It’s like a real stage.
It’s not an ice rink anymore; it’s a stage.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It’s getting real!
I can’t wait to see how everything comes together.
I see they have lights installed and everything.
Well, I’m just looking at that ramp, up there,
and I’m hoping they’re not going to make me go down it.
We have all our ramps, so now we’re going to start working extra hard.
These ramps are… they’re big, but they’re gonna be awesome.
Yeah, it’s gonna be fun.
Welcome to block 2 and week 8!
As you’ve seen coming into the building,
the set is here. Yes!
Also, all other technical aspects are up in the air as well,
so lighting, video, sound as well.
Just one note: We’re going six days a week, starting this week.
All right? So longer hours,
longer weeks.
We’re going through a lot together. It’s a process.
We’re really pushing along with the numbers,
and we’ve made a lot of progress.
So, even though we’re on the ice a lot,
I feel like every minute on the ice is very well spent.
Yeah, we’re all hanging in there, and we’re all together.
So morale is really high up and.
You know, we got a good group here, so it makes things easier.
The thing that’s really blowing me away
is how the whole cast has gelled so quickly,
and I see a lot of friendships developing and just this great camaraderie.
And it’s a really cool mix of the skaters and the acrobats,
and everybody being really kind of blown away
by what they all bring with their individual talents.
I did like anything to get the flip around.
And how he does it is like,
he would leave and have his body straight in the air and then,
have is, always look front and have his feet come around for the back flip.
On the ramps, I always look back to see, like,
the spot where I’m landing to,
which, is normal for us,
but for them it’s like, ah, shitty back flip.
I’m like, thanks man!
Right from the beginning, the acrobats started to learn to skate,
and the skaters started to learn some acrobatic moves.
And from that moment, everybody realized how difficult
each other’s strengths were, and had an amazing respect for one another.
So, it’s been wonderful to see that happen.
My big challenge is to skate, now.
I need to do juggling on the ice,
and we are, like, twenty people?
So, it’s a big challenge. But it’s cool!
Yeah. Yeah.
My specialties are freestyle skating,
breakdancing and ice acrobatics.
It’s easy to do what you know,
but the hardest part is adapting to everything that is going on around you.
All those new factors, the circus performers.
That’s a real challenge.
Been skating professionally, now, for almost six years.
There’s a number that I do with some of the other girls that’s
very, like, modern and artistic, that I, like, I’m obsessed with, so.
It’s like my little chance to show what I can do.
I’m an expert aggressive inline skater.
I try lots of things I’m used to doing on the street,
but on the ice, it’s not the same at all.
And you wouldn’t think it would scare me,
but I can see that the ice is just as hard as the pavement.
So we were doing spins and catching a baton,
and it was going really well.
But then the baton was a little lower.
In the middle of the spin, I didn’t catch it.
I didn’t land on my feet – I landed on one knee.
But I thought after three or four days, I’d be fine.
It feels so great.
It’ll feel good because you’ll… you want to.
Yeah, yeah yeah. Exactly.
The doctor said it was the PCL ligaments in the back,
which are 40% torn.
And it will take four to six months to be 100% again.
But at least I can do the whole show.
I just have to make sure I don’t fall on it again.
So, yeah, I can’t fall.
There is this kid from Mongolia named Ochir
who will do an impressively high chair balancing act.
I start when I was nine years old.
Contortion and hand stand.
On top, I just hear my breath, also heartbeat.
I feel all of it.
Like all the way through you have to feel the chairs’ legs,
you know, like, with your part of your body.
If you don’t feel, the chairs gonna quick you out.
I’m still not feeling yet,
so I’m really working hard on it.
Today, we’re going to present the show in its entirety,
and we’re very, very excited.
And we’re going to present it to Guy Laliberté.
It’s kind of cool being able to perform for Guy Laliberté.
He’s kind of a legend.
So, it’s… well… you can feel the excitement in the arena.
And it’s the first time we’ve really done everything full-out,
with costumes this week, so it’s exciting, it’s good.
Skate away. Skate away from them all.
Find the one inside. Find the one inside.
Find the one inside.
I’m like Prince Charming.
So Noby is looking for someone to dance with,
and she looks left and right but sees no one.
Then I come down from overhead.
We are trying to convey emotion in this number,
but I find that the two disciplines work really well together.
What’s great is that everything is brand new, everything is surprising,
but we don’t want to do it just for the novelty.
We’re also striving for excellence.
Because we don’t want to excuse ourselves, like, “Yeah, but we were on ice!”
We want the people to feel it,
but that doesn’t diminish the acrobatic aspect, and that’s harder.
There’s a lot of great things. In phase on the skating world.
It’s just something we’ve not presented very much, so.
Take this advantage.
It’s the first time we work with this discipline,
and show how differently you treat it.
That’s what people will expect.
Seeing all these people getting together
and learning from each other
and discovering new ways of expressing themselves artistically.
For me, this is what I find very exciting,
and that’s why I say I love the journey.