That’s because my newbies are trapeze artists and other acrobatic performers working in O, the water-themed Cirque du Soleil show performed five nights a week in Las Vegas.
Monday, March 05, 2018
What It's Like to Be a Cirque du Soleil Safety Diver in "O"
That’s because my newbies are trapeze artists and other acrobatic performers working in O, the water-themed Cirque du Soleil show performed five nights a week in Las Vegas.
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9 comments:
This article was a fascinating read. I hadn't even heard of 'O' before, let alone thought about what kind of logistics it may take to run that show. The idea of safety divers would never had occurred to me. But the safety of the performers is o important at Cirque du Soleil that I shouldn't be surprised - with an act as dangerous and possibly deadly as this one, it would be nearly impossible that they didn't have safety crews in the water to help acrobats. It was really interesting to me reading not about the routine, however, but about the comms system and how they communicate in case something goes wrong. All the contingencies, the comm divers and the observers above the pool, all working together so flawlessly in case of an accident or mistake, must be incredible to watch from the outside. They must be like a well-oiled machine, ticking along and barely shuddering if they have to skip a beat for some reason.
I had no idea this was even a job someone could get! I had heard about “O,” because Hugh Hanson suggested I look it up during one of my Susan Tsu projects. Acrobats in and of themselves are fascinating to watch, but when you add an element, like fire, or in this case, water, that can make it ten times more interesting and ten times harder for the production team. I was a lifeguard all of last summer and had to go through training to save lives, as a lifeguard does, and let me tell you, it’s not easy to swim carrying another body. In this case, it’s all about timing, if you don’t get your acrobat to their place on time, the next move cannot happen, and they just have to skip it. I can only imagine how much pressure you must feel as a diver in that situation, and as the stage manager. They have to be prepared for everything because it something drastic goes wrong, that’s on you, you have to find a way to save the show so that audiences will keep coming back.
What a wild job. I’ve never seen any Cirque show, let alone “O.” However, I have been diving before. As far as experiences go, it was one of the most mentally challenging. The details described within this article make the hydraulic system sound awesome and I wonder who technically designed the mechanics of the pool that changes depth. Also the fact that these divers stay under the water throughout the show as they assist in making sure these performers can breath underwater is mind boggling. If I knew how to scuba diver I would attempt to get this job as soon as possible. What an incredible opportunity to be apart of an amazing performance. They’re like specialized run crew/asm/sm. Basically an underwater, specially trained team that operate on cues just like any other backstage team. The article highlights the specialized training of all the divers and the fact that they recognize that this job is just as difficult and skilled as a open water diver.
Cirque du Soleil never fails to impress me. The work they do is absolutely astounding! They continually push the boundaries of what is possible by asking "Why not?" instead of "Why?". My dad always said that when you could rule the world if you just ask "why not?" instead of "why?". One of the tings I really love about our work is how magical stagecraft can be from an outside perspective. One moment, a trapeze artist dissappears in the water. The next, he/ she/ they rise from the water, supported by other performers. As the author writes, "It’s simply one more part of the show that audiences would be surprised to see — that is, if they could see into the tank at all. But because the tank is beneath the stage, everything we do is behind the scenes". Thus, the water become natural, allowing for seemingly impossible feats to become commonplace.
Wow, this article amazes me. I flabbergasted every time I hear about what Cirque du Soleil is up to. This article does a great job of explaining what it is like to be a safety diver in “O”, which is important to read about. I think this is important because as we move into the future of theatre, more and more stunts will be added and more and more complicated sets will occur. As someone looking into stage management as a career path, I think it is important to be up to date not only with the new gear and tricks but with the safety behind it. I am just amazed at how much the safety divers need to remember in order to safety operates a show. I wonder how this system and all the Cirque du Soleil safety systems originated. Did they come from an accident or did they foresee having all these contingencies and safety procedures during the creation process?
I don’t really know what I was expecting to read about when I saw the title of this article but the second I read the section that talks about the numerous awards that these companies received, I was intrigued. I am always interested when theatre articles try to promote awards because I don’t see the value to art being rewarded. I’m a little confused why the articles start off talking about how good smaller than larger commercial theatre keeps getting rewarded and segues into talking about the difference being marketing. I understand that this conflates the local smaller theatre quality to the larger commercial theatre but besides to show a marketing difference what is the point. I might be confused because the article doesn’t seem to have a strong message about what is it trying to say. The article talks about marketing in theatre but does this in a very disjointed way. The ending of the article is much more strongly written but overall, this article due to its poor writing disappoints me.
I have always thought it is so weird that to be a stage hand on a show, you need to be scuba certified, but I suppose that is no surprise for a Cirque show. This was a cool description of what it is like to be a diver for O and the different responsibilities and tracks. Hearing about bubble curtains and exiting from under water are such cool details that you wouldn't necessarily think about. There must me so many safety protocols and checks that go on for every move to make sure everyone is in the right place and doing the right thing at the right time. I also did not know there were two shows a night. That is kind of crazy, especially on top of all the training. And its even on top of all the other training that goes into being a part of a cirque show. It can't be an easy job, but it certainly sounds fun.
This was a fascinating article to read because it served as another reminder that a show’s choreography isn’t isolated to the stage. The care with which the divers have to conduct themselves is overwhelming because every day they are holding the lives of those performers in their hands. I find their communication pathways very interesting because of how precise they need to be at all times. Something I am also quite amazed by is their ability to calculate precise locations and positions in the water, despite it being such a fluid and visually clouded environment. It must also be very challenging for the performers to build up the breath support in order to complete their act to the best of their ability, and then to safely enter the water and be able to follow the correct procedures for the divers to get to them. There is a great deal of trust in that relationship, and it would most definitely be incredible to be a part of that.
This must be one of the most dangerous and difficult to call shows ever done. I can not even begin to imagine how much pressure is on the stage manager to keep all of the performers safe for every performance. The intricacies of all of these acts and the mechanics involved in the stage/ pool must be incredibly difficult to grasp and control. It is impressive to me that things like this are able to be done safe enough to repeat twenty times a week. The synchronization of the divers and the artists must be insanely complicated. There would have to be a lot of trust between the actors, the divers, and the management team here. It never ceases to amaze me what all people can accomplish when enough creativity and money are thrown at a project. The only thing that could make it more difficult would be if they threw some live animals in there too.
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