My Introduction and Adventures with Cirque Du Soleil

The Introduction

I was in eighth grade, I complained to my family that I had not been to a circus since I was four and wanted to experience one. One day, I was watching TV and my dad came upstairs and said, "Katie, I got us tickets to see the circus", I then replied, "really? awesome! will there be monkeys?". But his reply was not what I expected, "no". So I then said "what kind of circus is that?" But he assured me that it was very good. It turned out also that because we were seeing it on a thursday, I would have to miss a little school in order to make it on time. I was quite excited.

Finally, the day came. I left my seventh period class and my dad drove us to Tyson's Corner. It's kinda funny how you can remember specific things sometimes, like on this day I remember my dad keeping the heat on in the car the whole way down. I was very warm but I didnt say anything. Anyway, it was a long ride but we finally made it. We parked and then had to wait in an extremely long line to pick up our tickets. We got them and a brochure that had pictures of what we were going to see. I became confused. the ticket had a picture of some headless guy carrying an umbrella:
Once again I thought,"What Kind of Circus is this?", but I was ready and open to a new and original experience, and thats what I got!

Seeing Quidam The First time

So we walked into the tent and sat in our obstructed view seats, which werent all that bad and waited. It has been many years since this first experience, here is what I remember:
-The Preshow, I remember seeing John Gilkey (didn't know it was him at the time)walking around messing with audience member's popcorn and such. And abducting people! John would pick random people from the audience, take them backstage and make them wear one of the white suits that are seen throughout the show. One person they picked was a little boy who could barely fit the outfit.
-I also remember the chairs lifting in the air at the beginning
-The German wheel was my favorite act at the time
-The Diabolos I thought were really cool but didnt enjoy the music for some reason.
-Aerial contortion in silk, I couldnt tell if Isabelle Vaudelle was wearing anything at all! what a fool I was!
-I slightly remember handbalancing because It was my least favorite at the time and that the music was different than what it became later.
-The Manipulation act, I liked this one, but forgot about it until I saw photos later on.
-The clowns! I remember seeing some strange yet hilarious Ballet act between the two clowns (a red one and a yellow one)
-Aerial hoops I remember seing the beginning when they where contorting around eachother on the same hoop.
-I remember thinking that they were singing in french, not gibberish.
-I remember the drums during the marelle sequence and getting slightly frightened.

These are really the only things I can only remember from the first time I saw it. But after the show, we went and bought Saltimbanco on VHS to show my family an example of what we saw that day since Quidam was not yet on video. We drove home from Tyson's Corner. when I got home I told my sister (who didn't get to go) all about it. Then popped in Saltimbanco to show them. Little did I know how old this tape was. It was nothing like Quidam...oh well I still enjoyed having an example of Cirque Du Soleil. I told my dad, "next time they come to Virginia we gotta go!". and he said,"ok". and that was it life continued as normal.

Getting re-aquainted with Cirque Du Soleil

A Cirquey Birthday

My birthday Came up that year and on my list, the number one thing I wanted was either a guarantee to see the next cirque show to come to our area or to see some sort of performance. well the day came and they decided to take me to DC to see the Washington Chamber Symphony Orchestra explain Handel's Messiah. Well it was something, but not Cirque. Oh well...but something strange happened. We were driving toward DC, and I was was just watching the road as usual. But when I heard the noise of a truck next to me I glanced over to see the Cirque du Soleil logo in bright yellow on a blue truck. I screamed,"thats a Cirque Du Soleil truck!". Nobody could believe it. But sure enough it was. What a coincidence to see something representing something I loved a lot on my Birthday. It was wonderful. Sadly I never found out where it was heading or what it was carrying. oh well.

Seeing A Second Cirque Show

After That experience only a few occurences happened for he rest of 2001. I joined Cirquedusoleil at yahoo groups and Fascination! and got even more acquainted and involved with the fans of CDS. All of a sudden, I found out Quidam was coming back the the US. But since they weren't coming to Virginia, I figured I wouldnt go. Luckily, my parents had promised to take me to see La Nouba during Spring break. So I didnt worry about that. But I still wanted to see it when it came to Charlotte. So I decided that maybe my Girl Scout troop (three people) might want to go. That didnt work out. Finally I realize that they would be there over spring break and it was on the way down to florida. So I begged and begged my parents to see it instead of La Nouba. They just kept saying, "youve already seen it! wouldnt you want to see a new show?" The problem was that my memory of that 1998 trip was soo vague that I just had to see it again. Finally I convinced them to see Quidam instead....I told them it was longer and less expensive. So we got tickets to see it on March 31st, 2002 (Easter) as a B-day present (My B-day is on March 25).

Quidam, March 31st, 2002 at 1:00 PM

We Arrived in North Carolina the day before the performance. Before checking into a hotel, we decided to check out the tent. I remember turning this corner...and seeing the tent off to a distance, what a beautiful site! As we drove closer you could see more details of the beautiful swirling tent, it looked so isolated. I kept thinking about how most people didnt know what went on in and around the tent, I got a much different feeling than I expected. Next to the tent, there was a huge Billboard advertising the show and TONS of trucks in the backstage area (I would love to see that huge caravan of all of them moving to the next location). After seeing that amazing site we checked into our hotel (after all there was a lot more time for looking in the future). In the lobby there was a poster up about the show. My dad asked if they had another one he could have, but they said no. Later that night, my dad decided to take pictures of the tent. I decided not to go because I had homework to do. When he came home, he showed me what he had taken with his digital camera and made a panorama out of it later. That night, I had the worst sleep ever! I was so excited, my stomach hurt, I felt almost nervous about it. Words can truly not describe how I felt. I guess my parent were excited too, because we all got up at 6:00 AM. The latest to check out of the hotel was 9:00 or 10:00 AM. After we checked out, we we had a LOT of time before the show started. So we drove around for a little while and finally decided to park. so we parked at the designated parking lot for the show, we sure got a good spot since we were there so early! While we sat in the car, another car drove up with a Quebec license plate. Out came a guy with a guitar and another girl who was shorter (still dont know who she was). They were obviously performers..sigh. I was soo nervous though, I didnt ask them for their autographs. *Kicks herself*. but here's the worst part. I went with my dad up this huge hill to take some great photos of the tent. while up there, this huge group of cars came driving up to the parking spaces. My mom who was down there told me they also had to have been performers *Kicks and punches herself*. My dad and I went back down to the car and waited for a while. I opened the door and could hear let me fall being rehearsed very silently in the distance. I was going berzerk! So about an hour and a half or so before they opened the souvenier tents, we walked down to the area. while standing at this fence we could see some people buying tickets and such. some VIP's arrived (I really payed attention to detail on this trip), and they were dressed in all sorts of cirque stuff. One of them was wearing an O shirt, a Dralion hat (with all these other cirque pins) and tons of other cirque paraphenalia, same as her husband. This was around the time I took the picture of the billboard. Oh yeah! the fence closing off the backstage area, behind it I could hear them listening to music and some movement in the kitchen. so we walk around to the area outside the souvenier tents. Got my picture taken in front of the box office. Started to smell popcorn too. more people started to arrive. I started to hear more music from the tent! I heard Spanish Webs then, Juggling music. I was so excited about it, I called my sister who was back at college and tried to hold the phone up so she could hear it, but she couldnt :o(. This guy who was sitting on one of the benches with his children laughed at the scene and said "you're cute!" (in a non-sexual way lol). so finally they opened the Souvenier tents and I VERY EXCITEDLY entered. what a site. I first saw a huge La Nouba advertisement in the center with the Merchandise sales on the left and food on the right. I couldn't eat though I went straight to the merchandise (After buying a program from a man outside the tent). I looked around and BAM! I saw a singular Karl doll laying there marked $19. I picked him up right away, I had to have it! But I also wanted a shirt. I looked around planning on buying one of those shirts for the tour with a collage of images from the show, but I ended up finding this great shiny tank top with the same design that the ushers had on the back of their vests. I purchased the items, gazed at the new Quidam CD with the bonus tracks, and went to get my ticket torn. wow, only a few feet away from the entrance and about fifteen minutes till I was in the tent! My parents were a little confused about their seating, so they went and asked an usher which gate to go through. She gave this strange look at their tickets and said, these are for the 5:00 show (mine wasn't though). Concerned that they might not get tickets for this showing, they rushed through the first tent they found to the box office. funny thing was, they went through the VIP tent! an entertainer in there said, are you supposed to be here? and let them out. Funny, they had originally bought cheaper seats and ended up having to pay for more expensive ones in the end. well, while they were taking care of business, I stood patiently (yeah right) outside of the tent, unable to believe that I was about to see Quidam. My stomach hurt so much from all this excitement. then, they opened the tent! I was second in line and this blond usher escorted me to me seat. While walking to it within the dark tent, two things happened. I saw the chair (It was a lot closer than I expected!) and asked the usher a question, "Im a big fan, do you know how I could get some autographs?"
"Are you a VIP?"
"no."
"Sorry then, you can't"
ugh, I was a little devastated, but I knew I had other chances...so I sit down in my seat, B19 on the aisle (I hoped for some John/clown interaction). First thing to do...take in the scene...when I entered the tent the first thing I saw was the Chair on stage right. It was sooo wonderfully close. Of course I then saw the arches above, they were lit up and beautiful. Oh and the "Christmas lights" that were strewn about on top. finally the people sitting next to me arrived. they were a couple...probably in 30s or forties..I said "Hi" to them but that was about it..I was too excited to speak. then came the wait...I kept thinking...when is Mark ward coming out? If they're going to do abductions it better be soon! finally I saw him come out the door and hang up his coat "Oh my gosh wow! It's Mark Ward!" Seeing someone for the first time after only seeing photos is quite an experience but not like what you'd expect..it's indescribable. He came up to the radio on the table..did the whole tuning section...Some cirque music that only I really recognized. Then it hit alegria and he was trying to get people to applause..I know I did.. and of course he gave that disgusted look and everyone laughed. finally, the light tango music. A funny thing happened, I actually recognized it! What a breakthrough from not remembering anything from 1998, to actually remembering something. Sadly, I've forgotten how it goes again...but if I hear it..I'll know. Here's something that usually doesnt happen in the pre-show..Donkey Ears came out with a basket! She started handing something out to people in the front row of the back rows..(oh why did I have to get better seats? lol j/k) I tried to make out what it was, then I sw something glisten in her hand..they were small brightly colored marbles. wow I wanted one...but she didn't come my way. BTW she came from the back of the audience, not the front. Mark did his normal interactions. He gave a bald man a hairdo...stole popcorn..guided people wrongly to their seats...but then came forward onto the stage. I knew what it meant..the show is about to start! (the feeling in my stomach begins to bellow upward) He mouthed the announcements about smoking, Cell phones (which got a BIG applause), and recording. then left..witha big wave and applause as the announcer stated...

MBR< And Now, Ladies and Gentleman, Madames and Monsiers,
Quidam!
That word echoes through the stage in a way that brought shivers through my spine. the Aesthetics began...darkness fell
I saw the people run in the dark to their places. and heard the pounding, creeching, and tinkering. Tears began to fall..I felt like I wasn't ready and that it was coming too soon. Like I didn't deserve to see the show. A light turns on..It was Gabrielle Cloutier. She begins to sing. This segment went by a lot faster than I expected. (For you musicians...) It went in 3/4 time...

"."= one beat rest "|" a measure
Soo .|. . . |Spedee|. . . |Soospe|ede
1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2

Chris Lashua Performed.
Karl Baumann played Target.
Shane Courtright was boum boum.
Diabolos Performed.
the only act that wasn't yet available was Hoops with Elena Lev. But that didn't matter, Edward Skwirsky was amazing!
The Clown Acts were great too...Here's a memory:
The Main member of Les Macloma came up to the person in front of me to have a balloon blowing contest. At the end, The Man's balloon was not quite as big as his, so he looked at me and the man sitting next to me with a smile and showed us this small "L" shaped object with one sharp edge, then Popped the man's balloon. He then let go of his own and it dropped in the aisle...I kept watch of that Pink balloon. Sure enough at the end of the act, I ran for it..and now I call it my own. His lip make-up is still on the end that he had his mouth on LOL!!
The first thing I decided to do during intermission was go outside, well right when I walked out, there was a huge crash of lightning and really loud thunder..and it started POURING. So I quickly went back into the tent (on the way I saw a man with an umbrealla that had a whole bunch of tiny pictures of quidam...Dark blue on Light blue...it was a great looking umbrella) I have a seat...and wait. They bring you out of intermission with this scene where it's raining...so I got a double effect with the fake rain sounds and the real rain sounds, pretty cool. Now the section came up...will it be Edward Skwirsky, or Elena Lev? It was Edward! I was happy about that though, I really wanted to hear Rivage (the juggling song) and the awesome opening section that isn't on the CD. Zoe actually sings in the part too..there were amazing harmonies and such..I loved it. Spanish Webs were wonderful, I had no idea that they would drop in front of the audience, so many people screamed, very cool. Then came vis-versa. I usually did not find it too entertaining when watching it on the DVD, but live was completely different! They did all of these moves that were not on the DVD, like when they formed their arms and legs to make a diamond, very beautiful! I believe there was a clown act next, but I cannot confirm this until I look at other records I have in a different location. But it was the funniest clown act of them all!! one of the clowns came out with his violin ready to play a piece but he couldn't get up on the chair! so he took the balloon off of his head and used it's helium power to lift it onto the chair. nut when he put it on his other foot, it flew up in the air. after different attempts, he finally climbed up these tiny notches to get on top.and through all the chaos an audience member "accidentally" dropped his violin causing it to break! so when he finally gets on the chair, and starts to play the broken violin, you hear sounds like its really playing! Suddenly, the other two clowns come out and you see that they are playing balloons! the rest of the act they play different songs.m By far my favorite act of the three. They leave and out comes cloud swing! this was a great act much better live than on the DVD. And the final act, Banquine. Sadly, I saw the shortened version. I belive that there a three possible versions to see altogether. It was short but very very good. Then came the finale. It was such a great ending seeing all of the performers taking off their hoods, very emotional. It's the only show that when they come out, their name is stated aloud, making them no longer "Quidams". I walked out of the tent and went to look at that spot one last time. Sure enough, a performer came up to the fence, it was the guy playing boum boum! At first I said, nah I won't talk to him, I was too nervous. But my mom knew that I would regret that so she pushed me up to talk to him. I asked him for his autograph and he signed my program on the black on the boum boum page. (I have yet to figure out exactly who this performer is! if you know who played Boum Boum during the run in Charlotte when Shayne Courtright was training for German Wheel, please let me know!! katiydid@yahoo.com) I never thought seeing Quidam for the second time would be more effective than the first time. Next, I was off to Florida for a band trip. I saw the La Nouba building, but they were having a dark period the entire time I was there. However I did get to go to the store where I bought the second NAT poster.

Dralion: A Girl Scout Trip

So a year went by, and in this year I created this site which has slowly grown, been neglected, then grown some more. I found out that Dralion was coming to Baltimore in April/May of 2003 so I decided that this time, I would try to spread the joy. I proposed to my 3 person girl scout troop that we see it since I would probably be able to get us backstage. For a while it seemed hopeless of us going, but in the end, two of us, Sam and I (as well as our moms), got tickets. It seems that every time I attend a show there is some sort of a coincidence, in this case, Olga Pickenko performed her handbalancing act from Varekai that morning.
anyway, we attended the show on May 3rd I believe, and altogether I enjoyed it. It was cool because I met another fellow cirque fan who was ushering the event. but after the show, came the icing on the cake. I had managed to schedule a meet-up with Viktor Kee after the show for autographs and such. So after the show, we talked to the head usher and she called backstage for Viktor Kee. A few minutes later, he came out to meet us. What a great guy! He signed our shirts (which we made special for the event..see photos) as well as my program and Sam's diabolo. We gave him Girl Scout cookies to which he looked at the nutrition facts and gave a groan haha. Then he asked if we've ever been backstage before. Of course we hadn't so he proceeded to take us out of the tent where we found ourselves on the other side of the yellow picket fence. He led us to the artistic tent where many performers were wandering around. Right away, we met up with Guto (clown plant), Gonzalo (clown), and I believe Anthony Copperwood (keyboards). One of them donned a shirt that said "Dralion was my first". They looked at our shirts and we all talked for a little while and took pictures. Then he took us further into the artistic tent. A lot of the Chinese acrobats ( I think they were the hoop divers) were having a meeting. Two performers (can't remember who) were practicing some sort of Pas de Deux that wasn't in the show. Viktor showed us where all sorts of things were kept and the little car bug that he drives. I even got to try on a dralion head! (see photos). An absolutely amazing first backstage experience and a wonderful girl scout trip.

Since Then:

Since Dralion I have attended La Nouba (January 3rd, 2004), Varekai (May 5th, 2004) and Corteo (March 29th, 2006). With college and numerous commitments, my rather obsessive fandom hit the background, but I still enjoy going to the shows staying updated on their growth.

A complete list of everything Cirque related I own:

-Quidam DVD
-Quidam CD
-A european tour Quidam Program
-a Second NAT Quidam Program
-The AEP advertisement with Aerial hoops on it.
-A balloon that the lead guy in Les Macloma used on March 31, 2002
-Karl Doll (possibly the last one sold)
-Quidam 2nd NAT poster
-Brochure for Quidam in Charlotte
-A shirt I got off ebay (with european program) from the European tour
-A tank top Quidam shirt
-A SALTIMBANCO POSTER FROM TICKETMASTER when it came to Tyson's Corner (thanks to my flute teacher!)
-Alegria CD
-Alegria CD with bonus tracks
-Dralion CD
-Cirque Reinvente DVD
-Alegria le film DVD
-Saltimbanco VHS
-AEP ADs of Alegria, saltimbanco, quidam, and dralion
-Got Milk? Ad
-Mystere Live CD
-Varekai CD
-Dralion Program
-Cirque Du Soleil Diabolo
-Varekai Newspaper article
-Brochure for Dralion in Baltimore
-A T-Shirt with Viktor Kee's Autograph (sigh)
-Quidam Japan tour program (signed by most of the cast)
-Quidam Japan tour fan
-vis versa postcard
-KTV brochure
-Cirque du Soleil pen
-Quidam notecards
-Quidam folders
-La Nouba Poster
-Varekai Ads for Phoenix
-Varekai program signed by Craig Jennings and Paul Bannerman teehee
-Sleeveless Cirque shirt
-Brochure for Varekai in Phoenix
-Quidam first NAT program
-La Nouba CD
-La Nouba DVD
-Corteo program
-Corteo bronze keychain