Being a part of Cirque Us means being a performer, a friend, an artist, and a magic maker. This year, traveling with stories, marks my fifth tour with Cirque Us, a journey started back in 2017. I’m looking forward to another production that continues to inspire and challenge me, as well as a tour full of shenanigans and fun along the way. Each run of a show has presented a unique set of obstacles, and opportunities for personal growth as an artist as well as the chance to develop my capabilities working within an ensemble.
What inspires me as a performer, and what makes Cirque Us so unique, is the passion and commitment of our small ensemble band of performers. I’ve always enjoyed collaborating and performing within an ensemble more than I do as an individual artist. In this creation process I find myself driven by an unrelenting stamina to develop ideas within the cast. During our rehearsal process for Cirque Us, we craft and build the entire show together, imagining each moment from the smallest of smiles to the largest feats of agility. Every day of rehearsal becomes a new challenge, where we embrace new ideas to build upon, work through physical puzzles, and push ourselves to keep finding new and creative solutions.
We create so much every day, constantly generating ideas and dynamic narrative interactions between performers, that it’s hard to know which plans to run with and which ones to put aside for another chance down the road. Finding and developing these “magical moments” of interactions throughout the show generates a powerful energetic connection between the cast. Having so many different voices in the room can certainly be difficult to navigate, though it is a welcome challenge to confront on each day.
It can be hard to find the correct path forward, making creative decisions that lift up the themes of the show, while highlighting the abilities of all of the performers at the same time. This process of careful development of ideas can only function properly if our ensemble is well tuned together; a group of creative artists both excited and capable of confronting the trials ahead. Within this process, I find myself caught up in joy, wonder, and excitement, looking at the pieces of the show forming together as each voice of the cast is lifted up. I see each of us, the performers, the collaborators, the artists, working so hard to star in a project we feel proud of, knowing the hard work it took to get to this point.
To collaborate means to find the best version of this show with the performers that we have to work with. To collaborate means to build up each member’s vision to its fullest extent, while not feeling limited by the collectIve aspirations of the team. To collaborate means to enjoy the process of creation within an ensemble, where we let ourselves become vulnerable enough to share our passionate dreams and help each other realize them onto the stage. As each voice and skill is shared, we continue to work together, diligently, to ensure that the final show that we bring to life is a reflection of each and every member’s hard work, sweat and tears.
Each time on stage, I am reminded that what we do is a form of ritual storytelling and myth making, an immersive transportive experience for the audience. That even at the end of each day, tired and bruised as we are, we stay excited and inspired, supported by our shared goal of creating a magical performance. As we near the end of our rehearsals, the show is starting to feel a bit more familiar and begin to take on a life of its own. Soon we’ll be on the road and spreading around the very heart and soul of our production; a culmination of all that we’ve felt and endured throughout this arduous and rewarding experience. Looking back across this session of long rehearsal days, tired bodies, and ice packs, I hope that our shared dreams of flips, flops, and flying around the ring will be elevated up and enhanced by an audience appreciative of this otherworldly passion we share.
Tickets to see Ivan and the rest of the Cirque Us Stories cast are on sale now! https://thecirqueus.com/entertainment/cirque-us-stories/
