Cirque Update

Already nine days since my last post? Since then, I've gotten the face makeup down on my own (first attempt took me two hours, which I've whittled down to about an hour and fifteen minutes), performed almost all of my "general cues" (we have small, background-type roles throughout the show in addition to our main act) AND started in my main act itself (Poles/ Trampoline.) Learning all of the choreography for my main act in two days almost made my head explode, but I kept it together and, even if I was a bit stiff and over-focused, got through my first performance without (really) crashing into anyone else or being on the wrong end of the stage.

I have two more cues to polish up and start performing in the show and then my schedule will settle into just performing/ poles training, so that I can increase the difficulty of my tricks and my presence in the act itself (right now, though I am performing in my main act, all of my actual Chinese poles/ tramp tricks are minimal and easy, so I can get accustomed to performing.) Chinese Poles is new for me, but I feel like I am starting to make steady progress and at least the tramp is there to make me feel a little at home.

I gotta say, one of my favorite parts of work ("work") so far has been getting to interact with the audience. Not only at the bow at the end (where you finally understand that the modest/ quiet Japanese crowd actually adored the show the whole time) but during my act itself. There are several times where I slide to the edge of the stage and have a few moments to play with the audience in the first few rows. It's always fun, whether the person gasps, smiles, or gives polite little encouraging claps when noticing me. Once I settle into my "character" a little more, I think this will only be more fun....

Picture: the heel blister(s) that have been plaguing me since day 1: