Cirque du Soleil auditioning for martial artists

[GeneChing]

You should hook your buddy up. Surely you can give him some private lessons and get him up to speed in two months . Nevertheless, if cirque is his dream, far be it for any of us to stand in his way. Tell him to mention he heard it here - maybe that would make his attempt to impersonate an MA master more convincing .

[GeneChing]

I've been contacted by Cirque Du Soliel about an opening in their show Dralion for the part of Yao. It's a martial role.
We covered Dralion five years ago when it premiered.
For more Dralion itself, click here

Yao’s features:
-Gender: Male
-Age: 25-35
-Height 5’7’’ and up

Requirements:
-Must be extremely physically fit
-Must have Martial arts skills
-Experience in the manipulation of Oriental arms an asset (ex. Trident)
-Experience in modern, jazz or ballet dancing—good mover
-Movement improvisation skills
-Artistic openness
-Touring experience an asset

If you think you might be interested, email me at gene@kungfumagazine.com, and I can give you more details. Note that the audition process for Cirque is quite rigorous.

[Shaolinlueb]

i dont see anything in there about being extremely sexy and good looking. aka a bit of a beer belly. oh well, guess that counts me out.

[YuanZhideDiZhen]

will this be staged at the canada location or in sin city?

is this for the original Dralion or the updated format?

[GeneChing]

YuanZhideDiZhen: Dralion is and always has been a touring show. Like all of Cirque, it's also a live show, which means that it evolves depending on the artists in that particular production. Also, for any lead role in Cirque, it is a worldwide search.

Shaolinlueb: If you can make it to the epilogue of Shaolin Trips Episode 4, you'll see my last Cirque adventure and notice that the only beer belly there is mine. That's why I hold my hands in the traditional Zen pose - it covers my beer belly.

[Shaolinlueb]

Gene

I dont this CDS could handle the Lueb!

[GeneChing]

I've been contacted by Cirque again, this time for the coveted lead role of the twins in KA, currently being played by wushu champions Cheri and Jennifer Haight (see my last Shaolin Trips piece or our coverage in our July Aug 2005 issue.) KA is the most 'martial' of the Cirque shows so far. They are looking for a two year commitment and it's at the MGM in Las Vegas.

Here are the stats:
Character description:
• Sex: Male
• Height of character: Between 4’ 9” and 5”3’’ (1.45 and 1.63 metres)
• Weight of character: 132 lbs. (60 kg.) or less

Requirements:
• Mastery of one of the following disciplines: Wu Shu, Kung Fu, Pekin Opera;
• Mastery of the use of weapons such as the sabre, nunchakus, katana or other;
• Strong stage presence;
• Sense of movement and acting or experience in dance, an asset;
• Very good flexibility;
• Great upper body strength;
• Must be in excellent physical shape;
• Experience in trampoline, an asset;
• Ability to work in the air; the artist must not suffer from vertigo;
• Artistic open-mindedness and open to working in a group.

Submission instructions. Please send us your complete file including the following:
• A resume (including weight, height, date of birth, complete contact information, years and locations of training, and locations of professional experience);
• One or more photos.
• A video (obligatory) showing the following:
- Introduction to the camera (first and last name, age, background and career details);
- Flexibility (all splits; back and shoulders);
- Recent images of your specialty (in training, in competition and in performance);
- Acrobatic basics on the floor and on the trampoline (if possible);
- Other disciplines, if practiced;
- Dance improvisation.

For more on KA, click here.

When I posted the auditions for Yao (above) I only got a few responses, none of them professional enough for me to forward, except maybe Shaolinlueb's sports bra pic.... Seriously, if you are interested and *serious*, you know where to reach me...

[Shaolinlueb]

5'3, 130lbs/. whoops not me how about 5'10 185 lbs?

jk jk

good luck to them.

[GeneChing]

Those extra pounds would probably snap your rigging line. No wire fu for you, SLL

[7th gen yang]

Wire! they would need chains for me!

[7th gen yang]

hey gene,

you sure you read that right this is vegas! should read

Small female big TATA'S

[Shaolinlueb]

are the haight sisters done already with that show?

[GeneChing]

I think the Haights are contracted for two years - that's a standard Cirque contract. Given that the show opened this year, they still have about a year and a half to go before they opt to renew. There are two understudies, of course, but Cirque is probably starting its search now since it takes a good year of training before anyone is ready to take the Cirque stage. So figure a half year to find some new talent, another year to train them up to par, and that's right when the Haights contract expires maybe. I'm not sure of the details, but the Haights are definitely still part of KA for a while to come.

[SPJ]

In response to the first post,

I missed it by 10 years older. I am 45.

[GeneChing]

I'm not sure for which role. I think it might be for the lead warrior. Here is what they're looking for (very similar to the last call).

Character description:
• Sexe: Male
• Age: 18-35 years

Requirements:
• Mastery of one of the following disciplines: Wu Shu, Kung Fu, Pekin Opera, other martial arts,…
• Mastery of the use of weapons such as the sabre, nunchakus, katana or other;
• Strong stage presence;
• Sense of movement and acting or experience in dance, an asset;
• Very good flexibility;
• Great upper body strength;
• Must be in excellent physical shape;
• Experience in trampoline, an asset;
• Ability to work in the air; the artist must not suffer from vertigo;
• Artistic open-mindedness and open to working in a group.

Submission instructions. Please send us your complete file including the following:
• A resume (including weight, height, date of birth, complete contact information, years and locations of training, and locations of professional experience);
• One or more photos.
• A video (obligatory) showing the following:
- Introduction to the camera (first and last name, age, background and career details);
- Flexibility (all splits; back and shoulders);
- Recent images of your specialty (in training, in competition and in performance);
- Acrobatic basics on the floor and on the trampoline (if possible);
- Other disciplines, if practiced;
- Dance improvisation.

If you're interested, contact me at gene@kungfumagazine.com. Please, only serious inquiries need apply.