and projected video that initially looked a lot like IMAG, the javelin goddess appeared on stage as a ballerina, while her onscreen counterpart seemed to mimic her movements, occasionally in slow motion. The frightened children crept off the stage as the latter threw the javelin seemingly straight out of the center screen, spitting fire, igniting the pyro pipe, and dividing the main stage straight down the middle with flames extending almost to the torch in the cobra head at the apex of the diamond. According to the program notes, “This creates a border that marks the end of childhood and marks the first test on the road to adulthood.” The young people reappeared on either side of the fire line as teenagers with lacrosse sticks, and began to challenge each other across the flames. Eight of the more acrobatic teens leapt and tumbled over the flames, then began playing a stylized game of lacrosse “to resolve their differences, lacrosse being a traditional alternative to going to war.” On-screen, a Bombardier CL- 415 water bomber flew in low, at a realistic sound level and in glorious surround, to extinguish the fire line, bringing this segment to a close. This interplay between the live action and video projection recurred throughout the entire show, and was a hallmark of the production that made it fascinating to watch. “The video was one big image of 1,920 pixels high by side-by-side vertically together, with a space of 4' between 6,017 pixels wide, projected over five HD screens placed them,” Ranger explains. “Each screen was 1080 x 1920, but when we created the final composition, we filled in the gaps in between, so that took us up to 6,017 pixels wide. It was an enormous rendering project: a two-hour program at 6K resolution. From most positions in the stadium, the screens were massive in comparison to the performers, and therefore had a big impact.” Ranger served as video projection designer, and was on the project full-time since January, working closely with Cirque’s directors to translate their script and narratives into visual concepts. “With my producer, we hired a small team of motion designers and organized the video shoot in March that I then directed,” he says. “We shot in 4K with the Phantom camera, which we used to shoot scenes, characters and effects at between 300 and 900 frames per second for extra slow motion effects.” The extra slow motion was particularly effective in sequences involving explosions, granular objects, and powders, due to the Vision Research Phantom Flex4K camera’s very high definition. (Phantom cameras are also used in ballistics testing and particle image velocimetry.) “We needed to shoot the same actors and acrobats wearing the same costumes they would be wearing in the live show, so we had to ask the wardrobe and makeup departments to be ready in March for us to begin shooting,” Ranger says. “So the costumes for the main characters had to be finalized by then. That was followed by an intense period of post-production in the last few months, during which I also worked as an editor on different tableaux for the final program, which was completed mostly in Adobe After Effects.” Ten coolux Pandoras Box media servers were deployed in a dual- redundant configuration, with two Pandoras Box Manager units for real- time show control and synchronization. Fifteen Christie Roadster HD20K-J 3DLP projectors were arrayed in five banks of three to each screen, notes video project manager Nicolas Gendron. (All video, lighting, and sound gear was supplied by Solotech.) The video program was completed four days prior to the ceremony, but, even then, there was still some rendering to go. “We were lucky that the rendering went according to schedule,” Ranger says. “It could have been a bit tight to render in that format for all the tableaux; also, we were doing about 45 minutes of animated content during the parade of athletes, and we had to create something different for each country. But the most difficult part lay in administering the budget we were given, and trying to figure out how to maximize its value. Once we started production, it all went very smoothly.” The video team was a small one: two motion designers, an illustrator, a technical director, and Ranger alternating in the roles of designer, video director, and editor. TRIBUTE TO SOUND ---------------- The third tableau began with a short scene entitled Waves, in “homage to Canadian broadcasting pioneer Reginald Fessenden,” says the program notes. To their astonishment, dancers discovered radio waves hovering above their heads as they tumble around an old radio receiver. Snippets of Canadian love songs break through the static, leading to the next tableau, Hearts in Bloom. “The guardian of the long jump chooses this segment for the longest leap of our adolescent lives: the discovery of love. The freedom to choose whom to love is a gift that Canada offers to the world.” The guardian of the long jump, who also happened to be a sling dancer, performed atop a ring of draped silk, as video of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains taken from a helicopter was projected onto the five screens. Forty dancers from National Ballet School and Toronto Dance Theatre ended up pairing off in various combinations of boy-girl, boy- boy, and girl-girl, to drive the point home. Providing monitors for hundreds of performers and support staff was a major part of the sound system design. “We were running more than 1,000 in-ear monitors (IEMs), with 20 discrete mixes of Shure PSM 1000 on 60 belt packs, feeding Shure SE425 sound-isolating earphones for the principal actors and singers, and the ten BMX bicycle acrobats,” says Laliberté. “The remaining 950 acrobats, artists, volunteers, and protocol staff received the program through a new FM system,” he adds. “The most important guys on the gig were the RF people from a new Quebec company, Squelch Inc., and those guys are RF freaks! They built all sorts of custom antennas and cable for us, and they handled all the frequency coordination with Industry Canada, in cooperation with an official from the TO2015 organizing committee. We ended up with four discrete FM mixes: one mix for the 150 kids in the show, without too many distractions and calls in it; a second mix for the adult artists; a third for the volunteers in the parade of athletes and other parts of the show; and a fourth mix for the protocol staff. “In addition, we were running a few dozen Sennheiser SK 5212-II lav packs and 30 packs of RF intercom,” he says. “The Sennheisers allowed us to change the power on the transmitters, so we could lower the power as much as possible to get as low intermodulation as possible. With this kind of event, our RF has to be integrated into the frequency plan for all the events, because we had to supply a frequency plan to Industry Canada months ago, even before we knew what we were going to be doing. It was a huge undertaking.” In addition, Laliberté flew 10 Meyer DF-4 long-throw monitor loudspeakers on the acrobatic grid to provide downfill for the aerialists who were not wearing IEMs, and built a shelf around the edge of the stage for 12 Meyer M’elodie cabinets. “I chose the M’elodie because of its very low profile and 100° horizontal coverage; it covered the stage very well,” he says. Laliberté specified two DiGiCo SD7 dual-engine consoles, one for the front-of-house mix, operated by Mark Vreeken, and one for monitors, mixed by Russell Wilson, and a dual-redundant Optocore signal transport system. “The show production involved about 90 inputs, with 24 additional inputs from the Riedel Artist intercom system to the monitor desk. Each of the four FM mixes also contained its own interrupt foldback (IFB). While the stage manager, Stefan Miljevic, called the overall show, every specific department had its own show caller. Each dance group heard the dance counts from its own choreographer to keep them in time. Throughout the show, there were different people talking to the children and to the adults. “We used 48 outputs for monitors only, feeding two Meyer Galileo 616 processors for control,” he says. “The FOH console fed 10 Galileo 616s, and also provided safety mixes to broadcast control. In addition, we sent a MADI stream of all the inputs to Mike Nunan and Anthony Montano who were mixing in the BAS Broadcast Audio Services truck as a backup to their Lawo I/O system.” Two computers running QLab took care of playback, the second being a redundant backup unit. Analog outputs were used because the Radial SW8 auto-switchers feature only analog I/O. More than 90% of the show’s sound was from playback, the 16 tracks of music arranged as stems to help maintain control of various frequency bands within the venue. Tracks 1 and 2 contained percussion and lowfrequency content, tracks 3 and 4 held the low strings and pads; high strings and pads went to tracks 5 and 6, front sound effects were on tracks 7 and 8, surround music was on tracks 9 and 10, surround sound effects were on tracks 11 and 12, tracks 13 and 14 were reserved for vocals, and tracks 15 and 16 were dedicated to special cues, such as counts, clicks, verbal instructions, and comments. “The great thing about QLab is that it generates longitudinal time code [SMPTE LTC] in real time. We were still composing until the very last minute, and if we had had pre-recorded tracks of time code, it would have been impossible to deal with--for every change, you’d have to redo the time code track. But by generating time code in real time, we were able to make changes right up to the end. Time code was redundant too, but we’re keeping how we did it a secret! We had a third backup coming from a computer running Digital Performer on a separate power circuit for use if everything else failed.” The Optocore closed loop ran from a backstage DiGiCo DigiRack, then to a second DigiRack at the front-of-house position. From there, it went to the music playback control room where the show callers, choreographers, producers and three live announcers--French, Spanish, and English--were headquartered, and then back again to the front-of- house console and finally to the monitor console and backstage rack, where the loop was closed. “If we encountered a break on one side, the other end of the loop would still make it,” Laliberté says. Some 200 EAW stadium house loudspeakers were used as delays. Laliberté took advantage of an additional ring of EAW loudspeakers on the 300 level that are permanently aimed back at the field, pressing them into service for his surround mix with the eight main line arrays of Meyer MILOs flown 70' above the stage acting as mains. “When I first went into the Rogers Centre, I was surprised at how good the house PA sounded. So I started the concept from there, using the house system in conjunction with our own. When I saw the first drawings of the stage, I decided to fly eight line arrays so they would be almost equidistant to every seat in the venue, and permit the delay between the production system and house system to be about the same everywhere. Every speaker in the Rogers Centre has a dedicated output from the house [BSS] Soundweb London Blu system, so we were able to fine-tune its 100 zones and delay it to our system. It was really well integrated with our production system,” he says. While he was able to achieve only 85dB SPL (Cweighted) with good intelligibility in the empty house, Laliberté found that, during the show, with 45,000 human absorbers in the seats eliminating the slapback, he reached almost 100dB with no adverse effects. “It felt like a rock show,” he says. ROCK SHOW LIGHTING ------------------ It also looked like a rock show, thanks to Martin Labrecque’s stunning lighting design, centered on 100 Philips Vari*Lite VL4000 and VL3500 Spots and 109 Clay Paky Sharpys. “This was the first time I had done something in a stadium,” Labrecque says. “I come from the theatre world, and I do a show with the Cirque about every two years. This was something totally new, and I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I think the reason they asked me is that they wanted a hybrid between theatre and a rock show. I lit most of the acrobatic numbers with a more theatrical feel, and, between those moments, it’s more like a rock show. The director, Bastien Alexandre, wanted to use the beam of the Sharpys a lot, especially moving in interaction with the Messenger.” For wash, he used a combination of 80 VL3500 Wash and Wash FX luminaires, together with 30 Sharpys and 24 Martin Professional MAC 600 NTs. “The main grid was an acrobatic grid, so in terms of weight I was very limited, due to all the winches and other equipment used for the aerial acrobatics. So I put most of the Sharpys on the floor around the stage, and used the main acrobatic grid to envelop the artists. We were also aware of the radius of movement when the acrobats were spinning around, and we were careful in positioning the lights to keep them out of the way,” he says, noting that he mounted many of the VL4000s up on the 500 level balcony. Mathieu Poirier, Labrecque’s associate, notes that the lighting desk setup included two grandMA2 full size consoles (one main and one backup); two grandMA2 light consoles (one for the DP and one for associate lighting designer); and three grandMA2 NPU network processing units. “Before the load-in, we had about 25 days to build the show on the CAST WYSIWYG and grandMA2 platforms,” Labrecque says. “We had only five nights in the stadium, which is not much at all, and had only three or four hours sleep a night. It was pretty stressful when we saw the first run-through on the morning of the dress rehearsal. That was the first time I saw the show.” The most difficult part of the lighting design for Labrecque was the requirement to light the show for television as well as for the house. Because his TV experience was limited, he asked Yves Aucoin, lighting designer for Celine Dion, to accompany him during those five nights in the stadium to take care of the television look. “Yves helped me to build my image so it looked good on the stage and on TV, and we were able to achieve a good balance between the two,” Labrecque says. “Normally, I don’t work with 29 cameras--it’s only my eye. He was incredible. He really helped me to achieve what I had in mind, but for television. He helped me build all the looks so it was really great having him with me. I learned a lot. “I had maybe five pages of notes that I didn’t do,” he adds. “I just closed my book and said, ‘Let’s hit it.’ There was no time left. We were a team of five: Mathieu Poirier; Eric Belanger, the board operator; Annick Ferland, the followspot operator; Yves Aucoin as DP; and myself. We formed a very tight group. We knew where we were going and they all did a fantastic job. I’m very proud of the team.” The next two tableaux, A Storm of Possibilities and A Train for Life, were overseen by the gods of wrestling and discus, respectively. The program notes tell us, “Doubt grips us at the moment we begin to choose our destiny. The guardian of wrestling leads young adults into the turmoil of his own inner struggle. They find confidence and strength, and the sky literally rains down professions on them,” in the form of various uniforms and work garb, that they then try on for size in preparation for entering the workforce. “A Train for Life: Like a thread from coast to coast, the railroad touches territories and people, uniting them, forming a country. It’s the moment of departure from home when young adults leave to forge their own paths. The railroad represents the journey of all athletes who leave home to follow the arduous paths that led them here on this special night. The guardian of discus is here to guide them, help them connect with their individual destinies, inspire them with a shared determination to complete their journeys by building on a strong country and a stable future.” These two segments featured aerialists performing on spinning ladders, representing the vagaries of upward (and downward) career mobility. A mini-rail train arrived to take them all away, following which 10 BMX stunt cyclists performed death-defying tricks on eight ramps on the floor around the main stage. MAINTAINING CONTROL ------------------- Synchronizing 625 performers and hundreds of support personnel with video and audio playback, lighting, pyrotechnics, hazers, fog machines, motors, and sundry other equipment in a one-time-only live show could easily have become a nightmare. Fortunately, a show-control protocol was established to accommodate any unforeseen changes in pacing and stage management issues. Each of the different tableaux and the transitions between them began at a different hour of time code. The first tableau started at 01:00:00:00, the next at 02:00:00:00, and so on through the 18 individual sections of the show. “The LTC from QLab provided ‘go’ commands to the other departments. Video and lighting received their cue, and then they free-ran to their own internal timing reference,” Laliberté explains. “Because of the acrobatics, almost every song ended in a loop, because it was impossible to know in advance precisely when an acrobatic routine would end. So we had to wait for a ‘go’ to proceed with the next song. Every song was produced to be longer than its program length by two or three minutes. Sometimes it would go on to a loop, which obviously doesn’t work with linear time code. Therefore, everybody had to go to free-run and wait for the next cue. Also, with a stage filled with 300 people, you don’t know precisely when it will be cleared, and because of the pyrotechnics and aerials, there were always safety issues. The intercom system was so critical, because we always had to wait for an ‘all-clear’ from the floor managers before we could go on to the next number. “There were over 400 cues throughout the show. Our playback guy, Martin Ruel, had his finger on the space bar the whole time! The stage manager Stefan Miljevic was the show caller; he had the time code in his head. He was calling the show by reading the time code, and he knew it by heart. It was all manual starts,” he says. “We used the Riedel intercom system to distribute time code,” Laliberté says. “Every operator’s panel had two audio outputs, so we could supply time code to every position. There were two really big numbers in the show: the opening, and the lighting of the cauldron at the end. In the opening, we also had FSK (frequency shift key) time code that was dedicated to the pyrotechnics. FSK time code has a low baud rate signature, and it can be sent over RF without any problems. That we could not generate, so it was a pre-recorded track that we sent to the pyro team.” The final tableau, culminating in The Lighting of the Cauldron, began under the watchful eyes of the guardian of running, and involved numerous acrobats running on treadmills high atop scissor lifts, anticipating the torch runners and the ultimate hand-off of the flame to Canadian basketball legend Steve Nash. Torch in hand, Nash ran out of the stadium, making his way to the cauldron at the base of the CN Tower, where he ignited the cauldron and set the tower ablaze in a dazzling fireworks display that could be seen for miles around, and that rivaled--but could not surpass--the unbelievable show we had just witnessed from Cirque du Soleil. ------------------------------------------------------------ INTERVIEW /// "Gabriel Christo - Teeterboard, Corteo" By: The Chapiteau, a Cirque du Soleil Fan Club ------------------------------------------------------------ Gabriel Christo is a gymnast from Belo Horizonte, Brazil. At the time of the interview, Gabriel was in Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo Teeterboard act, but has since left Corteo to join creation for the previously announced Avatar show. Check out the interview to find out more about Gabriel’s gymnastic beginnings and how he ended up in Cirque du Soleil. “When we finish the show and the audience appreciates it and they show it to us; when they celebrate with us and they react really well and they scream at us, they wave, they cry, they smile, that’s when everything makes sense. That’s my favorite part. That’s why I do it.” * * * Q. Where are you from? I’m from Brazil. From Belo Horizonte. Q. How old are you? I’m 27. Q. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood? I was a very happy kid. Because I was born very flexible and liked to do cartwheels all over the place, my mom put me in gymnastics just to spend my energy. Although, I really wanted to do it. I asked her and she put me in it. I started at age 8 and I never stopped. This year I’m completing 20 years (career). Q. You started in gymnastics… I started in gymnastics and at some point I went to the national team. I started competing internationally representing the Brazilian team. In one of these competitions, Cirque talked to me and I decided to give it a try. Right now I’m an acrobat in Corteo. Q. How did you end up in Cirque du Soleil? In 2007 I went to compete the World Championships in Quebec City. Cirque had a tent there and one of the talent scouts, he spoke Portuguese, approached me. He knew some of my friends, so he asked if one day I would be interested in joining Cirque. I said eventually one day I could try, but right now I want to try to compete in the Olympics. We didn’t qualify for the Olympics that year and when we returned to Brazil, I decided to write him an e-mail. I [said] I would be interested in trying and like a month later he wrote me back that he had a spot for me. Q. Was this to audition or did you go straight to general formation? Because I had been approached by them at the World Championship, they asked me to send a video of all my skills. I didn’t audition. As soon as I returned to Brazil, I started filming some skills – I can do gymnastics, I can do trampoline, I can do a little bit of dancing. So I gathered all this information and I sent it to them and they offered me a profile that would fit my skills. So I never auditioned. Q. But you said you did go to the general formation? I went to general formation. I arrived in Montreal and I was there for 5 months. At the end of general formation, they offered me a contract for Zaia in Macau. Q. What year was general formation? I did general formation in 2008. Q. Did you accept Zaia? Yes. I was in Zaia for 2 years. I did the formation and went right away to China and I signed the contract for 2 years. After the contract with Zaia, I decided to not renew with Macau, so Cirque offered me a creation for a new show, that would be Iris. I finished Zaia and a couple of months later I went to Montreal to do creation of Iris. Q. Were you with Iris until it closed? I was. We did the creation and we went to LA. We ran for approximately 2 years before the show closed. I was part of this crew, when it closed. I moved out of LA and I worked in another show called The House of Dancing Water in Macau for 6 months. I was diving. It was a water show. Q. After that, you went over to Corteo? Yes. Then towards the end of my contract in Macau… it was temporary. I accepted a temporary contract because I didn’t want to really go back to Macau. I took this challenge because it was a really short contract. So I went over there and then Corteo called me because they needed somebody for teeterboard and I have done teeterboard my whole life. So here I am today! Q. Can you explain a bit about Corteo? Corteo is a very lyrical story. It tells the story of a clown that is about to die. Basically, the show is a movie of his life. He goes through the memories of his childhood, the memories of his best friends – the fondest memories about his life. It’s a death told in a very beautiful way. It celebrates happiness. Q. What is the significance of your act in the show? My act is the teeterboard act. It’s a battle between poor and rich. Two villages meet for this challenge. On one side is the poor village and on the other side is the rich village. The artists challenge each other and they do tricks. They have a very friendly fight on stage. It’s a very nice moment, actually. It’s super beautiful and it’s impressive. And it’s very theatrical too. It’s acrobatic and theatrical at the same time. Q. What do you enjoy the most about Corteo? What I enjoy the most about Corteo… I think it would be that they gave us the freedom to be ourselves. So sometimes we’re on stage and we don’t have a pattern we have to follow every single time. Actually, we have a pattern to do but we can use our own personality to do it. I can just be myself. I can react as I would react in real life. And the makeup is very light too; we’re basically our own faces on stage. It’s very different from other Cirque shows that everything is very calculated and rehearsed. Corteo is a little bit too, but it’s very free. You can be yourself on stage, which is different from other shows. It’s a lot of theatre involved and I love that part. I love that we can give our own spice to the character. Q. At the end of every show, what is the first thing that goes through your head? Actually, the end of the show – it shouldn’t be, but it’s one of my favorite parts. Not because the show is done, but because the audience’s reaction. I love getting that back from them. We give so much energy on stage and sometimes we’re tired and we try to find motivation to perform everyday at 100%. Sometimes we don’t have much energy, so when we finish the show and the audience appreciates it and they show it to us; when they celebrate with us and they react really well and they scream at us, they wave, they cry, they smile, that’s when everything makes sense. That’s my favorite part. That’s why I do it. Q. There must be some tough parts of being on tour. Do you agree with this? I find touring life very challenging. Most people would think touring is amazing and it’s great all the time because you’re traveling, which it is, but it’s also very challenging. You’re never in one place. It’s hard to settle. It’s hard to have your favorite coffee shop to go to. It’s hard to have your best friends around. Sometimes you’re very far. Living in a hotel is tricky sometimes because you want your own place but you don’t really have it. Those are some little aspects that make it a little more challenging, but it’s still beautiful. I love touring. I love being able to go to new places. And sometimes when we’re in a place that is not our favorite place, we know that soon enough we’ll be changing for another one. It’s just a very, very different life. Q. That being said, do you plan on staying with Cirque du Soleil for a while? Yes, I do. We’re looking into a new project for me. As soon as I leave Corteo, I might have a new Cirque show. We’re still talking about it. But I don’t want to stop yet. Q. Can you say if this is a new show? A new show coming up. I just want to conclude saying that joining Cirque was something that I didn’t think before because I wanted to be an Olympic athlete, but when I did it, it became my new dream. I realized so many dreams of mine came true being part of Cirque. I went to so many places and I met so many wonderful people. I saw that this is larger than life. There’s so much that I got from it; I participated in the Oscars and in great events. I find myself in the place that I wanted to be and that’s why I don’t want to quit yet. I’m very grateful and I’m very grateful for the interview too. I love being able to tell my story and maybe inspire other people. ======================================================================= COPYRIGHT AND DISCLAIMER ======================================================================= Fascination! Newsletter Volume 15, Number 12 (Issue #143) - December 2015 "Fascination! Newsletter" is a concept by Ricky Russo. Copyright (c) 2001-2015 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. { Dec.08.2015 } =======================================================================