Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo swings into Oshawa Tribute Communities Centre

By Dave Flaherty/The Oshawa Express

On the afternoon of June 21, Oshawa’s Tribute Communities Centre looks much different than usual.

In the middle of the dimly lit venue, two groups stand on a stage preparing for the next four days.

One group was on the teeterboard, an act that sees artists using their weight and momentum to send their counterparts flying into the air to perform numerous spins and turns.

Another set of performers practiced on the chandelier, an aerial act that sees them hang from the large light fixture.

These acts are part of Cirque Du Soleil’s Corteo, one of the company’s most successful shows for the most of the last decade, which made its first stop in Oshawa June 21 to 24.

In all, there were six shows over the four-day period.

Corteo premiered in Montreal on April 24, 2005, with initial performances breaking attendance records for Cirque du Soleil.

It ran yearly through 2015, before relauching for a North American tour in November 2017.

The tour will also make Ontario stops in Kingston, Ottawa, St. Catherines and British Columbia in the fall, before concluding in Toronto and Montreal at the end of the year.

The story of Corteo, an Italian word meaning procession, features a clown watching his own funeral taking place within the atmosphere of a carnival.

The Oshawa Express had a peek into the preparation for the show’s premiere in Oshawa on June 21.

According to publicist Maxwell Batista, everything required for Corteo is transported to the venue by a fleet of 21 heavy trucks.

The show has 34 technicians assisted by approximately 100 local workers.

“We hire people in every city to help us put everything together,” Batista says.

As head of department lighting, Jeffrey Chappelle has one of the most integral roles in maknig sure the show goes off without a hitch.

“Lighting is an important component in any Cirque show, and especially this one,” Chappelle says. “We need to use it to set as much mood as we can, but we also need to provide as much safety lighting for the artists.

“A simple light aimed off into a wing looks like a miscue but it’s actually giving a sighting light to the artists to let them know which way they are spinning, and keep them safe and not too close to the audience.”

When asked how many lights the show has, Chappelle’s expert knowledge takes over.

“The nerdy answer is we have over 6,000 controllable parameters. Physical fixtures, there are about 122 lights in the ring, and a lot of individual LEDs sewn in costume elements and scenic elements,” he says.

As for how much planning goes into the show, it never really stops.

“We have multiple contingency plans. For every contingency plan, we build a second one. We are constantly in communication with the artists for what we have to do.”

Chappelle’s time to speak is limited, as he notes that an average show day takes about two hours to prepare, but on premiere day, it takes between 14 to 15 hours.

The unique placement of the stage in Corteo sets it aside from other shows in the company’s cache.

“The stage is placed right in the middle of the arena, usually in other shows we have people sitting around three sides of the stage,” Batista explains. “It was created this way because the director [Daniele Fitzi Pasca] wanted to give the perspective of how it feels to be on stage and how it feels to see the reaction of the people while they are watching the performances.”

The stage for the show is an intricate design itself, made up of 272 pieces, featuring a labyrinth which exactly matches to one on the floor of the Chartres Cathedral in France.

“It takes about 12 hours to put the whole stage together and four hours to take it apart,” Batista says.

Prior to the show, the audience would see the impressive curtains, inspired by an 1885 painting by Adolphe Willette.

The curtains, 58 feet wide by 40 feet high, were constructed in Canada and then sent to France for painting, Batista says.

Of course, the show would not be possible without the performers.

The cast reads out like the United Nations of aerial performance, with more than 50 artists representing 18 different nationalities.

“We have people from all different backgrounds. It is a challenge but it is also something we are all grateful for,” Batista says. “We all get along, and are able to make it happen.”

Harvey Donnelly is an Englishman who has been in Cirque du Soliel for seven years, joining the cast of Corteo when it returned to the road this past spring.

He performs on the teeterboard and cyr ring.

On the teeterboard, he’s joined a new troupe of artists that he was totally unfamiliar with in the beginning.

“We’ve never jumped together before [prior to Corteo]. We had to learn each other’s timing and rhythm,” he says.

As the group practiced on the afternoon of June 21, Donnelly pointed out they are still perfecting the act.

“Honestly, it’s like anything, we’re still clicking. Every day our timing is better, but still make mistakes,” he notes. “When we do make mistakes, it’s about talking about it. Why did that go wrong and how can we stop it from happening again. You just whittle down until you make less mistakes.”

And while lofting into the air to perform somersaults has become a part of his daily routine, it does create some tension.

“If I feel nothing, if I don’t feel any anxiety or any type of nerves, that’s when you should be worried,” Donnelly explains. “I’ve done this for seven years, and you feel it every day, whereas a normal person doesn’t get that feeling of nerves or adrenaline that often. You learn to use it, and not let it be a negative thing.”

Working for Cirque du Soleil has allowed Donnelly to live a lifestyle most people will never exerpeience, but there are sacrifices as well, he says.

“There is definitely all the pros people see from the outset, you travel the world, meet new people and the lifestyle is a lot of fun. But there is the other side you don’t really think about.

“There are times I don’t get to see my friends for two years. There are definitely times you feel separated from your family, but you gain a new family with the troupe,” he adds.

All things considered, Donnelly says he would not trade it for anything.

“The question I ask myself when I’m tired, exhausted and my body hurts is would I rather be tired and exhausted doing anything else, and I tell myself no.”