(upbeat music)
- [Chris] We're back in Vegas to collab
and train with the Cirque du Soleil,
but this time we're not doing one show but two shows.
"KA" at the MGM Grand
and "O" at the Bellagio.
And right now we're heading
to the backstage of the Cirque du Soleil show "KA."
We're gonna be linking up
and training with the strength and conditioning coaches.
I'll see you inside.
- Hi, my name's Al Light.
I'm the head coach of "KA" at Cirque du Soleil.
- My name is Pierre-Luc Sylvain,
I am the the firefly boy at "KA."
- My Name is Christopher Ries.
I work here here at "KA."
- Hi, my name is Katie Ketchme.
I've been an artist at "KA" here for eight years.
- Listen, you know who I am.
- Very excited to be back.
Last time I was here I was really inspired by the athletes.
This time I'm gonna actually get to train with them.
Al Light, the head coach of "KA"
had set up a couple things for me to try
that they actually do and perform in the show.
This is gonna be pretty cool,
learning from the coaches of Cirque du Soleil.
- So, you see this bar up there?
Down specifically for you. (laughs)
- He's always got something up his sleeve.
- Today what we have in store for Chris,
we're going to introduce him to some aerial work
on the straps
with one of our strap specialists, Pierre-Luc.
Then we're going to go to the trampoline.
We'll let Chris flip with the aid of some safety spotting.
And then we'll have some acrobatic.
He'll be really tested, I think, in his proprioception,
which is basically how his body
is in relation to itself and in space.
- [Chris] First we started on the straps.
These things tear up your arms.
They're definitely not comfortable.
- The way this is set up,
it's pretty hard to come out of this.
- [Chris] Especially when you're maneuvering
and swinging around.
These guys are performing and flying over 60 feet
strapped into these,
and sometimes with just one arm.
- He seems to be very strong.
So, we're gonna see how he is in the air.
- So, from right here.
- That's it, yep.
(mellow music)
And try to turn into your arm.
Don't wanna use your shoulders.
That's the big thing for what we do.
- [Chris] The straps require a lot of strength
in your shoulder, lats, core and back.
That's a serious move, man.
Big props to you, dude.
You do that twice a day?
- Yeah.
- And a whole lot more.
- Usually, when I do this in the show,
so I'm on one arm,
go up into the meat-hook.
All right?
- That's insane--
- And then. - Yeah, love that.
- Go to this one.
And switch from one to the other.
- Wow.
The shoulder mobility and shoulder strength in that
is insane, dude.
You guys gotta watch the show
to check out more of that.
- Oh, you just take off.
Try to relax your shoulders as much as possible.
- Right.
- Once you're there,
you can play if you want. - What?
That's crazy.
Yeah, maybe not that one but--
- He can fly.
- Oh my god.
Damn, so that's what it feels like to fly in the show.
The trampoline here is super bouncy,
so you have to be careful not to bounce
straight into the ceiling.
Am I ready to be a Cirque performer yet?
I was ready to try something more difficult.
So Al suggested we do some partner hand balancing.
- So I think Chris is gonna rock it today.
I've seen a lot of his footage in the past
and he is so darn strong.
I'm excited for him to lift me up.
- [Chris] Now, this was something I've never done before
and always wanted to try.
- Are you ready? - Yep.
- Ready?
- [Chris] Katie was such a beast.
I couldn't have asked for a better partner
to lock this move in for my first time.
- There you go, nice.
- You good? - Yeah.
- And Christopher was really helpful giving me
the best tips to be a good base for Katie.
- Awesome.
Good job.
- That was so sick.
- That was so good.
- [Chris] Wow, that was really cool,
training with the team from "KA"
and trying the different elements
that they do in the show.
But now it's time to head on over to the Bellagio
where Cirque du Soleil has another show called "O,"
Cirque du Soleil has never had an influencer
behind the scenes of this show
or trained with their crew,
so it was a huge honor for us
and we're gonna be trying something completely new.
This show is entirely different
and the stage is an open body of water
that transforms throughout the performance.
As soon as I walked in,
I could see the performers rehearsing.
What are we gonna be doing today?
Something tells me they're gonna be testing
my fear of heights.
Didier, nice to meet you, man.
I didn't want to interrupt you guys.
Looked like you have something--
- Fine, fine, (indistinct).
Nice to meet you.
How are you-- - Thank you.
- Kasper, nice to meet you.
- Chris, nice to meet you Kasper.
Wow, you guys have quite the setup here.
This is like your training center
and the stage really.
- Some equipment cannot fit in the training room.
Right now they work on synchronized tricks.
- Oh. - They work on
both sides at the same time.
So this is what we call in circus, the cradle.
We have one catcher and one flyer.
- Are these actual movements in the show
or this are just like practice?
Ah.
- [Didier] They prepare this for the show tonight.
(upbeat music)
So this is Julio.
- Pleasure to meet you again.
- He gonna show you the first exercise.
- So you go upside down. - You do crunches
with your hands behind your neck
and you touch your knees.
It takes weeks before you cannot have someone in your hands.
So you have to put the bar here
and you have to relax your feet.
You have to trust.
There's nothing...
You cannot fall.
There's no way.
You have to trust, okay.
Relax your feet.
It's not pleasant to be a catcher--
- Oh yeah, not at all.
- Okay. - There you go.
He's like, "I just want you to feel the real thing."
- Yeah, but it's important.
- Oh, that's way better.
(Didier laughs)
- Yeah.
- Touch the wood higher.
Touch the bar
and now go
and swing and go above the bar.
Yay.
- Good, nice.
- Yes. - Yes, yes, yes.
- [Didier] Yes.
Okay, okay.
Good.
- He's like, "don't get too tired."
Like we're gonna go up all the way up there?
- When you climb the ladder,
ladder like this,
always from the side.
- So far so good?
Nice.
Like, yeah, perfect, Chris.
Do you need anything?
You want something?
- You guys got some water?
You can throw in some water?
No, I'm just kidding. - Yeah, water?
Yes.
- Thanks for the water, bro.
- [Didier] Go upside down.
And this.
Okay?
Go down.
It's good, it's good, it's good, it's good,
it's good, it's good, it's good.
- I'm holding here.
- Nice-- - Okay, hold, hold, hold.
- [Didier] Hold, hold, hold.
- And now you pull up.
- Now let go. - Let go, yeah.
Hang, hang.
Just hanging.
Enjoy the view.
And when you ready, you let go.
- No, I don't wanna let go.
- Ah, you have no choice.
You gonna get tired anyway.
One, two, three, go.
Woo.
- Moon walking.
That was exciting. (laughs)
I thought I was gonna be more scared, to be honest.
But the fun exceeded the fear.
I think it's safe to say
I'm getting over my fear of heights.
Not all the way,
but that was a lot of progress right there.
- Now we go to the other training room.
It's just the beginning.
This training room is for conditioning.
Nice to meet you folks.
- Hello. - Hi, Marina.
Nice to meet you. - Marina, nice to meet you.
- Kristen. - Kristen.
You guys are shredded.
Like is this what you guys do to train them all the time?
- Yeah. - Excellent.
So what are we gonna do today?
- Oh, they organize a program for you.
- All right, so what's the warmup gonna look like?
- So pull over, go.
(mellow music)
- Nice.
Oh, skin the cat, straight through.
Nice, this reminds me of calisthenics freestyle too,
'cause you wanna do it all in a sequence
to build that endurance as well.
So just a warm up.
10 toes to bars.
Skin the cat, pullovers.
Geez, now I know how hard that one is.
I just did that in the other room. (laughs)
It's a long routine.
Geez, you guys have crazy endurance.
All right,
so that answers my first question on why they're shredded.
I don't know if I'm gonna remember all the moves
but I can try to go for it.
All right, first thing first.
- Pull over. - Okay.
(mellow music)
- Yep, stay on your hips
and you're gonna drop down
and then tuck and then superman.
Up.
- The one where I let one of my arms out?
- A little bit.
Oh, your arms are gonna be...
Yeah, right there, yep,
and now squeeze up.
Yep and two
and three.
And now skin the cat.
(mellow music)
Boom.
Good, from here you're gonna flip on your knees.
(mellow music)
A little bit.
I'm gonna go a little bit lower,
a little bit lower, one.
So let's go slow.
First you're gonna spin.
Yeah and you're just gonna hold it here.
Yeah and then Didier, you're gonna go up,
and let's hold it right here, yeah.
You're gonna crank it.
(dramatic music)
Yeah, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go.
And you go up. - Oh my God.
All right.
Are these also moves that you guys use in the show?
- Yes. - Oh, nice.
So I'm gonna see you guys like
spinning like crazy today? - Yeah.
- [Chris] That's pretty sick.
Cut directly under?
- And you're gonna try to put the center of your head
right to the center.
You're all centered with the point.
- Just like that? - Yep, exactly.
- How do I spin?
- Start spinning.
Stay on the floor.
Spin on the floor, stay.
Keep your leg on the floor to spin faster.
Give yourself momentum with your toe.
- Yes, yes, there you go.
Go, go, go, go.
(upbeat music)
- Yeah, I'm super dizzy.
- You're barely spinning. (laughs)
Okay.
- Oh my God.
I don't know how you guys walk away from that.
If I don't hold onto this...
I'll step away.
How do you guys like get off of that
and you're just like so cool after that?
You get used to it or something?
- Yeah. - We do--
- You spot one little thing too.
Go, go, go, go.
More and more and more with one foot.
Go, go, go, crank it.
Yes, go, go, go, spin.
- All right, woo.
Crazy, oh my God.
This is the hardest one for sure.
I underestimated this walking in here.
- So you're gonna be here.
- Okay. - Yeah?
You're gonna straddle up,
cross.
Yeah?
And-- - Still looks painful.
And like this?
- Yes.
- Woo. - Woo.
- And now we spin.
- That's for day two.
Much respect for you guys, really.
- Thank you. - It's really inspiring.
Now I'm really excited to see that show tonight.
If you guys haven't seen the show,
"O", Cirque du Soleil, out here in Vegas.
Definitely check it out.
You're gonna see some pretty high level skills.
Alright, it's Showtime.
We're about to see the Cirque du Soleil show, "O."
We're gonna see all the performers one last time
on stage and I'm excited.
(upbeat music)
Wow, I was completely blown away
from that performance.
Cirque du Soleil has never had an influencer
behind the scenes of the show or trained with their crew.
So it was a huge honor for us.
We couldn't have made it happen without you guys.
If you wanna see more collabs with Cirque du Soleil,
make sure to smash that light button and subscribe.
And if you miss the last video with Cirque,
check out the vlog where I meet the crew backstage
for the first time and I'll see you there.
Mad Love, peace out.
(upbeat music)