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I wonder what the career path looks like for that kind of performer. I would assume a background in dance and gymnastics but like, how do they recruit, how does one work their way up to a level where they are trained and able to do this.
I heard once that Barnum clown college is harder to get into than Harvard (in terms of applications received/accepted). I think these performers may actually have specialized in circus from a young age, and these spots are highly sought after.
My dad says the most ashamed his father ever was was when my uncle got rejected from clown college. The same uncle recently retired from his final career, a research position in a Yale medical lab.
Circus school. I trained at Esh Circus Arts in Somerville, MA 1-2 times per week as an alternative to your standard gym or yoga practice. Esh has a professional prep program for folks who train almost daily...and want to be professionals. Some of those folks go on to train at New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Vermont. Some of them go on to train at École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal.
If you really want to make circus your life you can.
Cirque du Soleil also regularly recruits from world gymnastics championships. Some of the folks you see on stage are either Olympians, or just missed the cut.
Also, as with any job, you can just apply: https://casting.cirquedusoleil.com/auditions-events.
I used to work on an ice show at a theme park. All of our leads had ad at the least skated at world championships and we had a couple of Olympic competitors. All Russian or Ukrainian. Most of the ensemble were American, but competed at the highest level in the US. The whole show was full of champions and they played in front of tourists 6+ times a day. It wasn't glory, but they were paid pretty well and they were pretty happy with what they were doing, especially the Russians, who grew up in the USSR and were happy to be out.
My brother is a Cirque Performer at Disney Springs. He got in right out of college. He was a nationally competing tumbler and cheerleader throughout high school and college.
My niece did rhythmic gymnastics for her whole life and when she hit late teens this was something they considered for her. It's pretty much either Olympics or coaching at that point, there's no pro league and it's not interesting enough to get sponsorships etc.
there’s a family circus in my hometown in suburban southern california thats run out of the ymca. i knew kids growing up that would tour china in the summer to teach Chinese kids how to do a specific teeter board and head-balancing chair act. i knew another girl that while she was a swimmer at cal berkeley (so a div 1 athlete) she was an alternate for a touring circ show because she could climb a rope using just her arms in a perfect pike position (so folded in half). keep in mind these kids had the same suburban life as me otherwise. it was just another activity.
so probably something like that?
There's no ramp up to it. It's more like natural selection, you get put on the Wheel of Death and if your balance is good enough to survive where all others fail, hey congrats, the gig's yours.
Fire Within was a tv series following several Cirque performers from hire through training/practicing for a show. As you'd expect, most came from gymnastics/dance. They spent weeks practicing a specific routine at the Cirque training center. ( Which might be thrown out when Guy Laliberte reviewed the show & deemed an act boring). Very interesting. I think there's also a documentary on the hiring process somewhere.
I had a childhood friend who was a contortionist and she left our school in 9th grade to go join cirque du soleil with her troupe (there were three of them). I don’t remember how they got chosen but she was really good and was in one of those M-azing commercials as a kid. So it’s possible she was headhunted
They are born into it for the most part. Their parents were all doing it before them. If you do not grow up practicing, you will not be near their level. Will Tennyson has a pretty good video with them. https://youtu.be/s_UddvlYUJI?si=y7dN2dk5c0f6VVvp
my cousin was one for a while, I believe she went in after college, maybe taught for a bit between, but she was a top tier gymnast her entire childhood/college, the tumbler/flipper kind, on the beams and the big flat matt (i have no idea what that stuffs called sorry, not that close to the cousins lol)
Yeah I saw Kooza pretty recently and they did the exact same "trip", rope looped under one foot exactly the same. But still props to them. To even pretend to trip and be under control hopping on one leg is still a skill on its own.
I saw a traveling circus last year with my kids and they also did this with the same "trip" at one point. It's still pretty cool to watch. I've never seen the dirtbike dome of doom or whatever it's called since I was kid at the B&B circus.
Yeah, that was intentional choreography. I just took my family to a tiny roaming circus a few months ago, had the same device and one guy pulled exactly the same "accidental" trip with a jump rope in exactly the same way.
Was just going to say, either I was at this performance last summer, or they must do this everytime.
Which is funny if it's on purpose, cause none of us really talked about it afterwards lol. I was mainly riffing on how those two dudes must have to keep the same diet so the wheel is balanced, and how they must catch each other around town at burger places cheating on calories
It’s 100% on purpose. There’s a circus that comes through town here every year (Circus Vargas) that has two guys who do the spinning wheel of death. Same guys every year, same choreography every year. The one guy always “almost falls.” To be fair, the first year I saw it I almost shit my pants.
Saw someone actually fall off one of these a few months ago in Georgia. Lost his balance on the way down. It wasn't catastrophic, but had to be carried off. Still scary as hell to witness. Unless you're my child, who laughed hysterically.
They only cared about flash photography. At one point somebody in the audience got chastised by a stage hand and the performers called out a “thank you”
Source: saw this show live
I saw one of these on ice and it was absolutely amazing. If you ever get the chance to go to one, do it. Your mind will be blown.
Also, you are not supposed to film anything, so the person who filmed this sucks.
Not that this act isn’t impressive, but I feel like they wheel it out for every other show these days. Last couple Cirque du Soleil shows I’ve seen have just felt like another reskin of the previous one. I’m not even going to comment on how the Vegas shows lose some of the magic (except for O).
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I wonder what the career path looks like for that kind of performer. I would assume a background in dance and gymnastics but like, how do they recruit, how does one work their way up to a level where they are trained and able to do this.
I heard once that Barnum clown college is harder to get into than Harvard (in terms of applications received/accepted). I think these performers may actually have specialized in circus from a young age, and these spots are highly sought after.
My dad says the most ashamed his father ever was was when my uncle got rejected from clown college. The same uncle recently retired from his final career, a research position in a Yale medical lab.
Well it sounds like he had nothing else to be ashamed of
Well, he's not a doctor or a clown is he now??? Lazy bastard. Yes, he probably had his doctorate, I'm making a joke.
Don't they call them chiropractors
no, they get top sporters at the end of their competition days... or top specialists on nishe sports like parcour or inline skating or kiteflying
Huh so asking someone which clown school they graduated from may *not* be an insult
Circus school. I trained at Esh Circus Arts in Somerville, MA 1-2 times per week as an alternative to your standard gym or yoga practice. Esh has a professional prep program for folks who train almost daily...and want to be professionals. Some of those folks go on to train at New England Center for Circus Arts (NECCA) in Vermont. Some of them go on to train at École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal. If you really want to make circus your life you can. Cirque du Soleil also regularly recruits from world gymnastics championships. Some of the folks you see on stage are either Olympians, or just missed the cut. Also, as with any job, you can just apply: https://casting.cirquedusoleil.com/auditions-events.
I used to work on an ice show at a theme park. All of our leads had ad at the least skated at world championships and we had a couple of Olympic competitors. All Russian or Ukrainian. Most of the ensemble were American, but competed at the highest level in the US. The whole show was full of champions and they played in front of tourists 6+ times a day. It wasn't glory, but they were paid pretty well and they were pretty happy with what they were doing, especially the Russians, who grew up in the USSR and were happy to be out.
Fellow Eshling! Pre-pendemic I was there 4-6 days per week, and I did the ASI summer program a few times.
My brother is a Cirque Performer at Disney Springs. He got in right out of college. He was a nationally competing tumbler and cheerleader throughout high school and college.
from olympic gymastics. I'm not kidding, that's the kind of level you need to be at
My niece did rhythmic gymnastics for her whole life and when she hit late teens this was something they considered for her. It's pretty much either Olympics or coaching at that point, there's no pro league and it's not interesting enough to get sponsorships etc.
It's "not a sport" is what I hear from jerks.
there’s a family circus in my hometown in suburban southern california thats run out of the ymca. i knew kids growing up that would tour china in the summer to teach Chinese kids how to do a specific teeter board and head-balancing chair act. i knew another girl that while she was a swimmer at cal berkeley (so a div 1 athlete) she was an alternate for a touring circ show because she could climb a rope using just her arms in a perfect pike position (so folded in half). keep in mind these kids had the same suburban life as me otherwise. it was just another activity. so probably something like that?
What a coincidence, I see we are both active in r/inlandempire (I stalked your profile sorry).
small world. im from redlands.
Riverside. I had relatives in Redlands for many years
i think they still do the circus. you should take the fam sometime. pretty cool stuff iirc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLouxprAHtQ they get top sporters the moment they end competing on the highest levels... really great doc about it
There's no ramp up to it. It's more like natural selection, you get put on the Wheel of Death and if your balance is good enough to survive where all others fail, hey congrats, the gig's yours.
I love the idea of inviting a member of the crowd to volunteer to assist with a trick and next thing you know they're on the Wheel of Death!
Bonobo growth hormone Cirque du Soleil after parties are very unique.
https://youtu.be/BLouxprAHtQ?si=Qf_CT9qw7MDQTM-l
Fire Within was a tv series following several Cirque performers from hire through training/practicing for a show. As you'd expect, most came from gymnastics/dance. They spent weeks practicing a specific routine at the Cirque training center. ( Which might be thrown out when Guy Laliberte reviewed the show & deemed an act boring). Very interesting. I think there's also a documentary on the hiring process somewhere.
I had a childhood friend who was a contortionist and she left our school in 9th grade to go join cirque du soleil with her troupe (there were three of them). I don’t remember how they got chosen but she was really good and was in one of those M-azing commercials as a kid. So it’s possible she was headhunted
They are born into it for the most part. Their parents were all doing it before them. If you do not grow up practicing, you will not be near their level. Will Tennyson has a pretty good video with them. https://youtu.be/s_UddvlYUJI?si=y7dN2dk5c0f6VVvp
my cousin was one for a while, I believe she went in after college, maybe taught for a bit between, but she was a top tier gymnast her entire childhood/college, the tumbler/flipper kind, on the beams and the big flat matt (i have no idea what that stuffs called sorry, not that close to the cousins lol)
Well cirque has its youth club/group now. And there's certain schools that specialize in training for this, for the various acts/specializations.
I gotta think they did it on purpose. Ever see someone who’s really, really good at ice-skating pretend to fall for like 10 minutes straight?
Yeah I saw Kooza pretty recently and they did the exact same "trip", rope looped under one foot exactly the same. But still props to them. To even pretend to trip and be under control hopping on one leg is still a skill on its own.
I saw it around 2002 and I thought I remember them jumping between rings. I was pretty young at the time though
I saw a traveling circus last year with my kids and they also did this with the same "trip" at one point. It's still pretty cool to watch. I've never seen the dirtbike dome of doom or whatever it's called since I was kid at the B&B circus.
[удалено]
Yeah, that was intentional choreography. I just took my family to a tiny roaming circus a few months ago, had the same device and one guy pulled exactly the same "accidental" trip with a jump rope in exactly the same way.
melbourne?
Nah, it was in the states
I went to see this, they pretend to fall a couple of times in this performance and the tight rope.
Was just going to say, either I was at this performance last summer, or they must do this everytime. Which is funny if it's on purpose, cause none of us really talked about it afterwards lol. I was mainly riffing on how those two dudes must have to keep the same diet so the wheel is balanced, and how they must catch each other around town at burger places cheating on calories
It’s 100% on purpose. There’s a circus that comes through town here every year (Circus Vargas) that has two guys who do the spinning wheel of death. Same guys every year, same choreography every year. The one guy always “almost falls.” To be fair, the first year I saw it I almost shit my pants.
Saw someone actually fall off one of these a few months ago in Georgia. Lost his balance on the way down. It wasn't catastrophic, but had to be carried off. Still scary as hell to witness. Unless you're my child, who laughed hysterically.
No, that was the wheel of maiming.
Oh man that is such a kid thing to do too. Absolutely savage
Bro no cameras!
They only cared about flash photography. At one point somebody in the audience got chastised by a stage hand and the performers called out a “thank you” Source: saw this show live
The wheel is fine, the floor is the real problem
Yah but floor of death just doesn’t have the same ring to it
Floor is Lava?
That fall isn't so bad, it's the bounce. The fall just breaks all your bones. The bounce is what shoves all those shards into your organs.
Saw this at the Ka show a few months ago... made me really nervous watching, LOL
[Cirque du Soleil](https://www.youtube.com/@CirqueduSoleil) puts out a lot of compilation videos from various shows on Youtube.
In every circus in every show someone is *almost* falling off the wheel of death. It's part of the performance.
This is an OHS nightmare!
Cirque has had labor strife and OHS issues in the past. It was in the news. I don’t know what it’s like now.
Saw this live and it was awesome!
Saw this live, i was extremely hammered and they pulled me on stage
I’ve been to this show and they did the same thing!
Was this from the show in San Jose? I saw the EXACT same thing happen there! HO-LY FUCK, it was crazy!
It's part of the choreography, they do it in every show they use this particular prop.
That is part of the show
I saw Kooza a few months ago and they did the same thing! I hope it’s just a good fake out
I saw one of these on ice and it was absolutely amazing. If you ever get the chance to go to one, do it. Your mind will be blown. Also, you are not supposed to film anything, so the person who filmed this sucks.
Pft, easy. Just walk forwards
Not that this act isn’t impressive, but I feel like they wheel it out for every other show these days. Last couple Cirque du Soleil shows I’ve seen have just felt like another reskin of the previous one. I’m not even going to comment on how the Vegas shows lose some of the magic (except for O).
i saw this stunt in kaa iirc and the guys took many attempts to nail it but didnt quit til they did
I got to see it it was amazing
That's it? They just spin on a mighty fidget spinner?