She was hanging by her hair…
A graceful dancer, clothed in a sparkly, cream leotard, twirls on the stage. It’s shocking when she’s elevated into the sky, rising by
a cable attached to her head. She spins, poses, and flies through the air,
seemingly suspended by her own hair. She performs approximately 100 turns, and at
top speed, she spins at seven turns per second. Her hair can withstand 250
pounds of pressure.
A couple of roller skates together in complete synchronicity
upon a small platform, no bigger than six feet wide. As they spin at top speeds
of 30 miles per hour, the man and woman strap themselves together, and as the
man skates in a circle, the woman spins faster, doing barrel rolls
horizontally.
These are just some of the spectacular moments in Cirque du
Soleil’s Christmas-themed show, "‘Twas the Night Before." Themed like the Clement-Clarke
Moore poem "‘Twas the Night Before Christmas," the show guides you along magical set pieces through the eyes of a young girl and a gregarious spirit named
Jolly. The show is festive, cool, and most importantly, jaw-dropping. No one
does circus stunts like Cirque, and this show doesn’t hold back on amazement.
You would think with all the dangerous-seeming routines,
rehearsals would be tense, but backstage at "‘Twas," the tension is null. Four
days from opening night, the performers took the stage, casually clad
in athleisure to work through their routines. As they waited for cues from Acrobatic
Choreography and Performance Designer, Edesia Moreno, they stood relaxed but
attentive. I couldn’t believe how unpretentious the atmosphere was, despite the
fact that it’s such a high-stakes show.
One of the dancers in the show, or Les Tuques as they are
known, Joanne Daquigan, gave me a little more insight about Cirque du Soleil
behind-the-scenes. I asked her how everything is so calm. She told me that's a
testament to their training. first and foremost. The show has a safety-first attitude: “We are so lucky to always
have someone who is there on-site watching us, watching the show from top
to bottom. And if we ever felt unsafe, we have hand signals that we can send
out.” They also have signals to stop the show or an “I’m OK” signal as well.” There are also Performance Medicine Professionals assigned to every artist of the
show, from the jugglers to the dancers to the high-flying aerialists. They address any potential injuries,
concerns or even soreness, which Joanne says is “a luxury that isn't seen a lot
in the performing world.”
Joanne, like many of the cast, comes from various corners of
the world. She grew up in Houston, Texas, and resides in Las
Vegas but has also spent time in Montreal at Cirque’s headquarters preparing
for the show. Each cast of "‘Twas" has 16 men and 10 women, hailing from 14
countries, with a touring crew of 17 support staff. At the rehearsal, I heard the cast and crew conversing in multiple languages. It is truly a
global production of talented creatives. Some have dance backgrounds, like
Joanne, while others went to circus school in Brazil.
Obviously, a lot of preparation goes into such a skilled
show. The cast started off in Montreal with eight hour rehearsals, especially
for the Touques, who help stitch the vignettes together in the show. Then, after dress rehearsals in Canada, they
moved to Boston for more rehearsals at the historic Boch Center Wang Theater.
Before each show, Joanne stretches for 20 minutes to warm
up to avoid injury. Some of the other dancers will spend some time filming
TikToks.
After the shows and rehearsals, the dancers have their own rituals to
unwind back at their hotel. Joanne likes a spiky acupressure mat, while other dancers prefer Epsom salt
baths in the hotel tub, collapsible muscle rollers, or massage guns.
After Boston, the group will head on to Buffalo, New York, for more shows, bringing along five miles of cables, 52 costumes with 2,000
sequins per costume, 340 makeup brushes, 25 pots of glitter, and a partridge in
a pear tree (everything is true except for the last one — the partridge stays
home).
My favorite parts of the show were, of course, the dancers, but also the
playful acrobatic table act, where footie pajama clad “kids” roughhouse in bed,
and the diablos, a performance with lights flung by string around the stage by parka-clad "boys," culminating in lights flying over the audience and a little audience participation.
This is a great show for the whole family — the look of wonder
on the kids in the audience was priceless — but the show is stylish and
sophisticated enough for adults too. It’s also something a little different
from the usual holiday fare, like “Nutcracker ballets,” but equally as festive
with the set, costumes and pulsing remixes of classic holiday tunes.
As for the “Hair Suspension” routine? I still do not know
how they did it, but the mystery is part of the magic of Cirque du Soleil, so I’ll
leave that one be.
The show is playing in Boston through December 14. For more info, go to BochCenter.org. For the full tour schedule, visit CirqueduSoleil.com.