#video #short #film #movie
Category
📺
TVTranscript
00:04Circus is very pure genuine art you can't fake it the magic is happening on stage you're changing
00:13the life of people every night we make people believe that impossible things are possible
00:25what's the difference between being a Cirque artist and a Rockstar um I don't think there is one
00:35we make 2,500 people wonder cry laugh every single show this is Cirque du Soleil there is a lot
00:44of
00:44anxiety there is a lot of nervousness because we cannot fail in our own market
00:52we have as you say in French la crème de la crème
00:58as a performer Cirque du Soleil is the dream so there's a lot of really strong personalities in
01:05the tour if I don't feel these arms I cannot give myself momentum this will not be a problem
01:12there are days it's like oh it's your fault no it's your fault
01:15no
01:29we're all athletes it's basically a professional sport I do nine shows a
01:34week and my knees are busted our artists come from the Olympics and they've been trained since they
01:43were kids I knew that I was going to be in the circus no matter what sometimes we have up
01:49to 11
01:50shows a week if you don't bring your best there's 3,000 other people there that are ready to replace
01:56you it's like the NHL draft oh it gives me chills just talking about it people just think that
02:02you're crazy you're crazy for doing this of course I have a big ego I don't know a clown who
02:08doesn't
02:08have a big ego is there a place for me in this company when you're in circus artists there's many
02:17sacrifices it would be crazy if you didn't have any kind of pain
02:25I think the hardest part of being on tour is like to be a way of your family it's 150
02:31people
02:32that are going to travel the world together you are not there for the important moments it's difficult
02:44all I've ever known is the circus tent and I feel like when I'm there all my cast members are
02:49like my
02:49family it's home
03:15every time there is a show in Montreal it is under a microscope it's Cirque du Soleil's hometown
03:24that big top in the old port is their business card we cannot fail this is what Cirque du Soleil
03:31is
03:31here for that pressure doesn't just come from the audience it comes from the company as well
03:41being in Montreal and putting the cast back together there's gonna be shifts and there's
03:45gonna be movement and personnel the show is like a living organism
03:51and it's also the longest we'll have been in a city since we've been on the road to four months
03:55uh it's a long time I'm thinking about setting up shop buying a place getting a car all those things
04:01you have one new message I asked my boss and he's saying that they're gonna be kind of flexible with
04:08schedules so maybe I can go see you in December
04:22I have been doing contortion for 26 years I didn't call myself the most flexible male in the world
04:30people are calling me that of course I get flattered I enjoy it it means that people acknowledge my skills
04:39I'm Alexei Glaboratko and I'm a contortionist contortion is a circus discipline where you display your flexibility to your audience
04:52I started counting and over nine years I have 74 persons passed out watching contortion that's strange but I kind
05:01of enjoy it I like it because if I could make them feel that way it means that I could
05:07get into their feelings I could touch them
05:11how are you doing I miss you muchÃsimo well you will come to me at the end of October so
05:18you're gonna be with me on my birthday
05:21happy and after that I need to be in Madrid for the sport massage course yeah that would be so
05:28cool if you can travel with me and working as a massagist if they can hire you it's gonna be
05:33like
05:33it can be hard to be away from your families but we're managing it because we know what kind of
05:40lifestyle we are following and when we started dating with my wife she knew that I'm traveling
05:46and we are getting ready for a kinestriker thing
05:50this is gonna happen in Montreal
05:51well we'll find out later
05:53I would like to break a world record and I want to do a lying down backbend so I'm staying
05:59on my chest my legs laying down on the ground as well
06:04and in one moment I bring my legs over my shoulders
06:07but is someone from Guinness coming or is like you just have to send it
06:10well I have to send it myself I already sent the application and I'm like here
06:16I hope this can attract people to the show record sounds pretty great
06:26let's go
06:27I think I've got it
06:28okay
06:34I think when I enter a room I do often take a bit of charge I'm thankful that I've got
06:40a lot of friends that keep me humble
06:41oh yes
06:42you're doing great sweetie
06:44driver what do you think
06:45that's okay fantastic
06:47my name is Nelson smiles I'm one of the hoop divers on Lusia and I also understudy the main character
06:53the clown
06:59I moved around a lot when I was young I lived I think me and my mum we counted it
07:04I think it's 32 different homes and I went to
07:06eight different schools so I was unknowingly kind of bred for this touring lifestyle moving around so much that's a
07:14chance to often reinvent yourself as a young boy and I was always performing I was always making people laugh
07:28my dream started in Montreal so like I am so excited Olivia is one of the most incredible people I've
07:36ever met in my entire life
07:39she joined the tour in Alicante in Spain and we started dating in Sevilla it's a beautiful place to fall
07:46in love Spain
07:49I'm gonna eat dinner
07:50it makes me think it should be poutine but that feels like everyone's doing that for their first one
07:55it can't be so mainstream
07:56no that's true let's get butter chicken
07:58okay
07:59my name is Olivia Apley
08:01I'm from Dublin Ohio and I am a swing to swing flyer
08:07I started gymnastics when I was three years old
08:11and have been doing gymnastics ever since
08:14so when I really started Cirque du Soleil
08:16people were telling me that they didn't want the job because swing this thing was so dangerous
08:21and it was very scary to hear this but I was very very excited to just be there
08:27I remember this drive
08:29I don't remember lick of coming here I remember being snowy
08:33the fact that we can sit and talk about the things that we're going through is something that I haven't
08:37really known about
08:39until Olivia
08:40she understands the things that go on around with me because they're also happening with her too
08:50having a relationship on tour is taxing in a way that you don't anticipate
08:56but it goes so much more beyond just being on tour together
09:01show or not show we're in it to be together we're in it to stay we're in it for the
09:06long run
09:06do you know which building it's out
09:08I have no idea
09:10hey nice
09:11that was easy
09:14thank you very much
09:23everybody knows Cirque du Soleil from the shows in Las Vegas
09:28oh
09:30mister
09:31and car
09:34but Cirque is also famous for its traveling circus
09:38and perhaps the most technically difficult among them all is Lucia
09:47Lucia is a celebration of Mexican culture
09:51it's a love letter to Mexico
09:53it's a magical little journey into this mystical universe
09:58Lucia opened in 2016
10:00it's traveled all over the world North America Europe Asia and Australia
10:06it's one of our best shows
10:08and we hope it will last for many many years to come
10:14and at the center of our show is the character of the clown
10:19he's the focus of the show obviously he's the main character
10:22what you see is a traveler who got lost in Mexico
10:28and it's all strange and in the end he starts to love this beautiful country
10:34I'm Eric Koller
10:35I am a clown main character in Cirque du Soleil's Lucia
10:42of course I have a big ego
10:43I don't know a clown who doesn't have a big ego
10:48clowning is very very tough at Cirque du Soleil
10:51so having the same clown at Lucia since the beginning is amazing
10:57this guy is the link between all the acts and he's playing a key role
11:08as a kid I was always terrified of clowns
11:12I don't like them
11:14I don't know why
11:21feels like a dream
11:22that I'm in my hometown performing the show I've been touring with for eight years
11:26that I get the chance to just wake up in my own bed
11:29speak my own language in the streets and not live in my suitcases for four months
11:33c'est piquant ou?
11:34my name is Michael Bréal-Abbé
11:36I'm an acrobat and I perform hoop diving and acropold
11:42hoop diving the name of the act is pretty self-explanatory
11:45there are hoops and we dive through them
11:50we're a team of many acrobats and between the eight of us we make a five to seven minute act
11:57I feel like a superhero when I do it and I think that's exactly what we want the audience to
12:01see
12:01I love adrenaline and pushing my limits so
12:05I think what got me started was Jackie Chan
12:11from like watching martial arts movies and stunts
12:14I really loved that and I was doing my own stunts at my home
12:19there is an expiry date for sure for acrobats
12:22we can see some pushing themselves and they're like 40, 45 and they're still doing acrobatics
12:28I don't think I want to push that old
12:29I want to be able to be healthy and to be like 50 and be able to still do sports
12:34and take care of my body
12:35it's something that's in my mind for sure
12:38after nine years on the road with Luzia
12:40I'm definitely looking forward to what's next in my career
12:42but right now my focus is entirely on the premiere
12:51I call transfer organized chaos
12:56there's so many teams involved and so many things need to happen all at once for this puzzle to work
13:02together
13:05my name is Charles Wagner and I'm the senior publicist here on Luzia
13:09okay go
13:09my role is basically doing the promotion of the show when we get into a market
13:16we're waiting on the flag
13:17as soon as we have the flag I think we're going to be ready to go up
13:20by the time we finish our last show in a previous city
13:23we're going to need three days to tear the entire site down
13:26put it in all the trucks that we need to
13:28transport it to the next city
13:29and then start our setup process
13:31that's one for all
13:32it involves on both sides about 100 people working with us
13:38someone did the maths
13:39and it's about 6,000 man hours just to move the show from one city to the other
13:48it's a big day
13:49it's a big day
13:50it's the big push
13:52it's a special day because it's the day that the big top push goes up
13:56when we push all the side poles in
13:58and the big top takes form
13:59restez dans le cube
14:00s'il vous plaît entrez
14:02and kind of announces our presence that we're in the city
14:05we try not to do it in too much of a rush
14:06that way everyone can keep their step
14:08because there's lots of cables
14:09lots of stakes in the way
14:10safety is still paramount for us
14:12one, two, three
14:15push, push
14:16put that down, put that down
14:17obviously we use mechanical advantage and motors and things to raise the canvas
14:20but everything else to push the side poles in
14:23is all done by hand
14:24like the old traditional circus
14:25all together guys please
14:27one, two, three
14:29push, push, push, push
14:49beautiful
14:49at 11 we have a meeting with all of the artists so we're just waiting for them to arrive getting
14:53the last little bits and pieces ready and then the fun start it's like back to school day
15:07it's only been like 10 days we haven't seen each other but it feels like forever because we spend every
15:11day together
15:16beautiful boy
15:18you're a bit too
15:19your turn, you up
15:20and then you say hi, hi, hi
15:22you know there's someone missing
15:23someone really tall
15:25we have a lot of things to talk about
15:26so Steph is coming tomorrow
15:28and Eric is not going to be here for the next couple of weeks
15:32and we realized the clown wasn't there
15:34Eric's okay
15:35he just decided to lose an appendix
15:39Eric has the most important role in the show
15:43I mean everybody's role is important of course
15:45but if we don't have a clown we don't have a show
15:48so that means that Nelson is going to do clown duty for a couple of weeks, yes?
15:55yes
15:58it's so big to open Montreal as the main character of the show
16:03he's got big shoes to fill
16:05and he doesn't have as much experience as Eric
16:08everyone from the headquarters is going to come watch the show
16:10and I can see that he's very preoccupied and stressed about what's next
16:16I've been training for the understudy for seven years
16:19and you obviously want everything to be at a certain level
16:24just reassuring yourself that, you know, they chose you for the reason that you can do the best job
16:31that you possibly could
16:32and that's my biggest concern
16:50artist call day is when we do a lot of just general announcements
16:54and so we did announce to everyone that Nelson was going to be the clown for premiere
16:59and I think it's an opportunity that he obviously wasn't expecting
17:03but we want him to be one of the best of the best
17:06and I'm looking forward to seeing what he's going to accomplish
17:17every time we arrive to the new city
17:19we have to set up our road case
17:21where we spend the most time to do our makeup before every show
17:26it has a lot of gadgets
17:28some of the things are there since the first day I arrived here
17:32yeah, good stuff
17:33that's some memories
17:35can you just lean it against this we have to open it up
17:38once the artists arrive in town
17:40what we need to do is to finalize setting up the artistic tent
17:44a lot of scrubbing
17:46they need to set up their dressing room, the training space
17:49there's still a thing that needs to happen
17:51and then one by one all of the artists are going to go on stage to practice their act
18:09when you're in a team, you cannot just be thinking about yourself
18:15communication is very important
18:18if you can keep and try to go narrow, not here
18:22okay
18:23it's possible for you to switch?
18:25yeah
18:26I'll try
18:27bad communication
18:28sometimes it translates into injury
18:32my name is Naomi Zimmerman
18:34and I am the flyer of the Adagio Act
18:44our team is composed of four acrobats
18:48and basically it's tossing and swinging a person
18:53which is me
18:54when you try to reach for the legs
18:56you do that
18:57you do that
18:58and then she just falls
19:00I know how to push when I'm here
19:03it's just a little different
19:05I'm shy in general
19:08so when I voice something to one of my porters
19:11I think that sometimes there's miscommunication
19:14like when I'm like this I can press to go
19:20verbalize it
19:22we have very strong opinionated people
19:26and yes sometimes it's hard to feel heard
19:30I'm like this then I can push
19:33this way
19:34you throw
19:35that
19:36and then you change
19:40if I'm being honest
19:41I'm really hoping this move to Montreal
19:43will give us a fresh start
19:45and that we can learn to communicate better
19:59let's go
19:59four
20:01three
20:01two
20:02one
20:04two more rounds
20:05Alexi has been talking to me about
20:08establishing a Guinness World Record
20:10for quite some time now
20:12but it's something that is quite complicated
20:14because you can't measure flexibility
20:16so finding a move to be measured
20:20it's been challenging
20:25I tried for the first time eight maybe seven years ago
20:29and I got a refusal
20:31they said that they didn't know how to measure my trick
20:35and then I tried one more time
20:38it didn't get accepted
20:39so in total I had like four attempts
20:43so I felt alone
20:51I have good news
20:53we contacted the Guinness World Record
20:55yeah
20:56they said yes
20:57that's so
20:58they said yes
20:59yes
21:00they accepted the application
21:03it feels awesome
21:04because finally it's happening
21:06they want you to submit
21:09so the title will be most extreme backbends in one minute
21:13that's great
21:14my goal is to hit 12
21:16but if I can make it more
21:18I'll break my own record
21:19I'll do my best
21:21you got this
21:22I'm so excited
21:23I'm so excited
21:23even though we've seen a lot of amazing things at Cirque
21:27Alexi is one of a kind
21:31there's some things that he does that he's the only person on the planet who can do it
21:35so having another way to showcasing it to the world is great for him
21:40I want to do a lying down backbend
21:42and I'm the only one who can perform this move by myself without external assistance
21:48I don't need someone to help me to get into that position
21:50and I can do it up to 12 times in a minute
21:59we're back on track
22:00moving on to swing set up
22:01practicing swing to swing
22:03Bobby, thank you
22:0633 on stage, swing to swing
22:09let's gonna start
22:10the Russian swing is a huge swing that moves back and forth
22:16it's the most dangerous act in Lucia because it has no safety net
22:24so it's basically just us, our pushers, catchers, and our spotters
22:27that deal with the safety part
22:36we train in a belt that has lines attached to it
22:39but that's the only time that we have a belt
22:47nice, very good
22:49Emerson's a great coach
22:50he knows when to push, to be strong and strict when he has to
22:54how you feeling?
22:57yeah
22:59in New York I was training a new trick
23:02I jump off of one swing and I flip
23:06and then I go back to the same swing
23:08and it was time to take the safety belts off
23:12I flipped
23:13and I missed the swing
23:16and I also missed the mat
23:18I fell about 10 feet onto the hard stage
23:22and injured my tailbone pretty bad
23:27because it was a back injury
23:30they had to put me in a stretcher
23:34and take me to the hospital
23:36I was really lucky because of my gymnastics background
23:40because I think that's also kind of what has saved me
23:42yes
23:49I have to let myself feel the emotion first
23:53and really just be like, it's okay that this happened
23:56but what's the most important part is getting back up
23:58and doing it again
23:59prepare your mind
24:01because, like, you're going to swing
24:02like, I need to do it right away
24:04first one, good one
24:05yeah, first one right away
24:07everything is the same
24:08it's just your mind
24:14I'm definitely nervous
24:15because it's the first time
24:18that I'm going to be back performing
24:20in front of people
24:39just asked her how she was going with it
24:41she was, like, really not feeling it
24:44yeah
24:47so I told her, like, better we stop now
24:51for a bit
24:52we decided to take it slow
24:53because we have two people that do it already
24:56so we don't really need me a third person to do it
24:59she's almost ready
25:14it's our day before our premiere
25:16so it's the last mileage of the race
25:19making sure that everything is ready
25:20okay, let's do this
25:22all right
25:23it is special here in Montreal
25:25because you see everyone that you know
25:28from the headquarter
25:29we have our CEO, Daniel Lamar
25:31starting to the right foot in Montreal
25:34yeah, that's great
25:36oh, fun, camise
25:38oh
25:40Daniel Ifinzi-Pasca, who is the director of the show
25:44everyone wants a little piece of us
25:46and they want to give us, like, advice
25:48and what can we do better
25:49like, what are the things that are working well
25:51on this tour that maybe we can go and bring on another tour
25:54so, it's a lot
25:57we're in
25:59you cannot imagine the pressure of going in front of 2,500 people
26:05and you don't want to stumble
26:06you want to be at your best
26:08I was quick, but we gotta move
26:10yeah
26:10vamanos
26:13we have to put together the best conditions
26:16to deliver the best performance night after night
26:29to make a record
26:30there are certain requirements
26:31for this particular case
26:33it has to be time-related
26:35it has to be repetitive
26:37and I decided to make it 12 times in a minute
26:47one of my biggest secrets is that I never skip warm-up
26:50that takes me 45 minutes
26:52and it's never less
26:55this is the part of art
26:56to make something look easy
26:58when, indeed, it's not very easy
27:01make me grab
27:02no, no, no
27:05Mitch
27:06he's the head coach
27:07and he helps me warm up
27:09he helps me stretch
27:17and we did back stretch, upper back stretch
27:20a little bit of legs
27:22and neck
27:24and you can stretch with me
27:25here
27:27it's okay
27:27if there's more
27:32I'm gonna be sore after this
27:35I've stretched athletes before
27:37but nothing like this
27:39so it's something new for me
27:43thank you
27:44so I need to continue practicing flexibility
27:47if I want to set this record
27:51fun
27:52well, thanks
27:53Nelson is a clown in real life
27:57and on the stage
27:58but he's never done a premiere as a clown before
28:02being said
28:04alright, let's do it
28:07and so I think Nelson is way more nervous
28:09than he normally would be
28:10and when he gets nervous
28:12he just gets like a kid almost
28:13like and just runs around
28:14and messes with people
28:16and tells jokes
28:17and jumps up and down
28:19he does it really
28:20to kind of get into the character
28:21which it's basically
28:22just an exaggerated version of himself
28:25but I can always tell when he does it
28:28because I'm like
28:28you're being extra clowny right now
28:32Gracie, our artistic director
28:34she said
28:35you need to fake scared
28:37you're not allowed to actually be scared
28:39so I guess she could kind of tell
28:41how nervous I was
28:43I think he's adapting to his spotlight
28:48in terms of pressure
28:50especially for the amount of that
28:52this audience can create towards clowns
28:57it's a great opportunity for him to experience
28:59a different kind of adrenaline
29:03I don't like to do too much preparation
29:07I like to think that I'm always ready
29:15I can't hear you over the stardom
29:20it's a really tricky balance to make sure
29:21that we're at the right level of anxious
29:24but with the right level of confidence as well
29:27um
29:29I think time will tell
29:46Today is the day that we have trainings
29:49and validations on stage for every act
29:53we got the news that Eric was going to be out for a couple of weeks
29:57Nelson who is a hoop diver in my team
29:59he would perform as a clown
30:00so we have to replace him for the whole week
30:04to be trusted to be able to do something like that
30:06is pretty phenomenal
30:07and so I never want to be away for too long
30:09but because of the job we understand sort of thing
30:11and so when I come back
30:12I'll make sure to like carry a bit more of the load where I can
30:15now we're going to have Olivia do the whole act with us
30:20I'm doing hoop diving
30:21which I don't even like to call myself a hoop diver
30:24and because Nelson is the clown I have to do the whole act
30:27I get to do the whole act
30:34Olivia is a multi-talented powerhouse
30:38she came from gymnastics
30:39we cast her with the intention that it was swing to swing
30:43and we understood that she was just so driven to do more
30:46so I hope that she feels that we've been empowering her this whole time
30:57she brings excitement to all of us
30:59because she's new to hoop diving and she's here to learn
31:11it's fun to see how she's speaking up
31:14I'm someone who really takes pride in teaching
31:16and I wanted her to feel really respected and welcome in our team
31:25and I think she's happy with what she's doing
31:27we're a bunch of goofballs who just like to make ourselves better
31:33to be honest it's really fun
31:35Mick is such a great captain
31:37you can feel that he really cares about people
31:46well well well
31:47hi guys
31:49how's your morning?
31:50I'm hurt because I can't do the show
31:54but you know it's not about me
31:57Eric the clown is someone that I can rely on
32:00and he's someone that I can talk to about our specialty
32:03like I can talk to nobody else
32:06but Eric's at his appendix surgery
32:08you work so hard to master this beautiful and hard craft of clarity
32:14you shed your blood sweat and tears in your own way
32:18I'm gonna cry
32:19Eric is a Looney Tunes character
32:21he's got this face that just is so expressive and so cartoonish
32:25and the way that he moves and his stature on stage
32:29it's a very powerful thing
32:31you deserve to be on this stage
32:36I look different
32:37I'm younger
32:38I'm you know a bit stronger
32:40and so when I was doing what Eric was doing
32:42it would often come off as arrogance
32:44and you know
32:45you know that really annoying kind of youth
32:48there's always a responsibility to do him justice
32:52go get him
32:54I'd kind of been through that journey
32:56of I'm the funniest man alive
32:58I'm never gonna be a good performer ever
33:02okay this might actually work
33:06okay so this is the test
33:08okay
33:08the cameras
33:09oh yeah
33:12I'm getting ready for trying to attempt to set the record
33:16Guinness record
33:22for every type of record that you want to establish
33:25Guinness World Record will send you a list of things of evidence
33:28that you need to provide
33:30in Alex's case obviously it was video evidence
33:33photos evidence
33:34you need timekeeper
33:35stop
33:37okay
33:38in the circus like we're all there to support each other
33:41and everyone was just like of course we'll do it
33:44it's just shows how like people just are having each other's back
33:47I'm very excited that I have friends all around me supporting me
33:51it feels like I'm in the right place
33:53and I'm just happy to be among my friends
33:58I'm feeling good
33:59I'm ready
34:03how about I tell you 15, 30, 45
34:06and then I'll say
34:073, 2, 1, stop
34:09perfect
34:09yes
34:10so it's timer
34:12stopwatch
34:13oh Alexi
34:14you got this
34:17hi
34:17I'm Alexi Glubarojko
34:19and I'm establishing a new record
34:20most extreme backbats
34:2212 repetitions in a minute
34:24you need to say the date
34:34ok let's go
34:35hi
34:36my name is Alexi Glubarojko
34:37today is the next 6th
34:392025
34:40I'm establishing a new record
34:42most bandit extreme backbats
34:44here are two witnesses
34:45Emerson and Frederick
34:46and two timekeepers
34:48Patti and Inga
34:50let's do it
34:51ready?
34:52no
34:52you tell me
34:59ok
35:00ok
35:023
35:022
35:031
35:04go
35:091
35:122
35:163
35:214
35:2115 seconds
35:235
35:286
35:297
35:337
35:347
35:348
Comments