Frozen circus Cirque brings its famous acrobatic shows to an icy milieu
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/10/2018 (2314 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
Cirque du Soleil is perhaps most well-known for its jaw-dropping acrobatics, which often feature artists flying through the air, balancing on the smallest or most uneven of platforms, using each other as climbing apparatus, and just generally defying the laws of gravity and boundaries of what the human body can do.
Now picture all of that, but on ice.
The famed theatre company’s new show, Crystal — which hits Bell MTS Place Wednesday night to begin a seven-show run that winds up Sunday — is presented on a “frozen playground,” with both skaters and acrobats performing stunts on ice. This format is a first for Cirque and has certainly not been without its challenges.
“How can you suddenly make this surface disappear and people can see some people running, tumbling and balancing on the ice? This was a huge puzzle, to figure out how we can have people standing on the ice and not slip, so putting crampons (traction devices) on shoes, putting crampons on gloves so they could do a handstand, but then how can they catch somebody with their hands if there are crampons? All those headaches that we had to deal with,” says artistic director Fabrice Lemire.
“We had to go and reach out to ice experts, talented choreographers like Kurt Browning, trusting a cast of skaters but not just because they are talented on the ice — we knew that we could very easily identify talented artists, but you needed to make sure those skaters were open-minded enough to jump on board with a Cirque production.
“We asked them to think outside the box… This is not just hiring a specialist who is going to display for five or ten minutes. We asked them to align with what every Cirque show does, which is pushing the envelope but also forcing performers to think outside their comfort zone,” he says, adding that acrobats, too, were asked to approach the slippery situation with an open mind.
But with the challenges, the ice also brought some fun new ways to tackle the production; as it turns out, it’s easier to slide set pieces on ice than it is on a hard floor.
“The ice allows us to have a change of direction in motion and a speed we didn’t have on a hard surface. It allowed us also to create a phenomenal projection platform because the ice is white, you can evolve your scenery, you can change your landscape without moving too many props around. There are so many layers of fantasy and dream-like qualities,” Lemire adds.
As for the story, Crystal is focused on the show’s namesake, Crystal, and her journey to self-acceptance; this narrative is an important one to Lemire, who feels Crystal’s experience is one many can relate to, and that it offers an important message for anyone who feels out of sync with themselves.
“It’s is a very good reminder (to) embrace who we are. We don’t have to fit into the mould. We need to understand what the mould is… however we should be unique in many ways. Diversity makes beauty, and this is what the Cirque shows have always been loud about, which is bringing diversity in everything; the performers, their backgrounds, their nationalities, and then what I call the colours on stage, referring to diversity of expertise and all that. I love this. I completely love this,” he says.
“There’s an emotional participation from the audience with Crystal, which is super important… The difference between the big top and arena is the proximity you have in the big top, it’s difficult to recreate this in an arena format because the bowl is so huge. So those traits that are recognizable allow us to bring the audience closer to the action.”
In addition to the lead, Crystal, there is also an ensemble cast of talented skaters from all over the world, and a former Winnipegger is among them.
Robin Johnstone, 44, grew up in Steinbach but moved to Winnipeg with her family when she was 12. In her early career, she earned three trips to the Canadian National Skating Championships (twice as a junior and once as a senior) and at the age of 20, she finished her last divisional competition and hopped on a plane to Montreal the next day to start her career as a professional skater in various ice shows, a job that has taken her around the world.
Johnstone now skates with her husband, Andy Buchanan, and the pair had long wished for Cirque to expand their reach into the world of professional skating. So, when they found out about Crystal, they jumped at the opportunity.
After a three-month process and several follow-up phone calls and audition tapes, Johnstone and Buchanan were asked to join the team.
While the pair have decades of experience in professional skating, Johnstone says being part of a production under the Cirque umbrella does add an additional layer of pressure and expectation.
“When I watched even my first Cirque show, it’s such a high level and quality, of course working for them is… like just saying, ‘Oh I work for Cirque du Soleil,’ it gives me chills still because it’s a really big deal and it’s something that all of the people who’ve done ice shows, it’s just so special because we’ve been waiting so long to get to be a part of it,” she says.
“People expect a certain level at Cirque so every time we perform, I think of that, that people are expecting a 1,000 per cent from everybody. I mean I normally do that wherever I’m performing, but I do think that people are specifically like, ‘We want to see what Cirque did on ice.’ It makes you want to perform at such a high level and keep that standard up.”
And that is especially true this week, as Johnstone makes her long-awaited homecoming to Winnipeg as part of one of the best-known entertainment companies in the world.
“I’m so excited because I’ve literally only played Winnipeg one time, in 2006 when Bell MTS Place had recently opened,” Johnstone says.
“At this point in my life and this stage of my career, to get to come back as part of Cirque, it’s a pretty big deal. I have been travelling a long time, I don’t get to go home that often to see my family so it’s really exciting.”
erin.lebar@freepress.mb.caTwitter: @NireRabel
Skater finds a gem with Crystal
Running off to join the circus is a rather unorthodox dream for a figure skater to have. But, then again, Stars on Ice alumnus Shawn Sawyer has always skated to the beat of a different drummer.
Sawyer, who has been an enduring crowd favourite on Stars on Ice shows thanks to his Gumby-like flexibility and head-turning acrobatic moves, long imagined himself performing with the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil.
Then, last year, good friend Kurt Browning let Sawyer in on a little secret. Crystal — Cirque’s newest show — would be the first to put skaters and circus artists together on ice.
Cirque du Soleil had enlisted Browning’s expertise in 2016 as its creative team explored ways to meld figure skaters, extreme skaters and acrobats into one show. The four-time world champ didn’t tell Sawyer about his involvement until the production got the go-ahead.
“Kurt has always led me to fantastic opportunities and this was the ultimate journey for the type of athlete I am,” said Sawyer, a multiple Canadian championship medallist. “One thing led to another and Cirque du Soleil offered me a spot as a performer.”
As Crystal’s four-month creative evolution began, Sawyer and Browning — life-long solo skaters accustomed to standing alone in the spotlight — realized success in their respective roles in the one-for-all Cirque world would require an adjustment.
“Here they call it a stage and I’m sharing that stage with 40-plus artists, so that was an adaptation I had to do. Now I really like it. I’ve got used to having this entire family around me while performing.
“I had to focus on what works at certain times to show my own unique style and try to fit it into the show where it would make sense. Obviously, at the end of the day, everybody wants to showcase why we’re offered the (performer) contract, and we have to know where we’re allowed to do that and when we have to sit back to let other performers do their thing,” Sawyer explained.
“I still bring my A-game every single show and try to outperform myself, be the best version of myself and that’s what led me to have this professional career. I did that with Stars. I got picked for that show even without Olympic or world titles.”
Sawyer appears throughout the two-hour show — sometimes wearing figure skates, sometimes in hockey skates.
Cirque tapped Browning’s creative talents to help design Crystal’s skating performances, assisted by 2006 Olympic ice dance medallist Ben Agosto. They also taught the acrobats to skate.
The ice veterans admit Cirque’s creative process yanked them out of their comfort zones. In Browning’s case, he recognized early on he’d have to check his ego at the door.
“The big image that someone else had was the priority. That was a new experience for me to step back and go, ‘All right. I’m a cog and I need to be the best cog I can be.’ You’re sometimes used to being the axle and everybody spins around you.
“For all the skaters involved, it was a learning curve. A lot of the skaters — even if they haven’t been to the world championships and placed in the top 10 like Lubov (Ilyushechkina) — still want their spotlight. The skaters had to make peace with that,” Browning said.
Agosto chuckled when asked how he adapted to his Cirque assignment. “‘How didn’t I have to adapt?’ is maybe the easier question,” he replied.
Agosto was both impressed and terrified by Cirque’s “organic, liberated” process that brought the artists together to figure out how they wanted the show to take shape. As a figure skating choreographer, Agosto would normally arrive at a rink for rehearsals having planned everything in advance.
“Every aspect of what my job entailed had a steep learning curve because of the difference in culture — the Cirque culture compared to the competitive skating world and something like Stars on Ice, Champions on Ice that I performed in, and Holiday on Ice that I worked on as a choreographer,” said Agosto, who coaches at the U.S. Olympic training centre in Colorado when not with Crystal.
“It was a constant balancing act to take these extremely interesting and creative visions that the directors and producers had and make that a good vision of skating in our eyes. We had to figure out how to take that skating and make it interesting for the skating people (in audience) and the skaters themselves, pushing the boundaries of skating and not just the boundaries of the show. That was where we had to be the most adaptive in our process.”
Browning concluded, “The skaters were intimidated and the acrobats were learning stuff that in the history of Cirque du Soleil they had never done. There were growing pains, but it was just damn exciting to be around so much talent and creativity.
“It’s the first time (Cirque) has tackled the ice and they’ve done a brilliant job.”
Sawyer said Crystal is still evolving and growing, as are his off-ice circus talents.
“I’ve always wanted to up my game when I was a competitive skater and now as a professional skater. I have been part of a lot of different skating shows and the Cirque du Soleil opportunity really spoke to me. It was something I wanted to try to better myself as an athlete and an artist. It is a perfect opportunity for me to grow.”
— Laurie Nealin
Event preview
Cirque du Soleil: Crystal
● Oct. 3-7
● Bell MTS Place
● Tickets: $46-$160, plus fees and taxes, at Ticketmaster
Erin Lebar
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