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, September 03, 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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
7 comments:
I have never seen a Cirque show so understanding exactly what a safety diver is was a little difficult. I figured the performers would swim where they needed to. I had no idea that was necessary, but it seems obvious now. That particular job sounds very difficult and absolutely not something I could do as I can’t even wade in water long enough to be a certified life guard. I certainly have an appreciation for what they do considering they have just as much choreography as the performers at times. How they do all of that and keep people safe is beyond me. That said, I have had interest in stage managing a Cirque show someday. Like the author of the article, I find that the shows I am most proud of are the ones in which something goes wrong and we have to do our best to give a good show despite technical difficulties. While it is stressful, I do thrive on it when I know how to handle it.
Being the huge Cirque I am, I love reading or watching anything about their shows. Cirque du Soleil's "O" is one of their most spectacular shows. Having seen the show and read a lot about the show, most of this was not super new to me, but every time I read about what the divers have to do every show it amazes me. I am fortunate enough to have worked with Cirque's rigging partner Silver State Wire Rope and Rigging through USITT. During the three days we were with them in Vegas, we got to tour the "O" theater along with the "KA" and "LOVE" theaters. All of what Cirque does is amazing, but something about "O's" pool is absolutely spectacular. That fact that it can change depth is wild. Sitting, watching the show, one moment someone is walking across the pool which is less than an inch deep and then less than a minute later someone is diving into it from 60 feet up, is awe inspiring. I hope to be able to work on the rigging team for a Cirque show in the future.
Reading this article I was finding it really hard to imagine what a Cirque show in water would be like, but then I looked up videos of it and realized that when I went to Vegas in 2013 I actually watched this show. Of course, I was much younger when I saw it and not as involved in technical theatre as I am now, but it really never occurred to me that there would be so many people operating under the water of this show. Although this article was mostly about the divers, the part I found most interesting is the underwater communicators. Of course, this job seems so obvious now because just as a stage manager would need to know of things happening backstage, they would also need to know of everything happening under the water. Under the water is just another backstage location; the audience cannot see it but things happen there that are essential to make what the audience sees happen. Like most backstage crew members, you can tell when they are doing a really good job because you don't notice them, so seeing this show and having absolutely no clue that there were so many people under the water or just people under there at all, I just have so much respect for them and for how great of a job they are all doing especially with the added aspect of water and the fact that they each do a different job every night.
Cirque is such an intricate and well-thought-out form of performance art that often some of the functional details slip my mind. I personally find it mind blowing to hear this account of how Cirque’s underwater procedures work during shows. With so many performers and such a high level of spectacle and risk in these shows, it’s no doubt that being a safety diver is difficult and immensely important. The timing pressure they describe being under seems very stressful, which I assume is why the author of this article emphasizes the importance of training divers and moving between cue tracks. For a good majority of the article, I wondered how these cue tracks and adjustments to them are even communicated being that all of them are underwater. I didn’t know there were underwater comms, but now that I do I can see how useful they are in unique situations such as this one. I’d love to see this show one day to observe how these divers conduct their work.
After reading this article, I am particularly interested in the management and communication aspects of the safety dive team. Towards the end, the author mentions that there is a pair of divers responsible for communicating with stage management, and he touches on the live troubleshooting process. It seems like everyone has some sort of headset, but only the divers wearing full face masks can speak to stage management. Presumably these divers act as heads and disseminate instructions among the other divers, but how do the divers not wearing full face masks communicate complicated messages? And do they even need to? If there's someone who can see everything that's happening underwater, it's possible that individual divers would only have to report personal equipment issues, and management would be able to identify issues with cues without being informed.
This article makes me think about how you never really know what career path you will end up with. I’m sure this author didn’t think they would end up working on a Cirque show, yet here they are. It definitely sounds like a complicated job with a lot to keep track of, though I’m sure the routine of it makes it easier to remember it all. Still, the stakes are pretty high (someone could die if you don’t get them air soon enough) and if something goes wrong you have to be ready with a solution immediately. I’d love to see what O looks like with the view of what is happening underwater, honestly, I’d be more interested to see that than to see the show itself… though I do really want to see the show as well. I’ve wanted to see it for awhile though, just waiting for the opportunity.
I went to see O when I was in high school, involved enough in technical theatre to observe things on the stage and in the house, but not yet experienced enough to really think about what was happening backstage and underwater. After reading this article, I definitely think you could describe the underwater as just another part of backstage, with crew and everything else one would expect. I also enjoyed hearing about one gets into this sort of profession, as I can imagine that not many people want to be a safety diver for Cirque when they grow up. I also never thought about having a sort of ASM in the water as well, though the need for one is clearly obvious, so hearing about the communication divers was really interesting to me. I have definitely speculated about what happens backstage at many of the Cirque shows, but never about under the water, and this article is a small glimpse into that world.
Post a Comment