Net Rescue

Ever wonder what happens when there's a circus accident in the circus? The following video demonstrates (if not a little over dramatically) how a net rescue is executed by Cirque du Soeil.

New Records!

Is there anything more satisfying that breaking a record? That all depends on the record, I suppose.

We've been  breaking all kinds of records in the past few days, mostly of the heat related variety. Although I also broke my German wheel shoe lace record, the previous record being six uses before the damn thing broke. The new record being the very first use. Yippee!

But back to the heat records...

For a long time, the hottest the tent had been for a performance was 33°C. We broke that with 34°C only to break that record the following day with 35°C. The hot hot heat has also created a new record for consecutive performances in a tent above 30°C. We're at five in a row and counting! Even the night shows offered no relief. The temperature only dropped to 31°C.

Needless to say, we're all pretty miserable at the moment. Bring on the mountains! Bring on the fall!

Little Old Ladies

I love little old ladies. Love ‘em. The vast majority of the time, if there’s a member of the public that is incredibly generous and invigorating with the energy they give, it’s a little old lady.

Lately, there have been some pretty spectacular elderly members of the audience. The woman in the polk-a-dot blouse, the super generous clapper, the happy man in the wheelchair... Once, when the opportunity presented itself, I found the courage to go up to one of these gems of the public and thanked them for their generosity and enthusiasm. Nothing makes getting through your act easier than having a shining beacon of a face beaming at you. When it’s stinking hot, or you really just didn’t feel like going on stage that day, a member of the audience like that just carries you. And on those rare occasions where you can make your appreciation known, well that just goes straight to the heart.

The other night, we had two little old ladies sitting in the front row on the right. They were very close to my trapeze and after my first drop, I literally saw them jump in their seats and clutch their chests. I smiled at the sight of it and knew they would be wonderful.

When it came to my wheel act, they did not disappoint. And a good thing too as my act got off to quite the rocky start. But they had the most luminous smiles and had their hands clasped in front of them right below their chins, completely enthralled.

At the end of my act I always look centre, left right, then back to centre and whisper a little thank you to the crowd. But that night was centre, left, right, the two little old ladies for a special thank you just to them. They nodded back and whispered something of their own, and I swear, I floated off that stage.

Fashion, Faut Pas

When you're on a tour in the circus, a rhythm sets in and things can sometimes get to be a little monotonous. But every so often, an exciting side gig or special event comes along and shakes things up a bit. I was lucky enough to be chosen for just such a special event when I was asked if I wouldn't mind being part of a photo shoot for one of Switzerland's most widely circulated magazines!

At first, I was really excited. I was the only one in the troupe who would be featured in the shoot, and they were even flying in a model from New York for one day only, just for one shoot at our little circus! I would be in my wheel in full costume and make-up and I was told that as a main feature in the magazine, the photo would take up at least a quarter of the page, maybe more.

But my excitement quickly turned into some serious feelings of insecurity.

The model was stunning. She was exactly what you would imagine if someone told you to picture a fashion model in your head. Tall, slender, blonde, cheekbones to die for... and when the camera started clicking, she easily maneuvered from one sultry pose to the next with barely a second in between positions.

Me? Well, at first they wanted me upside down. But then they decided I was "so cute" that I could stand upright behind the model. Yipee... where she is tall, I am quite short. Where she is slender, I am muscular, almost boxy by comparison. I swear, in the photos I saw afterward, I looked like a squat little dwarf...

Moreover, no one told me what to do or where I should look. So sometimes I looked at the model, sometimes the camera. I had a very limited range of movement because I was standing in the wheel and any shift in weight would have caused it to roll out of the position desired for the shot. I had no idea why I was even there.

In the photos I saw afterward, I mostly look like I hate the model and maybe want to murder her. In the ones that I thought I looked good, the model was typically shifting from one pose to another. In the ones where she looked good, I looked like I was going to do her bodily harm.

When I pointed this out to the photographer, he insisted I just looked proud. I'm not so sure about that. Fortunately, he said he could just take her from one photo and me from another to make one super photo. I really hope he does.

The entire thing left me feeling terribly self-conscious and unattractive. I know that people have different standards of beauty, and many people at the circus reassured me that they like the way I look way more than the model looked, but my self-worth seemed to have decreased considerably from when I got up in the morning.

One thing I really like about circus is that very often it shows women of many different body types. They range from the petite and fit hand-to-hand flyer, the strong and slender aerialist, the muscular firecracker acrobat, and everything in between. Circus showcases every kind of woman, for the most part*, healthy and strong, each and every one of them beautiful.

I know this to be true. But when all was said and done, I certainly didn't feel that way. And the blow was that much harder as it came at me from inside my own home. The entire thing shook me in ways that I can't express. They were made all the more confusing by events that would occur the following evening...



* Like many fields (or just plain life) where the body is subject public scrutiny, eating disorders lurk. Luckily, I haven't encountered it much in my career. But that is not a subject I wish to address at this time.

From Russia with Love

One night after a show, a man came up to me speaking a language I didn’t understand. Seeing as my German is pretty weak, this is not surprising. Only this man wasn’t speaking German, he was speaking Russian.

Naturally, the first thing he asked me was if I was Russian.

I swear, they always know… “Niet Ruski, my family… Ukrainski.”

After a nod of understanding he took my both my hands in his and kissed them. Then he kissed his own hands in a gesture that is universally understood to mean “magnificent”. He went on trying to express a few more things but then simply settled on taking my hands again, offering a small bow, and then kissing them one last time.

Needless to say, I was a little overwhelmed. I don’t think I’ve ever had anyone bow to me and kiss my hands before.

I guess he liked my act.

EXCUSE ME?!

While performing, it's really annoying and distracting to have cameras going off in front of you. Flashes can be dangerous, and that little red light is just plain aggravating. My circus is very anti-photography which has really rubbed off on me and made me far more protective, although I suppose that a photo taken on someone's phone probably shouldn't worry me. Even still, when I see cameras going off in the public, I immediately call up to the booth and tell them to go kick some ass.

Then, of course, there's the far more sinister act of filming...

We were performing a matinee with a relatively small crowd. The seats directly on the ring curb were all but empty. All but one. There was one man in a white t-shirt with no one sitting on either side of him. This alone would have made him stand out, but the fact that he spent my entire act pointing his phone at me kind of made the alarm bells sound.

You can bet I gave him dirty looks. I'm sure they didn't register with him, though they made me feel a little better in the moment. I was in a rage when I got off stage. What possible reason could a person have to film an entire act? I immediately thought of this.

One of my cast mates tried to reassure me that he was probably just filming it so he could show his family later that evening, but that seemed unlikely. I didn't have much time to talk about it though. I was working concessions that intermission and had only a few minutes to get ready.

I arrived in the buffet tent and began to share my story of the evil act filmer when the man in question came speeding out of the main tent. Not sure what to do, I somehow found the courage to confront him.

I asked him why he filmed my act. There was some language issues but then a colleague to the rescue and there was no more beating around the bush. The words that then came out of his mouth were like a smack in the face and left me too numb to move.

"I work for Circus Nock. I'm filming it for work."

EXCUSE ME?!

YOU WERE FILMING IT FOR WORK?!?

My colleague made sure the video of my act, as well as the number of other videos he had taken of our show, was deleted from his phone.

I couldn't, and still can't, believe it. When I think about it now, I still feel like the only thing I can do is shake my head in disbelief and slow burning fury.

A bunch of us ended up going to see the show at Nock that very night and, to be fair, I don't think I had very much to worry about. But that's still pretty unacceptable behaviour and seeing as act theft is a very real thing, you can't really blame an artist for being protective of their years of work and research.

In the end, I had the morally questionable satisfaction of seeing my would-be thief shovel camel poop during their show. Petty though that may be, it made me feel better.

Weather Forecast

Approximate temperature inside of a circus tent in the middle of summer?

A million billion degrees.

Ugh.

Copycat Performers Revealed

This. This fills me with a kind of fury that knows no words. Artists Stephan Choiniere and Sara Joel had much of their beautiful and unique work stolen by thieves James and Lynn, who are now reaping rewards that they in no way deserve.

Stephan has created a pretty incriminating video exposing the frauds. Watch it, be enraged, then spread it far and wide so the entire circus community knows who these scumbags are and may they never work again.

A really wonderful interview with Stephan can be found here. He articulates far better than I ever could what it is to be creative, how we evolve as artists, and why artistic thievery is as bad and serious as it is, not to mention how it cheapens the industry as a whole.

This duo wanted to be an example? Well, so be it. But not as the innovators they claim to be, but lowly thieves that the circus community will not tolerate.

Pinched!

I was setting up my trapeze and I got my finger pinched in the carabiner. Drat! Not surprisingly, I developed a tiny bruise under my finger nail.

What was surprising, and very amusing to me, is that I have an exact copy of that little dot on my finger pad, as though an invisible line is going through my finger!

It's not quite as funny as M's bruise/mosquito bite combination that looks like a giant comet shooting across her thigh, but I still think it's pretty neat.

It'll Do

It's no secret that it's getting harder and harder for circuses to find places to set up their Big Tops. Either the lots available aren't big enough, or the ones that were have since been developed. But sometimes, the Circus Gods smile down upon you and instead of some rocky patch of flood prone earth, you end up somewhere beautiful, like here:

Our tent was so close to the lake, that I could see it from the tent entrance backstage. It was mere metres away!

We were told that in the next town, we'd be even closer to the lake. Closer? How could you possibly be closer than a few steps away?

Like so, apparently...

The town we're in right now makes three in a row for lakeside property. Soon, we head into the mountains.

Sometimes circus life is pretty tough, but clearly, now is not one of those times.

German Wheel World Championships 2013 - The Results!

After an enthusiastic start, my coverage of the 2013 World Championships kind of fizzled out. Such is the risk when you're on a busy tour with questionable internet connection.

But I just wouldn't feel right if I didn't wrap it up somehow. So here is the link to all the results!

Special and HUGE congratulations are in order for Canada's own Paul Perrault for bringing home a bronze medal in the first ever Mono Wheel World Championships!

Congratulations, Paul!

The “Poor Me” Pity Parade

Warning: This post is long and ranting due to an accumulation of months of bullshit.

It was a show like any other, and then an event of a cataclysmic scale rocked the backstage. My wheel did not get up onto the ramp to get on stage. Well, one of the rims didn’t. And so, I tipped over a little. From the inside, it was all very slow and gentle. One of my cast mates struggled to right me, I came to rest against the décor, and eventually was shifted back on to the stage. While unfortunate, this was not the cataclysmic event…

When I got off stage after my act, I expected my cast mates to see if I was okay and then we’d all have a good laugh about what had happened. But no, that was not to be. The disaster of disasters had occurred.

Apparently my wheel smashed PM in the face and then her head was smashed into a pole that holds up the shelving units. It was all about P now.

PM, I should mention, is always hurt. There’s always something. It might be her thumb. It might be collapsing in a heap backstage after her act, right where the most traffic is, because it was too hot/hard to breathe/other. It might be one of her myriad dietary restrictions that is somehow upsetting her. She might just be off brooding. And this? Getting hit in the head with my wheel? This was the End Times.

Of course it was entirely my fault. At least, so it was according to her. Wow did she ever rage about how I never do my marks correctly and never do anything right! Except for those other 115 shows that came before. I have no doubt that after I had set my marks that the carpet was readjusted. Our Artist Director had decided that, in order for the workers to better dig the trench around the big top more efficiently, she would pull the carpets and boards away from the perimeter of the tent after they had been placed. It was the first time she had done that. I usually do my marks before the trench gets dug. Once the carpets were put back, they were kind of a mess and full of scrunches. As there had never been a problem before, I didn’t bother to check the marks again. But a difference of a couple of cm really can alter the course of the wheel, especially if the angle is changed. Heck, when I roll my wheel from its start position to the ramp to see if it’s correct (that’s about 1.5m) and then roll it back, it never arrives back on the marks. Never. A bumpy dirt floor will do that. It doesn’t take much.

That being said, for two days PM managed to do her act, though she took out one or two tricks. Her friends were there and I suppose she wanted to impress. But then her friends left, and suddenly things got a lot worse. It must be a concussion. Or a brain bleed (seriously). Something terrible anyway.

At this point I should probably mention that I didn’t realize the wheel even hit her. Which is odd considering I can feel the texture of the floor when I’m rolling on it. And anytime I’ve ever hit anything, I’ve been very much aware of it. When you hit something with any kind of force, you feel it in your entire body. It was only three days later that I realized that what I thought was coming to rest against the décor was actually the famous blow. It was about then that my jaw hit the floor because that was about as tame a bump as you can possibly get from a German wheel. Of course it also made sense as far as the series of events went. The wheel was being held up and braced as it fell over. It didn’t just crash toward the ground.

Meanwhile, PM went to the doctor, had her brain scanned and all kinds of tests done and then it was discovered that there was… nothing. Nothing at all.

When you’re the Grand Marshall of the never ending “Poor Me” Pity Parade, “nothing” suddenly makes you look like maybe you might just be seeking attention. Not that that’s every stopped a Pity Parade.

In a tone of suffering, PM would tell anyone who asked how she was doing that there was no bleeding in the brain (there might have been!) and when she was asked if she had a concussion there was a lot of “Well, no, but…” and then a great deal more tales of suffering. Eventually, the answer to the concussion question was transformed to a yes…

That’s when things really started to get suspicious. We were doing a gala when suddenly PM was complaining of terrible headaches. She could then be found sitting backstage, a shawl wrapped around her shoulders, now wearing glasses, and the kind of noise blocking earmuffs you would find on a construction site. Three days after the event, the situation had dramatically gone down hill.

It was only after the gala, when I was back in my caravan that I remembered that P had spent the first half of the show plugged into her ipod. Other elements of the story no longer seemed to make sense. Symptoms, actions, and the timeline did not fit together. Whenever the discrepancies were pointed out, the story changed.

For a while I thought I was the only one to see through the charade. But when asked if she would be doing the group acro act, the reaction to her response was one of giggles and rolled eyes. One of the artists could be heard to say “Oh yes, she’ll do it, but not without making sure you know she’s going to suffer through it.” When another artist pointed out that she didn’t look good, the immediate reaction from one of the other artists present was that “Things don’t always look the way they are.”

Naturally, PM was in tears after the acro act and hasn’t done the show since.

What I consider the final word is that from the Director of Artists. She confirmed that the scans showed nothing, that nothing was wrong, and that P had what is known as cranial trauma, otherwise known as, she got hit in the head. I often wonder if the Director of Artists really believed the Parade. I mean, she did say PM could skip her act and the group acro number, but still had her do trapeze for a number of shows. At this point, the DA just keeps saying, if she just does nothing, it will heal faster. Which is probably true, but I can’t help but wonder if it’s not just the easiest way of avoiding the never ending Pity Parade.

All I know is that I’m over it. I’m over asking how she is and feeding the hunger for attention. Any time I have ever offered any kind of advice, solution, or alternative to one of her many problems, I was always met with a sad voice saying “No, that won’t work with me because [insert reason for being different/special/irreparable here]” She doesn’t want to get better. She wants someone to feel sorry for her and to smother her with attention. And I, for one, am done wasting my time and energy on that shit.

Two Thirds

When I was working in France, standing ovations were pretty much the norm. In Switzerland, the public is far more discriminating. Though I must admit, it feels more satisfying this way because you know that if they're on their feet, you've really just knocked off a considerable amount of socks.

The other night both the left and centre sections rose to their feet. The right side? Not a soul...

When playing in the round, sometimes certain parts of the audience get a little less attention. I guess we now know where our weak spot is!

German Wheel World Championships 2013 - The Coverage Continues!

Yesterday saw the Junior all-around spiral final, the Senior all-around spiral final, and the mono wheel Compulsories. Today we have both the Junior and Senior vault and straight-line finals (at 10:30am EDT and 5:30pm EDT respectively.

You can continue to see the events streamed live here or watch it below.

For those who are interested, here is the full competition schedule!

 click to enlarge

German Wheel World Championships - LIVE NOW!

Live coverage of the 10th German Wheel World Championships, or Wheel Gymnastics if you prefer, begins in five minutes! Watch it here on Kicking Sawdust, or go directly to the live stream site here!

Watch live streaming video from rhonrad at livestream.com

Montréal Complètement Cirque 2013

For the first time since it began four years ago, I am not in Montreal during the Festival Montréal Complètement Cirque. Bummed as I am about that, I don't have too much time to dwell on it as the tour is keeping me hella busy. As much as I'd like to report on it for you here, I don't have time to follow any of the news and more importantly, I'm not actually there and there's no way for me to know if what I'm sharing legitimately worth sharing, or accurate.

As such, I would much prefer to point you toward these sources for updates, even if some of them are likely to only sing the praises of what's going on.

If you're in Montreal, enjoy the festival for me! And hopefully I'll be there next year!

Circus Now

La TOHU

Montréal Complètement Cirque on Facebook

German Wheel World Championship Reminder!

Live stream coverage starts Wednesday at 11:30am EDT. Get it while it's hot!

Beyond Kawaii

If you're anything like me, there is a severe lack of dinosaurs doing German wheel in your life. Fortunately, the Japanese seem to be getting the situation under control.

German Wheel World Championship Coverage

Are you a big fan of all things German wheel but won't be able to make it to Chicago for the 2013 World Championships of Wheel Gymnastics? Well do I ever have good news for you!

There will be live stream coverage of the finals available for your viewing pleasure! Coverage begins on Wednesday July 8th at 11:30am EDT with the Junior All-Around Spiral final! Woo!

Check it out here!

A Dark Day

It is a dark day for the circus community as a whole as we mourn the loss of acrobat Sarah Guyard-Guillot. Sarah was working on Cirque du Soleil's KÀ in Las Vegas and suffered a fatal fall on Saturday night.

When I began my circus career, all I wanted was "to be in the circus". I admit, I didn't really understand what that meant. I knew I liked to flip and fly. I knew I liked to perform. The circus seemed like the perfect vehicle for that. After one week of school, I injured my shoulders to the extent that I had to sit out of the majority of my classes for a month and a half.

In other words, I quickly learned it's not all sequins and applause. The work is physically demanding and takes it's toll on the body. A lapse in concentration, not getting enough sleep, a "stupid mistake", and any other number of things could result in an accident. Not only is it not all sequins and applause, it can be downright dangerous.

The more time passed, the more I saw my classmates get injured. Since graduating, I have had a few of my friends suffer very frightening and serious accidents. And even then, there's a part of you that tries to forget that, if only to make it possible to continue going on stage yourself.

I'm a big chicken and incredibly demanding when it comes to things that most find quite trivial. The state of the floor is vital to my ability to work safely. Water, debris, and or an uneven surface can be very dangerous for me. I've always insisted even though people make fun of me or roll their eyes. But I know what can happen. Safety first. And while I sometimes feel a little ashamed to insist on a mat for something like static trapeze, as though it makes me less of a real aerialist, I know that it only takes one fall...

Be it traditional, modern, or contemporary circus... Whether you're from the world of burlesque, a former world champion gymnast, or a small town kid who made their dream come true... It doesn't matter. From the tiniest big top in the middle of nowhere to the biggest spectacle in a theatre on the Vegas strip, we're all a part of the same family. Once you start on this journey of circus, you forever become a part of something greater than yourself and you gain a family in every corner of the world. The joy, hardship, passion, dedication, and audacity of living the dream... all of this and more connects you more powerfully and profoundly than I could ever hope to express. It can't be helped. And were it not for that connection, that unspoken understanding that you are family, I don't know how any of us would survive.

Today we mourn the loss of one of our own. My heart goes out to her family, her children, and the cast and crew of KÀ. And my heart goes out to you, too. May we all keep a little extra courage and light in our hearts on this sad day.

Read about the accident here and here.

A memorial page for Sarah (Sasoun) can be found here.

Happy Canada Day!

What better way to celebrate Canada Day that with a picture of Micheal J. Fox holding a plush moose?

Happy Canada Day, everyone!