Work? More like Play!

Hello everyone!!  It has been almost a week since my last update so I figured I'd let everyone know how I'm doing, and more importantly WHAT it is exactly that I'm doing...

When I last wrote it had been my first day on stage and I was working on getting the timing on everything.   Now it is quite different.  After only a week of performances (9 shows this week!) I have become pretty comfortable with the stage and the people on it.  I understand how things are to be done and where I'm supposed to be.  Some of the fun things I get to do are:

1. Opening Audience Interactions-  I am looking for the funeral that our show is based on.  Our friend Mauro has died and we are trying to get there without being late.  I am a rich, classy man who is appalled by the young kids running around me and I get to not only order them around and where to go but together we search for the funeral; most of the time in the wrong direction.  It is a fun little thing we do just to be in the audience and get them accustomed to the type of show.

2. In the funeral procession, 6 guys, myself included, attempt to stop a good friend of Mauro's from going to the bedside.  We need 6 because he is an actual giant.  I do not know his exact dimensions but definitely over 7' 6'' tall and outweighs me by quite a lot.  It is called Giant stopper and he throws us around the stage like rag-dolls.   After this I go to the bedside and 4 of us spin Mauro and his bed, as he stands on it yelling at us.  It really is a funny act.

3.  Later on, while wearing Angel wings, I have a fun cue where I make my way through the audience and start to dance and party at this funeral in the front row.  This leads to me attaching some cables and ultimately tightening the tightwire.

4. Planche- Eventually I will be jumping on teeterboard/planche but for now I am a spotter.  In case one of the guys flies off, I step on for a second so he can regain his balance and he comes back on.  It is a very important job and usually there is at least one time we need a spot.

5. Wedding Ring-  There is a married couple on tour who in total stand approximately 6 feet tall (yes, combined).  Gregory and Valentina are "little people" and they are also Acrobats and very good.  They do a hand balancing/contortion act that to my knowledge is the only one of it's kind in the world.  They do it in a 1.5m diameter wedding ring.  MY JOB- Push this wedding ring onto the stage (with both performers sitting in it) and when they finish, push it back off stage, being very careful when they jump off!  I am amazed at many things about this couple.  Yes their size is impressive but it's their talent that amazes me.  That and the fact that they have never missed a show!

6. In the Finale, I am on stage as the guys do their High bar act.  I am responsible for the set up of one of the bars as there are 6 high bars (4 of which are fixed in a square).  The entire cast is on stage and we set the whole apparatus up in about 30 seconds.  Then we have more character acting as we wave goodbye to Mauro who is suspended 40 ft above us on his bicycle, riding "towards the light".

7. My favourite part!!  The Bow!! It is so much fun to see the people clapping and enjoying themselves.  It is one thing to simply enjoy applause but this applause seals the show.  It is always a standing ovation and I love seeing the people we were performing for.  I love looking straight at people and thanking them.  It is such an awesome moment!

That is a general and basic recap of my part in the show, I am on stage for about 20 minutes or so per show and any more new acts I get will only increase this stage time.  Can you believe this is a job!?  Neither can I! 

 Training is going very well.  I am beginning to get back to where I was with training in Montreal, and my timing is getting much better.  My coach is happy and apparently I'm doing ok.

I had the Head Artistic Director of Corteo speak with me today and she extended my contract.  I will now officially be with Corteo until (at least) the end of Madrid, Spain! (May 2011).  I am here on a temporary contract and hoping to learn enough and integrate enough that I become a permanent artist.  So far so good.  I have really just been trying to focus on my role as an artist and as a student, learning everything and trying to soak up as much as I possibly can.  If I focus on the contract it may never change, but I feel if I just focus on learning more, and training hard and getting better, it should just fall into place.  That's where I stand as of now.


Hmmm...  Change of thought... FAMILY.  I have been fortunate enough to have skype and the internet, keeping me connected to home.  I've spoken with Mom, Dad, Grandma, Grandpa, Jess, Nick, and Alex and hopefully more people as I find the time not to mention all the people via email and Facebook.  So nice to from hear everyone and hear how they are doing.  I also watch TV online so I get my daily fix of Leaf Games (at 2am) and of course COPS.  I miss everyone, but the little messages and notes people send me are great!  Oh and in case anyone forgot, Alex  gets here in 6 days!!! Not that I'm counting.   I'll continue to update everyone through this blog.  So far it has been really fun to write, and it's a great way to for me to not only remember what I'm doing but also get it off my mind for the night.  ie. I was so excited that my contract was extended that I had to tell people!  After the obvious phone calls home, I wanted to write on here.


Tomorrow is another long day, starting at 11am and finishing at 11pm but it also a great day!  I get to go to work, at a circus, play on stage, have people watching me perform, and best of all I get to do it twice!  It is funny that of all the things I've wanted to do this was by far the pinnacle of my goals, and now, after being here for only 16 days, I have set much higher goals than I could ever have imagined!! They just keep evolving and becoming more and more challenging!  Above all though I really am having fun!  Just a great time overall! 

Til Next Time,
Aa