Behind the scenes or on stage, being part of Cirque du Soleil's Toruk is a dazzling experience, says those who work on the production.
Behind the scenes or on stage, being part of Cirque du Soleil's Toruk is a dazzling experience, says those who work on the production.
Toruk - The First Flight is based on James Cameron's Avatar and the world of Pandora. Four of its crew and cast explain why they joined Cirque du Soleil.
JOSHUA MOWCZKO, US Occupation: Head of Lighting Growing up in an American middle-class suburb in the mid-to-late 70s, I joined many kids in the weekly ritual of rising early to be enraptured by Saturday morning cartoons. Jim Henson's The Muppet Show plus Bugs Bunny and Road Runner Show captured my imagination, leaving a lasting impression on my heart for vaudeville.
As I progressed through my education, I developed interests in travel, art and technology. A mediocre delinquent in high school, I discovered lighting when a teacher monitoring my detention mentioned a need for technical help on the school's next play. Weeks later, lying on my stomach while hanging a stage light in the auditorium, something clicked. I had found my passion and I knew I would do this for the rest of my life.
I voraciously pursued a need to learn as much about the theatre as I could. I navigated through musicals, operas and plays until I got a break as the head of lighting for a vaudeville show in Seattle. That show, filled with a menagerie of wonderfully skilled and unique individuals, catapulted me head first into touring. Within a year of leaving Seattle, I joined Cirque du Soleil.
For Toruk, I maintain the overall look and themes that the lighting designer created. I've learned the value of tenaciously following my heart and dreams. I truly believe anything is possible through love, creativity and persistence, and I look forward to what lies ahead.
ANALIESE LONG, AUSTRALIA Occupation: General Stage Manager I answered a phone call, out of the blue, from a good friend I had worked with previously. He had suggested me as a candidate for stage manager on the touring production of Cirque du Soleil's Dralion.
Knowing we had three children, 8, 6 and 4 years old, and that I was passionate about my family, his advice was simple: "You probably will say no, but I think you should say yes." Excitedly, I prepared to return to spectacle, circus and theatrical stage management. With the support of my husband, I took the chance for a very big lifestyle change.
I've enjoyed eight years with Cirque du Soleil, touring with six shows before Toruk. As a family, we were able to travel through Australia and many parts of the world. We learned to exist with only a suitcase each that we often packed and moved every week. Our children were able to enjoy the shows and also appreciate how hard everyone worked to put the performance on every night and move it from place to place.
We have friends from all around the world we consider our extended family. I travel away often now while my family stays home so we are constantly readjusting to life together and apart. It isn't always easy but one thing we have all learned is to say yes to new experiences and adapt to change.
A scene from Cirque du Soleil's Toruk - The First Flight.
GLEN BECKLEY, ENGLAND Occupation: Head of Sound I've been a professional sound engineer for 26 years, working in rock 'n' roll, theatre and live events. I've also spent a lot of time in recording studios. I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show in 2000; I had a couple of days off on tour in the US so my friend and I went to Las Vegas. We saw O and I was completely blown away. To me, it was the perfect marriage of technology and art. Leaving the theatre afterwards, I told my friend I felt a little sad because I was sure I'd never get to work on something as amazing as that.
Fast-forward to 2011; the industry in the UK was suffering and I was starting to worry about where the next job was coming from. I knew Cirque du Soleil was hiring and thought, "I've nothing to lose by applying." No one was more surprised than me when they offered me a job. It was a big decision - I had a wife and family and taking this job would mean leaving them behind for large periods of time. But I felt this was an opportunity I'd waited most of my career for; I couldn't turn it down.
Six years later, my life has changed beyond recognition. I travel the world, doing a job that I love, helping to deliver amazing and inspiring experiences to people in every corner of the globe. I have friends and colleagues from every continent, and I know that wherever we go, we will be welcomed with wide eyes and open arms. For a music-obsessed boy from a small town in England, it really is a dream come true.
So I guess the moral of this tale is, never say you'll never be able to do something. You have no idea what might be just around the corner.
DANNY LUFTMAN, PORTUGAL Occupation: Artist and boomerang specialist I've been in the circus my entire life, as were my father and grandfather. Like all of the Luftmans before, seven generations of circus family, my life has been about travelling around the world, discovering many countries, meeting new people and making new friends. I find that amazing and unique.
Being brought up in a circus family provided an extremely rich and diverse environment for me. My father is a clown, my mother does sword balancing at height, my sister does aerial hoop and my other sister is a hula-hoop artist. I started my juggling training when I was 6 years old. A year after, I got on stage for the first time in the group juggling act of a very famous circus in Germany.
Even though I was young, the idea of performing for thousands of people and the rewarding warm applause really made me fall in love with the circus industry. At 15, I did my first solo act in my father's own circus in my home country of Portugal. Some years after, with a lot of training, I finally added boomerang juggling to my solo act and specialities.
During the years I've been adding more and more boomerangs to my act. At one point, I was able to juggle five boomerangs at once. It was then that I realised I was doing something that nobody had done before. In December 2013, I was entered in the Guinness World Records for the "most boomerangs juggled". It is definitely one of my biggest achievements so far.
It's been a year and half since I started with Toruk and this journey allows me to keep discovering the world, my art and myself. It will be my very first time in New Zealand and I can't wait for the premiere.
