Hi, Cirque du Soleil fans!
My name is Francis Jalbert and I’m the publicist of Alegría<.
Welcome to the studio AB at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal,
where we are working and training on the revival of Alegría.
We’re looking at all the iconic elements of the show
and pushing them forward with the creative lens of 2019
to make sure that Alegría, when it opens in April,
is as inspiring, is as exciting as it was in 1994, when it first premiered.
Hello Cirque du Soleil fans, my name is Francis Jalbert,
I’m the publicist of Alegría.
Welcome to the Studio AB at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal,
where we've been working on stage
and preparing the new version of Alegría for the last few weeks.
Alegría is back to share its message again.
We're working on the acts and various elements of the show to push them further,
so that the show will be as inspiring and exciting
as it was when it opened 25 years ago,
and it's very exciting.
Today, we have two of the power track artists
that will be with us answering some of the questions.
Many of you sent us questions in the past week
and we’ll be talking with them.
We have two of the power track artists with us today
to answer the questions we received over the last week,
and to talk about the creative process
that's in place for this new version of Alegría.
- Hi, Marissa. - Hi.
- Hi, Vincent. - Hi!
Marissa King, she was on Amaluna as an Amazon, and now in the power track act,
and Vincent was on La Nouba before.
Marissa was on Amaluna and Vincent was on La Nouba.
Guys, how are you feeling to be part of this new version of Alegría?
Well, Alegría is such a special show, so to be a part of it
and to also come back was something really, really incredible
and something that you absolutely can’t turn down, so I’m really excited. Are you?
Yes, it's very exciting. In fact, Alegría was my childhood dream.
So when it closed a few years ago, my dream fell apart in a way.
And when they brought it back, I was very excited to be part of it.
You guys have been working now since November-ish on the act.
What are you guys trying to do, you know,
are you doing a copy and paste of what it was
or are you guys exploring new acrobatic elements with this new version?
I think we’re doing a bit of both, just because, obviously,
we have the foundation and the background of what Alegría was before.
But also it’s 2019, things have changed,
we have new technologies, new ideas, new creative elements
that have both come from new artists and from old artists
that have a lot of Cirque du Soleil experience.
So, I think they have a really good direction now,
like they know what it was before.
They know where they want the show to go for 2019,
so I think it’s going to have a little bit of both.
- In French. - Yes, in French. In fact...
So, we’re doing a bit of both.
We have a blueprint, what Alegría used to be,
and we're trying to bring it to 2019,
and to bring back what made it such an iconic Cirque du Soleil show, a classic.
That's what we're working with, and we're going to try to integrate
2019 technology and a 2019 vision.
For people who have never seen Alegría, who have never seen power track
we have a bit of training behind us, but can you explain what it is,
what are the challenges of that specific act, as well?
Yeah. Power track is such a fun number, just because it’s such high energy,
the music is really pumping and people really remember power track,
I think a lot from Alegría from before, so it’s a really exciting number.
We have some really incredible artists here in this new Alegría version,
some people from straight out competition
and some people from previous power track shows,
well power track in their shows, which have experience,
which I think that is a nice element of both,
two different types of energies that we brought together
to make this number as successful as it was in the previous Alegría.
So, I think it’s going to be one to watch out for.
Vincent, for people who've never seen Alegría
or don't know what the power track is, what is it?
And what are the challenges of that act?
Yes, so the power track is an extremely vibrant, high-energy act
that combines high levels of artistic and acrobatic skills.
We have people from other Cirque du Soleil power track acts,
and also athletes straight from the competitive world.
So we're raising the act’s level of difficulty.
With these additions,
the act is going to make the audience want to get up and join us on stage.
The act is as exciting for the people on the stage as it is for the audience.
Well, you're certainly making me want to go jump around with you.
Guys if you just joined us,
we’re in the studio AB at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal,
where we’re working on the revival of Alegría.
If you're just joining us,
we're in the Studio AB at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal,
where we're working on the revival of Alegría.
And we are with two of the power track artists.
A lot of questions that the fans were sending,
they’re asking what did you guys do before,
like how did you become a Cirque du Soleil artist?
Great question! So yeah, I came from artistic gymnastics
and I went to University of Florida in the States.
And then from there I transitioned to Cirque.
I wanted to do Cirque, because gymnastics really kind of restricts you
to certain standards and expectations due to the code,
and Cirque really opens doors and avenues for exploring theatre,
acting and more than just gymnastics,
but also using that background of what you’ve learned in gymnastics
to do more on stage and performing.
So, Cirque has been a really good transition,
because I’ve been able to do so much more gymnastics and more,
and I think that being part of Amaluna,
which is where I was before for 4 years, gave me a good transition
from gymnastics to performing and now Alegría is another step
in growth in that direction of being the best artist for Cirque du Soleil.
So, that’s my journey.
Vincent, several people have asked us:
How do you become a Cirque du Solei artist?
How did you get here?
Well, it began when I was 8 years old
and I took tumbling lessons in Drummondville.
After that, I joined the national tumbling team for a few years, starting in 2007.
Then one thing led to anotter... Another, sorry.
“Anotter?”
One thing led to another, and I became interested in Cirque du Soleil.
and I started looking into how I could join it.
I went to their website, in the Careers section, to find out how to apply.
And there was always a recruiter at major competitions who would talk to us
and tell us what assets would look good on an athlete's CV
when applying for a Cirque du Soleil show,
which requires more artistic and performance skills
than just physical ability.
After that, I completed a college diploma in Dance in Drummondville
to add a string to my artistic bow and be able to join one of the shows.
In 2015, I joined La Nouba and finished the show in 2017 with the whole team.
Perfect.
You know... You know... Oh sorry, I’ll switch back to English.
You know, like being on stage is very different than doing 10 competitions a year
and performing for the judges.
How do you feel when you’re on the stage at Cirque du Soleil?
It’s such a special feeling. I think in gymnastics,
you have an element of performance that you really thrive off,
especially in competition,
but yeah, you only have maybe 3 or 4 major competitions in a year where,
you know, we’re performing 10 shows a week, every week,
with only very few breaks during the year.
So, it’s about maintenance and knowing how to adjust,
how we physically need to adjust with the load of that per year,
compared to training all year for like one competition,
where you peak and then breaking down again, and then
plateauing, and then booting up again to another peaking for a competition.
So, being on stage it was such a, ah it’s such an unbelievable experience,
such a, it makes me feel so warm at seeing,
when you really get to interact with the audience, too,
and you get to really like connect with them, it’s a really special feeling.
I feel in gymnastics you have that, but just not as much,
and then also to be a character and to be artistic, that’s what I thrive off.
So, being on stage is something I love so much
and that’s why we do what we do every day.
Vincent, you're from a gymnastics background.
How is it different, being on stage with Cirque du Soleil,
having to convey emotions to the audience
and doing 10 shows a week, as opposed to only a few competitions per year?
Yes, that’s a question we get a lot.
At Cirque du Soleil, it's a lot of performance
and very little training,
but we did all the training before even getting the job.
And for competitions, it's a lot of training, and very little performance.
We would train non-stop for one day of competition,
which happened every 2-3 months maybe.
So coming here and having to do 10 shows a week,
it's pretty impressive and pretty intimidating.
It's a first-time experience,
and you have to get used to it,
but the energy we get from the audience
helps us maintain our own energy and get on the stage every evening.
Getting love from the audience makes things a lot easier.
Also there were a lot of questions, because people have seen Alegría,
you know the show toured for 20 years, almost.
What are your characters in the show?
You know, we have the Bronx, we have different characters,
can you talk to us a little bit about your character in the power track act
and what it means to you?
Yes, we’re Bronx characters, which is a really fun character,
because we’re kind of from the streets,
so we kind of have like that street awareness, rough background,
but we’re all, we all sense one another.
We all know where we’re from and how to kind of guard our territory,
but also we kind of wary of one another, too, and watch our backs,
but we watch others too.
So, it’s a fun character and I think that
we’re all growing in this character really well during creation,
so that when we are ready for that premiere in April that will be very strong
this character and able to portray that on stage to the audience
of who we are and what we stand for in the show.
The Alegría characters are iconic.
The show toured for nearly 20 years
and the fans ask a lot of questions about the characters...
“Which ones are coming back?”
Can you tell me a little about the characters you play in the show?
Yes. We're Bronx characters.
They're characters from the streets,
who are very aware of their surroundings,
and also very wary of what's around them.
They always watch their backs, and watch out for each other.
They bring a wind of change in the Alegría world,
which is kind of stuck in the past.
So we try to bring a wind a change
and to change the mentality of the aristocrats,
who are the other characters in Alegría.
Thank you.
Guys if you’ve just joined us,
we are at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal, Canada,
where we’re training and getting ready for the revival of Alegría.
If you're just joining us,
I’m with two power track artists from Alegría
at Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal,
where we're training and rehearsing for the show,
which opens on April 18 at the Old Port of Montreal.
We asked fans to send us questions and we received some.
There’s one question that I think is quite interesting, it comes from Lori McGovern,
who is asking us: “What advice would you like to give to a young performer
that you never received as an advice and that you think would have helped you?”
Ah, great question!
Well, I remember when I did artistic gymnastics
and I knew that I wanted to do more because, you know,
I did really well for Great Britain.
I went to the University of Florida, I did 4 more years,
and I got to a point where I was like: “Ah, I have some more fuel in the tank
and I want to do more. I just don’t know how to get into Cirque du Soleil,
I don’t know what avenue to go down what path,
what door that is and how to get there.”
And at one point I really felt like I wasn’t good enough
and I don’t know if I was, if they were interested and if
it was something that was even possible.
And I think that if there’s a will, there’s always a way.
I think that even if it’s not smooth sailing,
there’s always some way of making it happen.
You just have to really do your research and speak to people, really connect.
And I think that there is always a path for people
and if this is something that they really want to perform,
whether that’s in Cirque or somewhere else doing other gigs within circus,
there’s always someone that can help you or an avenue that will get you there.
Fans have sent a lot of questions throughout the week,
and here's one from Lori McGovern, who asks:
“What piece of advice would you give to a young performer
that you would've liked to get at that age?”
There's a piece of advice that I was given, but it's a really good one.
You have to really believe in your dreams or in your goals.
It's important to believe in yourself,
and know that you're capable, but also...
I had a great answer while she was answering.
But no, it really is a matter of believing in yourself, and in your dreams,
and putting limits on yourself.
When you create your own limitations, it's actually...
I always tell myself,
“don't prove them wrong, but prove yourself right.”
The important thing is not proving to others that you can do it,
but proving it to yourself.
What an uplifting message.
Just one more question before you go.
A lot of you guys were asking about the acts that are in Alegría.
As you might know, we are looking at all the acts, all the acrobatic disciplines
and trying to push them forward, and we don’t want to reveal all the surprises,
but if I was asking you if there’s another act besides power track in the show
that you’re looking forward for people to discover, which one would it be?
Discover or bring back, I think that the high board number is an incredible number
that’s going to be closing the show,
and I think that it’s gonna be
one to definitely have people on the edge of their seats.
So, yeah, we’re really excited with that one.
A lot of fans have asked about the show’s acrobatic acts.
We're looking at Alegría’s entire acrobatics catalogue
and we're trying to take it even further.
The show was created in 1994 and circus disciplines have evolved,
but–without spoiling any surprises– we've brought some acts back.
Vincent, other than the power track,
what act are you really excited for the audience to see?
Well, I think we got a very good sneak peek at the Célébration Gala.
There's a hand-to-hand act with two girls, Daria and Daria,
who've come straight from the competitive world and their act is absolutely bonkers.
The moves they do push the act to unrivalled heights.
What we saw at the Célébration Gala was put together very quickly for a special event,
but what they've been preparing and working on for many weeks
is an act that, both artistically and acrobatically, with the music...
It's something that I’m really looking forward to seeing with the lights,
the costumes and the makeup, and to showing to the audience in the Old Port.
People of Montreal, the show opens April 18 under the Big Top
at the Old Port of Montreal.
We're so excited!
Everyone, this show Alegría opens under the big top on April 18,
in Montreal and we’re very excited!
Come see Vincent and Marissa perform on stage.
Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us today and sending us questions.
Keep looking at Cirque du Soleil social media accounts
to learn more about Alegría.
We can’t wait to reveal more as we get closer to opening night.
Thank you for your questions and for being with us today.
Stay tuned to the Cirque du Soleil social media accounts to learn more about Alegría.
We're looking forward to being able to reveal more. Have a good day.