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Cheri’s Cirque du Soleil Experience: An
Insider’s View As you might know, Cirque du Soleil is going to have a new show at the MGM Grand with a stage built specifically for this production. The theme will center around Chinese martial arts specifically wushu. The cast will be approximately 70 people including musicians, which 15-20 will be martial artists. I have heard they looking for specifically wushu athletes to headline this production. However, other martial arts styles are encouraged to try-out. I was first approached via a telephone from Qigong Kung Fu
Magazine about the possibilities of auditioning for Cirque du Soleil, and was
told that an acrobat scout named Fabrice Becker would like to talk to us (my
sister and I). After talking to Mr. Becker, an audition was arranged for us
to show up on February 11 at Treasure Island Hotel and Casino in The next day, we worked out on the 5th floor by
the swimming pool deck for about an hour in the desert chill, readying
ourselves for the audition. After freshening up, we drove out to Later that night, we decided to cruise The Strip so we
took a taxi to the southern part of The Strip and walked back from there,
checking out The Belagio, Aladdin’s Palace, The Paris, Caesar’s
Palace, The Mirage, and After dinner, we decided to walk back to The Stratosphere since it looked so close. But man was it far! =O It was so dark and all these “creatures of the night” prowling The Strip were handing out “smut” flyers and stuff. Some of them were kind of tailing us so we immediately got into our wushu defensive mindset, ready for whatever might happen. Alas, we reached The Stratosphere about 2 miles down The Strip without incident. But a word to the wise: use those taxis when in Vegas! We freshened up again, and then walked around our hotel’s shopping center while squeezing in some DDR at the local arcade. Afterwards, we decided to get some rest since we would have to wake up at 7 in the morning to prepare for the audition. That night, Jen and I were so excited about our audition that we couldn’t sleep; we woke up every couple hours. The next morning, we got up, had a latte, and drove to There were about 6 karate guys, a few tae kwon do people, a couple dancers, 1 capoera girl who had prior circus experience, and the rest were wushu or kung fu people. The ones that I knew were He Jing De and his wife, Rory Bratter, my sister and I HEHE ^_^, Janet Gee, Tiffany Reyes, Marco Goodman, a former top US Wushu Team member, a current top Canadian Wushu Team member, Nathan Tong, and 3 other guys form Vancouver: one of which I later found out was Master Tu Jin-Sheng’s (Iron Crotch Master) son. First, the coordinators, Mr. Fabrice Becker and Ms. Celine Lemay, gave us some paperwork to fill out, and took our pictures. They also did the evaluating and provided the structure of the audition. Also in attendance was Mr. Gene Ching of Qigong Kung Fu Magazine who also documented the entire event. Anyhow, we warmed-up, and the first order of business was
to take us backstage for our “acrobatic potential” evaluation. We
went upstairs through an elevator, and then downstairs into a labyrinth;
finally arriving at a workout room which was outfitted with a rope, trapeze,
and 3-foot high pad. We introduced ourselves on camera, and from then on we
were taped for the rest of the day. They checked our basic flexibility
(splits), climb a rope with basic acrobatic techniques, none of which any of
us had really done before; so it was kind of an experience for everyone. They
also tested some basic acrobatic groundwork which none of us had really done
either being all martial artists. On a lighter note, when one person climbed the rope, they used their toes like lobster claws as an aid; and a few others were
shouting “Use your toes! Use your toes!” HEHE Lobster style; I
gotta remember that one. Whatever floats your boat or get you up the rope!
^_^ HEHE Jaiyo! It was hilarious in all good fun. ^_^ The girl from After the acrobatic evaluation, the first cut was made; no
longer with us were the male dancer from Next, we moved onto the martial tumbling evaluation where
we were asked to demonstrate various tumbling requirements, some of which we
had done before and some of which were new to us. Personally, I found it
amazing that some people had never tumbled before. By this time, it was about
Upon return from lunch, we were tested on long weapons, and some long weapon techniques which some we were familiar with and some which we were not. After that we did some fighting sets in a unique way. We all had a lot of fun with this even though it was quite challenging. Another wave of cuts came where all the karate guys were eliminated which left Tiffany Reyes, my sister and I, Tae Kwon Do girl, a Caucasian wushu female, capoera circus girl, the Vancouver wushu guys, He Jing De, Rory Bratter, and Nathan Tong. Next we moved onto the dance evaluation phase which consisted of a dance routine and some improvisation dancing techniques, which my sister and I had very limited experience. Tiffany Reyes and the Tae Kwon Do girl did quite well in this category as their dancing experience showed through. Afterwards, we did some light acting, and were evaluated on this. Then, a final round of cuts were made, and the capoera circus girl didn’t quite make it. =( The final 10 “survivors” consisting of He Jing De, Rory Bratter, my sister and I, Tiffany Reyes, Nathan Tong, Tae Kwon Do girl, a Caucasian wushu female, and the Vancouver guys. Sorry, anyone’s name that was not named specifically is due to the fact that I don’t know their names. Anyhow, we were notified that we were official potential candidates that would go into a database of potentials for Cirque du Soleil. Their official position was that we should keep ourselves informed and that they might call in a week, a month, two months, or never. Mr. Becker and Ms. Lemay thanked us for trying-out, and requested that we keep in touch. They will be conducting other try-outs for other potentials in the near future. Subsequently, we found out there was a try-out held the day before for other potentials. After we received our potential candidate certificate, my sister and I were asked to go back into the acrobatic training room where we were further evaluated on acrobatic potentiality for about 20 minutes. Wow, wasn’t that an interesting experience, and we actually enjoyed it quite a bit. ^_^ For me, this was a great experience to try-out for something I could only have dreamed of and in itself a great honor. I think everybody had a good time and did their best; even those who did not make it represented themselves well. There seemed to be a certain desire to cast wushu people specifically, and they chose candidates with a high degree of athletism and artistry. After all, it is a circus where a certain amount of acrobatic and gymnastic skill is also required along with martial arts. I also got a chance to see everyone’s level, and that made me feel good about my own wushu and that of my sister’s. I think we compare very well if I have to say so myself. Hopefully, Cirque du Soleil will think so in their final selections. But in any event, I come away with a feeling of giddy excitement over the chance of actually being in this production. Keeping my fingers crossed! ^_^ Au Revior, Cheri |
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