Montreal

I just realized I have all these pictures from my trip to Montreal that I could post!
I stayed in this place:It's a dorm style living space with a very small kitchen, a bed, a bathroom, a desk. Very small:


It had a statue out front:
Cirque main offices look more like a giant warehouse that had some beatniks throw some stuff around. There are really stark white hallways, but then some will be decorated with floating plaster caste heads.

The dance department which was sort of a hub for all artists had been heavily decorated. There was also a very small library.



Following are some great pictures of the downtown old historic district in Montreal during the holiday season in the evening.
There was a notre dame that had a spectacular light show which of course was canceled the one night I had to myself. The Cathedral was closed when I got to it. I think there's a shot of China town in there, too.















Yeah, this is a just a quaint little Christmas shop:

Crazy cool dragons from another little shop:

Um...good luck pigs?







These three pictures were taken across the front of the chapel at Notre Dame.







dancing firemen for charity and a blue Christmas tree in the middle of a construction site.

So that's Montreal and Cirque the way I experienced it!

My First Show

It finally happened! After weeks of waiting and rehearsing and excersizing, I finally got into the show! We've been working hard on a character called Grand Master Tronik (or master creature). It's a big, ent-looking puppet that I climb into one piece at a time. First, I put on a solid black, full-body unitard; I get an in-ear headset and belt-pack; I strap on a belt that has leg loops; I jump into the thigh pieces that fit from my waist to my feet; I put on some shoes; I put on the stilt legs (about 2 feet tall); I put on a helmet and clip a bungee onto it that connects to the belt I strapped on (the helmet is ratcheted down and has a chin strap); Then the chest piece fits over my head and the neck and head piece is connected to my helmet; finally, the stilt arms are handed to me. A big thanks to the props technicians who help through the whole process!
So I appear on stage from behind a screen and I chase everyone around the stage. Criss shoots some fireworks at me, I return the favor; Criss vanishes to a point and appears in the master creature suit! (Sorry, can't tell you how he does that)
It was so exciting to actually be on stage in front of a paying audience in the real world! I had not even dreamed of this moment, I never thought it was possible, but here I am. Wow! Overwhelming.

Appendix

Ok so that one isn't mine, but it looks something like that now - in a bag.
They pulled it out of my belly button and I have 2 other little holes below. Very minor scars for sure. I'm recovering very quickly. I'm moving around and even going out for small journeys.
I've had people being me some leftovers so I don't have to do much cooking.
I had to kick my family out the door so they wouldn't miss their flight to Michigan, because I will be well enough to fly to Montreal Wednesday and I didn't want to have them stranded here all alone. Besides, the quiet and stillness I think is helping me to recover quickly, too.
So here's how it happened: Monday night, I had some bad gassy cramp just below my sternum. It got so bad, Tuesday early morning I took some Tylenol for pain. Threw it up. Took pepto bismal. Threw it up. Tried to drink fluids because I was throwing up and didn't want to dehydrate...threw them up. So I missed work Tuesday and slept most of the day with a fever (hot and cold sweats). That night I started massaging my gut as firmly as I could and the gas finally moved to my belly button. It still hurt, but at least I wasn't throwing up anymore. I massaged some more and it moved to my right hip. It hurt real bad there, too.
For those of you who don't know (like I didn't), this movement of stomach pain from the belly button to the right hip is the classic appendicitis symptom.
Wednesday morning, I was determined not to miss another day of work over this silly stomach pain, so I went to a quickcare at 8:30 am. They pushed and prodded asking me where it hurt and determined that is was likely my appendix and that I needed to go to the ER immediately. I stopped by the house to get a book, 'cause I already spent 2 hours at the quickcare and I know the hospital would take even longer. I went to the ER at 11:00 am and told them just the part where I thought it was my appendix. That sped things right along. By 1pm I had several vials of blood draw, and I had drunk something that had the distict aftertaste of the cheapest dark chocolate I've ever had and I was being wheeled to the ct scanner. By 2:30pm it was determined that my white blood cell count was up (showing signs of infection) and my appendix was enlarged. It had to come out. By 5:30pm, I woke up gagging on a large breathing tube in the recovery section.
Annjilla and the kids were in my room when they wheeled my bed in. It was so nice to see them there. Their love is the best medicine.
The kids were getting fussy and tired, so they left and my hometeacher showed up a little after to give me a blessing.
I had a clear liquids diet until the next day. They needed to have me pass gas to make sure the track was all working well. Then they bumped me up to turkey dinner on Thanksgiving just before I was released from the hospital.
Crazy, huh?
btw, see the next post down, please.

A Contest

Ok NOW NOW NOW!!! Go and Vote! Rate it 5 stars and tell all your friends to do the same!
http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/about/25/americas/community/cineweb/all-weeks/crossing_the_line.aspx

Measuring Up

So I found out just exactly what takes an hour in a costume measuring session for Cirque du Soleil. Right off the bat, they threw something at me I was not expecting...a unitard. Probably should have bought and worn a dance belt, but I didn't know any better. I'll just say it was a little imbarrassing but I got over it. Just keep it professional!
Anyway, they measured just about everything you can think of. Around the bicept; around the bicept while flexing; around the forearm; around the forearm flexed; around the wrist; around the widest part of the hand; around the knuckles; across the chest; from across the chest to bellybutton; around the chest; around the waist; around the upper hips; around the lower hips; around the widest part of the hips (including 'the package' - another imbarrassing moment); from mid-chest to mid-back around the crotch (another fun moment). They took perhaps 5 measurements around me feet and then they drew and outline on papers. And then they measure my feet again for a specific shoemaker!
They measured my neck standing and sitting which tells me that our necks change shape when we sit!
I also tried on the shoes I am to wear. There were 3 pair. One pair was pretty cool actually. One felt like I was walking on a slope. The last pair was too small. They were size 11 but my toes were getting squashed. And that was the biggest size they had! So they have to order 11 and 1/2 for me.
And that all took an hour. Was not expecting all that! Live and learn!

My New Job

I'm sure some of you are wondering exactly what I will be doing by the time December rolls around. Well, let me tell you! This Wednesday, I will be coming in early to be measured. It takes an hour, aparently (they must need EVERY measurement??). November 28th will be my last day as a lighting tech for the show. The 29th, I fly out to Montreal to the corporate headquarters for Cirque du Soleil. From what I understand, they might be looking at how far I can bend and how much I can lift, but then again they may not. I do know that there will be costumes there and I will be trying them on. I fly home December 6th. I don't understand why it will take a week to try on some costumes, but there you go.
My first day of work as an artist will be December 8th. I train into the position for about 3 weeks and I will be in the show by around Christmas.
What I will be doing, we're not exactly sure yet. I will be on stage in costume, performing as an artist. There are some vague ideas about being in this or that scene. I know I'm replacing someone who is a dancer in the show, but from what I understand, as soon as I take the position they're changing it to more of a generalist position. So there might be some dancing, but not much.
Also, as part of my contract, I know that I will be the Magician's Assistant's backup's backup. That pays more, so I'm all for that.
This job pays per show, so if I don't perform in a show I don't get paid unless I come in for rehearsals and then I get a separate rehearsal fee.
The insurance is really good (from what I hear) and starts on day 1.
I'll be bringing home about as much money as I do now, but there's a good chance of making much more in the future.
I signed the contract through July 2010. It's a short contract so that I can renew at a higher rate sooner. The original offer was July 2011 and they changed it so I could get more money sooner!
That's about all I know so far. I'll keep you up to date!

The Contract

I finally did it! I signed a contract to be a performer for Cirque du Soleil! I will be a fulltime performing artist (not really a dancer or actor or puppeteer but a little of all those) for the Criss Angel BeLieve show at the Luxor.
I will visit Montreal (all expenses paid) from November 29th to December 5th, I start rehearsals on the 6th and then I'm in the show by the 26th of December!