- 12 minutes ago
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:02it's such a massive thing to premiere a show in Montreal yesterday you over a huge mistake
00:13I'm getting ready to attempt to set Guinness record three two one go I didn't call myself
00:20the most flexible male in the world people are calling me that I would never want to
00:26steal Eric's job but maybe he would be willing to share it with me it's my coat someone else is
00:31wearing these are my first steps on Lucia Montreal site a few weeks ago I had my appendix removed
00:54it was one and a half week before premiere and of all the premieres I could have missed this was
01:01not
01:01the one I can't even imagine what it must have been like for him missing the premiere I'm sure it
01:08was
01:10upsetting I have been a clown for the last 25 years
01:19clowning is a serious business and I'm trying to put clowning back on the map
01:28that train which is called Cirque du Soleil or Lucia is moving and it doesn't stop it goes
01:34and when you're not on the stage you have to catch up you have to run hard or you get
01:40left out
01:46ha they erase me already
02:07being an artist of Cirque du Soleil it's like being a professional athlete you have to be in shape you
02:15have
02:15to be healthy you have to train well behave well because it doesn't matter if you see the show
02:22tonight or tomorrow the quality has to be at the same level there's always room to improve to do an
02:33element that is more difficult so that's how we try to keep them engaged so they don't get bored
02:41there's no bad seats in the house and everybody deserves to see what the show really is so we're
02:49halfway to our run in Montreal and you can start to feel a little bit of fatigue there's a spirit
02:54of
02:55competition that pushes the artists to see what their limits are pushing each other up all together
03:05obviously it's good to be back on site
03:14what does it feel like just so achy whoa whoa oh like that when Nelson joined Cirque du Soleil when
03:27it
03:27was clowning he did what he did and he thought it was fun and then I thought I'm the craft
03:33instead
03:34of a water bottle it's something completely different I'm not going to tell you what it is
03:37yeah it's a book it's a book everybody can say they're a clown but they're not it's a science and
03:43you have to study it what are you going to do now and I will watch the show that's it
03:50that's it performing for Eric is so so nerve-wracking because I want him to see that I can do
03:58the
03:58role and that the work that he's put into me is worth it I think Nelson has a big ego
04:06and he hides it
04:08very well but it's there and I can see it I still see it I've been training for the understudy
04:22for
04:22seven years and he invested so much time into me while I was learning to become the performer that
04:28I am today even after the premiere for all of the heads of Cirque du Soleil I think performing
04:35for Eric is still one of the most nerve-wracking things that I do I don't like to be on
04:43this side
04:43of the stage so it's always hard to sit and watch there is always like a little bit of the
04:59attitude
05:00look at me I'm here on this stage and and nobody's nobody's interested in that comedy is about making
05:11people laugh it's not about pride I want to be the best clown in the world and Nelson may not
05:22know it but I want that for him too the biggest challenge of being in a duo is you both
05:39have to
05:39be on top of your game very bendy like it looks like you were in a fold of like one
05:44like bridge
05:45at this point in the run we always challenge each other to push our act further I get so dizzy
05:50in the
05:51artistic test my name is on España I'm 28 years old and on Lucia I do the Roosier I like
06:02to say that
06:03the sear wheel is like a giant hula hoop but instead of like spinning it around your waist you stand
06:08inside of it that's I think the easiest way to explain a sear wheel to somebody I'm a sixth
06:15generation traditional circus artist and the first time I was on stage I was about four or five I feel
06:22like my whole life I've been sort of trained to be on stage I am Sarah Donny I am 25
06:31years old and I'm
06:32the fifth generation of La Familia Donny I'm from Italy picture the most traditional Italian family that's my
06:41family yeah me too you have one knee up I have the opposite knee up it almost fell on your
06:47face coming
06:49both from traditional circus backgrounds it kind of really feels like we're sisters on stage because
06:54she has the same background as I do when I look at her I see home yes yes both Sarah
07:03and I are
07:04self-taught we both grew up on the road learning cereal from a young age so we didn't have access
07:09to having a coach to learn specific tricks like look you were so high why did I jump off the
07:15trick that
07:15we were working on together it's a coin but on a split and hard part is to stand up from
07:22that coin
07:23into a split the biggest challenge that we are facing right now is fear because what happens when
07:34you're spinning you're spinning you don't feel safe so the hardest part about learning is fighting through
07:42that fear it's so frustrating trying the same trick on and on and there's no changes
08:03ladies and gentlemen tapirouge please tapirouge please tapirouge is our red carpet so traditionally
08:14all Cirque du Soleil shows have red carpet in their artistic tent it's our team time whether it's
08:20logistics show notes shoutouts first things first I know coach has a lot to say so I'll talk to you
08:29guys about Fitness Evolve Fitness Evolve is just evaluated you know overall strength of everyone
08:38I HQ is gonna help me to do the Fitness Evolve on everyone's remember if you failure the entire test
08:46then you cannot perform if you fail the test then you need to go back in a training program and
08:52then
08:53after a few weeks we retest again so this year we do two tests depends of your category I know
09:02you guys
09:03are panicking about that I think everyone is a little bit stressed people do their own workout but
09:10they're not necessarily working out for doing that test you guys have any question to the musicians
09:17have to do it no there's a clown have to do it yes if you have other questions Emerson's here
09:25all night
09:34can we start please I'm nervous cheating no cheating no cheating no cheating push push push push the
09:41fitness test happened twice a year this book escalator story it's a way for sir to make sure that the
09:48artists are still in a good shape what we test is always a surprise press press press press and it
09:53comes at random times during the year like a pop quiz it push push push push push I'm a bit
09:58stressed
09:59about it definitely because I want to pass the tests feel one exercise you're good to go for the
10:05show but if you fail two or more you cannot perform this is a pass fail evaluation but we do
10:11keep an eye
10:11on who the top performers are nice come on and kind of just siphoning the artists who really want to
10:16impress us how much 27 every profile they have a different test one if an acrobat in an audio for
10:33an aerialists Alex is very special we don't know how to test him you know and to understand you know
10:43his body because he's out of this planet so since you're a contortionist a lot of your act will be
10:49on a pressing motion push-up male and let's say well yeah 26 and above okay 26 and above let's
11:00go
11:0221 yes contortionist you need to have flexibility strength agility control over your body well done
11:11let's go well done if you get too strong you start getting muscles you start losing your flexibility
11:27but on the other hand if you don't pay attention to strengthening exercises at all the body becomes
11:33too loose and you start having issues with controlling it finding this balance is like the biggest challenge
11:40for a maximum push-up test we did 26 there are meat expectations well done
11:49as a college gymnast I always had strength tests a lot of the times I didn't do very well on
11:55them I
11:55always failed them yeah nice well done test that we're gonna do will be the inverted row just to
12:02measure upper body pulling strength we're just gonna be setting up over there pressure's on
12:08so after college gymnastics I really got into weightlifting and I made the decision to never
12:13ever ever fail a strength test again easy yeah there's a number where it's meets expectations and
12:26that outstanding so we always go for the outstanding okay so next up you bullet tests
12:35Olivia she's always working out doing her thing she's very persistent when she went on something you
12:43know she'll work on it it up it up it up well done I look forward to it maybe more
12:49than others can I
12:50keep going it does so go crazy 60 I'm not coming no pause no pause no pause good well done
12:58it feels good it feels strong
13:04yeah let's go let's go let's go let's go stay backstage come on come on press press press you go
13:08come
13:08on come on come on come on I think it's like any athlete you have to stay in shape you
13:12have to be really
13:12disciplined those are all aspects that people don't really think of often and it's why it makes it
13:19so competitive it's a good challenge for the crew and we'll see who comes up on top and who comes
13:26up
13:26on the bottom no rush slow down first of all you should feel your muscle that's stupid empty light
13:39bar I'm 52 years old and I'm one of the oldest cast members of the show yeah you can open
13:47your chest a
13:48little more yeah two years before I started at Cirque I realized I needed to visit the gym squatting a
13:56little lower than 90 degrees never give up let's go and if I do half of that I'm happy five
14:05do I touch
14:09how are you feeling at this stage of your recovery from the surgery well first of all I feel great
14:16my recovery went really smooth five at one side and then five on the other or mix it up so
14:24physically
14:25surgery-wise done but anytime you step away from the tent it's a death sprint to to come back
14:58I love Eric and I'm so thankful for everything he's done for me but me being a bit younger and
15:03the
15:04fact that I'm an acrobat I think I'll be all right
15:28it's really nice with a tour because a lot of families and they have kids and they still make it
15:32work high five I seem to be so happy I love it the kids change your life yeah I really
15:43cherish every
15:44moment that I can I'm a father and also a boyfriend and I just want to be with my baby
15:51and to not be on
15:53tour all the time my fiance Val she's also a circus artist and she's more behind the scenes and she
15:58loves
15:58it and you after Montreal you're done with touring yeah tough decision huh yeah it's hard it takes me a
16:08while to think about it Lee is one of our hoop divers he decided to leave after Montreal because he
16:14wants
16:14to provide stability for his kid Leo who's five years old without we talk about it a lot about stopping
16:20touring and making a life of our own and sub touring is difficult decision yeah yeah sure those conversations
16:27don't happen naturally I think I just have to take the time to decide what's next maybe staying childish or
16:37young in my heart helps me push that moment a bit away good talk man yeah nice awesome yeah I'm
16:44happy for
16:44you maybe this is because I'm naive and I just want to be like oh I could do this forever
16:48but I can't
16:56when I woke up this morning it's like ah finally I'm getting back to work today we're testing all my
17:04costumes and setups and I just hope to get clear to before we have a really wonderful performance
17:17medicine team and head coach and myself we work really closely together to make sure that the artist
17:22gets re-entreated into the show properly my integration in show will go step by step
17:29everyone's really excited to see Eric back on site he's a big part of a lot of the show he
17:35hasn't
17:35done his first show yet so we'll see how he goes with that but I think it's gonna be really
17:39good so
17:40now I start feeling and maybe because of anesthetics or or the surgery it's pretty tough to step back in
17:48I feel it but uh it doesn't hurt zero is nothing 10 is ah yeah yeah so 0.5 0
17:59.2
18:07I want to be back in as soon as I can I don't expect to do all the shows right
18:13away let's see where it goes
18:18congratulations you've been cleared the thing okay now I come back and I show them the best clown shoes are
18:30big
18:56so we're gonna discuss the results of everyone
19:02everyone in the show
19:04everyone in the show
19:05everyone in the show
19:08everyone has a test so guess who did the best overall
19:16Olivia
19:17Olivia
19:24Olivia had the highest score on the fitness of all of everyone male and female her score was a
19:30the highest one I like to see my muscles grow and so I think I actually did better than Nelson
19:40being from a small town in Ohio there's like not much art let alone circus or something like this so
19:48saying oh this is what I want to do people kind of look at you like you're crazy like what
20:02obviously it's great to be back on stage I love performing that's my home
20:10and this is my character
20:20I am so passionate about comedy I find it such a miracle that you can step on stage make two
20:28steps
20:28raise your hand and they'll laugh only if you do that at the exact right time otherwise nobody will laugh
20:36and I think that is something that drives me to teach Nelson and now I'm back I'm thinking
20:48I need to revisit my role as a mentor
20:59hello
21:00hello
21:02hey baby how are you
21:04good you
21:05hello
21:05so my boyfriend Tomek and I we have like a six-hour time difference between us and most of the
21:10time on
21:11Saturdays when I have three shows and he has two shows we start our makeup at the same time that's
21:16so
21:17cool that you guys are in Spain now I'm so jealous yeah I definitely feel like as we're apart doing
21:25these
21:25little things together really help us connect Tomek got his offer for Cirque du Soleil's other show
21:33curious and I got the offer for Lucia he told me he definitely wanted me to take it he really
21:38wanted me to like go on the same journey that he was on even if it's in a different show
21:43you have
21:43to do it otherwise you're gonna miss the opportunity obviously for sure that was almost a year ago so it's
21:50been a lot of distance in a year but it really helps us look forward to the time together I
21:57mean
21:57it's still nice that we get to do our makeup together but I actually get kind of jealous of the
22:02couples that are here all the time like Sarah and her boyfriend Alejandro it would be so nice to
22:07have you here with me too
22:13maybe like this
22:17good good do you remember the day that we met like it was yesterday
22:26Alejandro and I met in Australia one year and a half ago while we were touring honestly if someone
22:33invites you to the show like you're gonna want to see what they are doing right so I was trying
22:38to
22:38follow you around the stage and I was blown away we knew that at some point we would have had
22:47to make
22:48a decision on whether he was gonna join me on tour Alejandro is new to this lifestyle the circus world
22:57he
22:58works remotely so he has the opportunity to be on tour with me while working everything just worked
23:05out now we're just creating this new life that definitely makes me happier on stage you know he's
23:11more in my world now
23:19I know that it can be hard for other couples like thought it when you have your partner on a
23:25different
23:25show and you don't know when you're gonna be able to see each other
23:41now that the premiere and fitness tests are behind us
23:44Gracie really wants us to take advantage of the wealth of knowledge and expertise here at HQ
23:50we're trying to improve because it would be boring to do the same routine every single day and being
23:56here there is a career for I need to see
23:58hello
24:02Sylvia Gertrudix she's a choreographer and service LA and she was responsible for stage in few acts and
24:08and one of them was contortion we didn't know each other but then what we got to know each other
24:23through
24:23the creation he was shy but he was also very well manner it was my first time when I traveled
24:30by myself
24:31and I was a bit scared because previously wherever we went I was traveling with my coach and when we
24:37started working my worries started going away piece by piece little by little because I was
24:44with Sylvia and I started enjoying the process a lot we really with him we had all these positions that
24:49were extreme positions and other positions that are also very challenging even to the eye you need to show
24:55this one is more Picasso he has this amazing body there's moments that the legs are talking to him
25:02and the head is talking to the legs we had like four or five months together and he was becoming
25:08this
25:08creature called alebrigeno so we were able to explore with his body do you remember we were like
25:15Alexi imagine you're a dog because you remember that how was how was it so start playing with your
25:23leg as if you were a dog and and play with it with your leg you were like interacting yes
25:31yes yes yes
25:34yes my character is called alebrige it's a mythical creature from Mexican culture that embodies many
25:43different animals in one body sometimes I'm playing a snake sometimes I'm playing a scorpion
25:49sometimes I'm playing a cat a cat I never I never thought you were a cat the scorpion so when
25:56I'm coming
25:56split yes you remember that you asked me to do flamingo in box these ones yes yes yes that for
26:08you was easy
26:09for me it's still easy easy you remember that we did some improvisations you and I you remember what
26:16was it and I remember that I was feeling a bit shy a bit nervous because I was like okay
26:22what do I do
26:30we put a music that was like opposition because we wanted to find your dark side or to see what
26:37kind of dark side he has because you're such a nice gentle person but in your number the scene is
26:42a
26:42little bit darker mysterious right now you wanna do a little bit of that moment together just trying to
26:50recover that energy sure yeah okay let's try
27:06I think Alexi has an unlimited potential seeing him going and expanding into a multi-layer artist and
27:14even now with his time he's become his own color for his own director he's he's evolved the ad if
27:22you
27:22ask me how I evolved over these nine years it's really hard to say from my part because I'm being
27:27with myself all this time but I'm happy to hear from different people they say oh Alexi did it differently
27:33you added a new trick that looks amazing and it makes me understand that I'm still evolving
27:50so the idea I bring when I finish my solo so I would be like this and then hold
27:57you pack I got this choice I turn exactly ego is my partner on stage it is really good to
28:07perform with
28:08him because we understand each other but soon he would go on parental leave so I had no choice to
28:19do
28:19the solo and that's almost five minutes alone on stage so it would be like this boom right
28:29right until the end i need to get ready anytime so today uh is the day where i'm going to
28:37practice my solo version and yeah it would be on the side so from here i'm gonna start
28:45like this boom and then i go inside the water like this we are going to incorporate the water
28:54feature for almost one minute we are going to test if those new tricks can work in the water
29:00i never try yet on stage for me the challenge is to be able to juggle on the water and
29:10because
29:10that can affect the trajectory of the ball
29:35because we don't have the intro we lose a little bit of the fun superman and i don't know maybe
29:41you do it
29:41later for your regular solo time you can do it there so you can breathe a little bit and you
29:45can
29:46come up stage i'm not sure if grace is happy with what i put together during the week she want
29:53me to
29:53interact more with the water change the order of my tricks now i have no idea if the solo will
30:00be
30:00ready on time we have a job to do the job is to entertain yeah it's not a nice get
30:12together nelson is
30:14still splitting clown duty with me so i want him to be the best there's a lot of tricks to
30:20keep the
30:20attention to keep them with you i think that if he overcomes that exhibitionism of of his ego that will
30:29be the next step for him he will learn faster we have an attention span uh-huh act as well
30:36yes you
30:37you need to keep it tight let's experiment let me grab a ball stay stay our job is to make
30:49it look easy
30:51being funny being funny doing funny is the difference between ego no ego tension no tension
31:00it took me 10 years to understand what does it mean yes i would like you to
31:08come here present yourself to the audience and then do something with the ball okay
31:21hi my name is nelson smiles i'm a hoop diver and backup clown on so to slay's loser and this
31:27is my ball
31:29you can throw the ball catch the ball and uh it's a good ball all i had to do was
31:37introduce myself
31:38just rambled on should i try again no it's okay i hate this exercise
31:45so i think it's more mind games than an actual exercise go stand there that's your ball now make us
31:53laugh okay um
32:01come on i haven't left
32:07just like here's a ball be funny like oh they're designed to catch you off guard
32:30it's tough huh it's horrible absolutely horrible and you do a good job i have to say and that felt
32:39good the whole way down for the chicken thing i was like this is awful but i think it's working
32:45that's the rhythm it was not oh my god i i need to be funny yeah that's it if i
32:52took every single one
32:54of eric's notes to heart i would come out crying so i actually feel like now i'm getting to a
32:59point
33:00where i can not best him but i'm a bit more ready for him which always feels good surprise break
33:05the
33:06expectation to keep them with you nelson grew a lot he came in as a kid and then i taught
33:14him
33:14some tips and tricks and he took that and that is very nice to see
33:28but i'm really hot
33:32we're so close with zora we are trying to get this trick the split coin
33:38it is super hard to understand what we need to do i feel like i'm just chickening out
33:47i feel like i can do it but what i did is as i came up i brought the leg
33:51down
33:52right well you're upside down your arm is in a position it isn't usually in
33:56you feel your weight shifted very far forward and you can't see the floor
34:11it's just frustration
34:16there's like the voice in your head like failure failure
34:31it's like a side i'm done i'm not doing any one
34:41yes
35:00i don't even know what you did it's a fraction of the second from okay i'm gonna give up
35:06until i have the trick it's just an amazing feeling
35:10do it super easy sarah did something totally different than what we were both doing this
35:26engaged
35:35my dad used to say that before you put a trick in the show you have to do it 10
35:39times and do it good
35:4010 times in a row without failing i feel like we have it like we could even put it on
35:44stage tonight
35:45it's super exciting
35:5410 years ago we did creation and there was so much going on that sometimes i didn't really
36:02experience it because it all went by so quick
36:09but since i came back i've been feeling my age i'm obviously thinking about what's next
36:18okay you're ready but for now spending time with the original castmates could give me some
36:23perspective well here we are guys cheers cheers can you believe it nine years after it's crazy a lot of
36:37thing happened during all this time like before i arrived to scene du soleil i was always alone and
36:43having those group where i see people help each other and working together and sharing this experience
36:49together i think it made me progress as artist all the originals we are 10 years older those who started
36:58as kids they are now grown-ups that already is a shift in performance me i saw the show a
37:06few times
37:06a few times i realized how much we are just a piece of an entire puzzle
37:14i was 32 don't lie eric i was 43 when i started and i'm now 52. i'm still the same
37:29eric i still do my
37:31job but uh my energy level is different it's not like nelson's energy
37:43i changed i changed i i won't say i'm i'm slower but um there's there's a different energy
37:50think of it it's quite a journey we've been through together yeah
37:56lucia for me is about change and about accepting the next chapter uh but it's not just my character
38:04going through these changes it's me as well i'm the one who is experiencing these changes and i need
38:12to figure out what path i want to take now
38:24tomorrow is the big day where i'll be performing solo
38:29i really need to step up to really bring something stronger to make people react because i will be
38:35alone on stage so i know i need to get back to my street vibe to boost my confidence
38:53for me it's really important to not forget where i come from and when you arrive in the street you
39:00have like a few seconds to try to get people attention so you need to do something you need
39:07to show them why they should stop to watch you yeah thank you thank you i've heard people are
39:20telling me hey you are doing straight just right now you don't need to be on the street so i
39:25said no
39:25this is where i started i have that coffee that's it's part of me
39:33so i will do everything to bring that smile to people
39:41i had no choice to do the solo but i think i'm ready for the challenge uh it will be
39:47cool
39:48go down that's it cool
39:57one minute everybody one minute copy one i need to really keep the show at the same level as we
40:05are
40:05doing together this is the big challenge now plus now we have the water in the solo
40:13so all the eyes are audio
40:17so
40:45when you realize that before going on stage you don't have the adrenaline feeling anymore
40:50that's when you're like okay I need a kick in the butt you know you want to feel a little
40:56bit more
40:56alive you want to excite yourself and excite the audience that's everything that's why we're here
41:05we start spinning I see the ground I see Sarah so we have this eye contact with each other she's
41:11in
41:11the trick and she's pulling up and then I'm pulling up and we're both screaming and everyone
41:19was cheering it's a challenge that we put to ourselves with nobody asking for it you know
41:25there's nobody that told us all you have to do a harder tricks in your act we got the trick
41:34and
41:35you feel all of your colleagues cheering for you and those are the reason why we do what we do
41:40we
41:41were trying this trick for so long we promised ourselves we would get it in the show in Montreal
41:45and we did it and it's like check now I did my first week it's already started to feel like
41:57my daily
41:58routine I'm living the dream I'm living the life I travel the world I see everything people project
42:07themselves in our way of living but then go back to their safe couch in their own home
42:18yeah in our case that part is not there we don't go home we are always here
42:30yeah I think a little of course it's a luxury problem it's a choice yes true thank you thank
42:39you off I go but it doesn't make it always easy I miss you too
42:58the doctor said oh yeah this is torn that's torn this is busted that's busted this is that and I
43:03was
43:03like whoa so you'll do the surgery it's not normal to have pain every day but we accept it because
43:09we're like oh that's my job oh my god this is crazy honestly it was a night that none of
43:20us will
43:21ever forget the end of the show when everything stops it is always a big moment for us what if
43:28I
43:29quit what would be the next step in my career I'll miss you all let's do one more good one
43:34we'll see you
43:34later
Comments