CIRQUE DU SOLEIL - Backstage at LUZIA
Deep inside Cirque du Soleil’s white and gold big top tent city at United Center, there is an area bustling with excitement. Coaches work with strap artists on new routines, tumblers tumble as human hummingbirds flutter by. There is a wide array of exercise equipment, lest you think that 10 shows a week is not exercise enough. It may not be the most conducive place to have a conversation -- in and alongside weight lifters, an enormous stallion puppet and yes, the contortionist, who was nailing his stretching exercises as the cactus handlers strolled through.
If only life was a circus!
For the hundreds of company members, performers, and others who have brought the masterful show LUZIA: A Waking Dream of Mexico to Chicago, life is always a circus. And, there is not a lot of time outside of the performance schedule with a daily routine that is constantly evolving.
On this day, we speak with Artistic Director Gracie Valdez and Aerial Strap Artist Benjamin Courtenay, a Canadian native whose career began with training at the National Circus School in Montreal, about the inner workings of LUZIA that now playing in Chicago through September 3rd.
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