Montreal Adventure

Nutshell version:

Incredibly valuable, exciting, informative and inspiring trip for all concerned.
Elliana got cut early in audition process.
Melvin made it through to the end and seems to have really impressed the judges.
He will hear by mid-March if he gets in.
Elle went on to audition at the increasingly recommended circus school in Quebec City.
They auditioned her on the spot and she will hear in mid-April.
My meetings with the directors of both schools started to build what I believe will be strong relationships. We are already highly regarded. My meeting with the director of teacher training at ENC was also very informative. In addition, I had a very interesting hour and half meeting with members of Cirque Du Soleil’s Social Action department. I also got to revisit the place where I used to street perform in Montreal and see my boyfriend from 30 years ago. All in all, I cannot thank everyone enough who made this trip possible. It is so exciting to be part of starting another chapter in circus history!

Full Length Version:

Do you remember the first time you ever looked out of an airplane? How the clouds form the landscape of another world? The beauty, the perspective, the sense of awe? How both powerful and powerless it made you feel? Have you also had the opportunity to take someone on a plane ride and watch THEM have the experience of their first look out of a plane’s window?

Both your fist look and giving someone else their first look are great experiences. As we flew back from Montreal and I watched Melvin looking out the plane window, this really struck home to me. I also realize this is a metaphor for my life. When I first learned circus arts back in college in the 70s (yes, I’m that old!), it was an amazing feeling of wonder, possibility and empowerment. I remember telling my first circus teacher, Warren Bacon (who now teaches with me) “This is it! This is what I want to do with my life! How can I repay you?” And I remember Warren telling me; “I’ll tell you what my teacher told me: ’Pass it on.’” And I have been happy to do so. I’ve been oft quoted as saying I feel like Peter Pan in that I get to sprinkle the magic fairy dust on people and teach them to fly. While it was wonderful being able to fly myself, it has been equally fulfilling to teach other people to do so and watch them really take off.

Elliana, Melvin and I flew to Montreal, last week. It was actually Melvin’s second time on a plane—his first time was when we went to the American Youth Circus Festival this past August. It was his first time out of the country. I was taking them so they could audition for the prestigious Ecole National de Cirque—the National Circus School—in Montreal. While there, I also served as chaperone for Rackim Ramsey, a student from Chicago’s social circus, CircEsteem. I want to thank all the people who made this momentous journey possible: Warren Bacon, Laura Van Der Meer, Terry Eivins, John Wilder, Christine Ivcich, Trudi Vogel, Tia Adkins, Susan Hinton and Carlo Gentile. You are all part of circus history.

In Montreal, we were hosted in the loft home of Jonathan Roitman, a third year student at the Ecole National De Cirque. Jonathan was a gracious, thoughtful and inspirational host. Jonathan came out of a youth circus in New Hampshire, run by my friend Jackie Davis. He auditioned twice before being accepted at ENC and is now in his final year there. Circus Harmony does have one student already attending the school, Renaldo “JR” Williams. Renaldo was a member of the St. Louis Arches for 6 years. He was our fist student who really decided to go professional. Thanks to the help of generous supporters, we were able to send Renaldo to France in 2008 to audition at two different French schools. Through the world wide community that is ’circus’, we had people who helped him in France every step of the way. Sadly (or so it seemed), he was not accepted at either school. But in 2009, he auditioned at ENC and got in!

This is really a new chapter in social circus history. The mission of social circus programs is not to serve as pre-professional training grounds. Still, everyone who sees us has remarked on how talented our students are. Each year, they have reached higher technical levels. We have been able to bring in top circus teachers. The result is we are now able to help those who want to go forward and pursue circus as a professional career. Ecole National de Cirque is one of the best circus schools in the world. People from around the world apply to get in. The audition itself consists of four grueling days of testing and evaluations.

First, you send in your written application and need to be invited to the audition. We were thrilled when Elliana and Melvin were both invited. We pored over the requirements and what ENC’s website told us about the auditions. We peppered Renaldo and Jonathan with questions. Elliana and Melvin worked on the exercises we knew they would be asked to do. They both agonized over what three minute audition piece they would present.

We left at 5:30 in the morning on Sunday. There were predictions of a huge snowstorm heading to Chicago—the airport we were flying into for our connecting flight. We had booked a flight a day early just in case there were weather issues. We got to the St. Louis airport so early that they put us on an earlier flight into Chicago and we did not have to pay for our luggage. We beat the snowstorm and arrived in Montreal without incident. Jonathan had arranged for another third year ENC student from America to pick us up at the airport. Before us was living proof that Americans from youth circus programs could make it into this esteemed training facility.

We drove into the city of Montreal and got metro passes for the week and some French pastries—well, Elliana and I got pastries, Melvin opted for the familiar and got a sandwich from a Subway restaurant. We went to the local market to buy food for the week and then to Jonathan’s loft which he shares with three other ENC students. Over dinner, several other students and auditionees came by—including our own Renaldo. Elliana and Melvin got a lot of advice and suggestions from a number of people who had been through the process. The selection process is something of a mystery and generates a tremendous amount of stress. Of the 120 or so applicants who come to audition, half are always cut by the end of the first day. Included in the list of auditionees are students from ENC’s Mise Nouveau program. This is a program where candidates who are not accepted into ENC are offered a chance to train there for one year and then re-audition. I think these students were even more nervous than the ones auditioning for their first time.

Monday we went to Cirque Du Soleil for a tour they had graciously offered us. Cirque’s headquarters is part of a three building plaza that includes ENC and Tohu—a circus-based performing arts center. It is known as Circus City. Cirque’s huge headquarters is like a giant beehive swarming with activity. We saw where they made costumes, trained new acts, rehabbed hurt performers, threw parties, did research and we saw the outside of the blocked off area where the 2010 show was being prepared with all sorts of No Admittance, Top Secret signs posted all around. It is a very ’green’ building and company in many ways. I have to say that one of the most impressive parts of the complex, to me, was the fat that their parking lot water drains in to become the toilet water.

After Cirque, we went sight seeing in Montreal. We wandered around Old Montreal and Chinatown. I showed them the spot where I used to street perform 30 years ago!!! Melvin tried and loved pizza carbonera and pain au chocolate (chocolate filled croissant). We bought Canadian souvenirs and read each other silly t-shirts. We went into a very strange art gallery. We ended at the bus station where we picked up CircEsteem’s auditionee, Rackim Ramsey.

We made a carb loaded dinner, watched the Olympics and talked about the upcoming auditions with more students and some other Americans who were in Montreal for Cirque Du Soliel auditions. Elle, Melvin and Rackim tried to go to sleep early since the call was at 8 AM at ENC.

I had a meeting scheduled for 9:30 with the director of ENC’s teacher training program. I thought about it and decided to let the three auditionees go there without me. They had their metro passes and Elle and Melvin knew how to get there from our trip the day before. I think I was more anxious than they were as they set off.

I arrived for my meeting at ENC. Current students were on break but many had come to the school to watch and assess the aspiring candidates. Auditionees were clearly identifiable by their numbered jerseys. They had been split into 5 groups according to last names. Melvin’s number was 22, Elle’s was 36, and Rackim’s 83.

My meeting with Patrice Aubertin, the director of their teacher training program was very interesting. We talked about both our programs. He also told me about collaboration between his department and Cirque’s social action department to create a training manual and accompanying DVD set for social circus teachers. Their new initiative is to train circus teachers in the areas of Canada where they intend to teach. They also run a year long teacher training program at ENC.

Patrice took me on a tour of the imposing 7 story ENC building which was constructed specifically to be a state of the art circus school. During the tour, I happened to end up in the room where Rackim’s group was being tested in acrobatics. The auditionees had to do specific tricks in front of a panel of 10 stone faced judges who were taking prodigious notes on each of them. I was very impressed with the caliber of the tumbling that I saw being presented. Aside from the training facilities themselves, I was most impressed by the schools expansive library. Much of it has recently been put online It is an amazing resource.

I hung out in the cafeteria for a while after the tour and saw Elliana and Melvin on and off. I talked for a while with Renaldo. They always had videos of ENC student shows going on in the cafeteria which were very interesting to watch. Elle said she felt equal to the group she was in for tumbling. Melvin thought he had done very well and other people told me he got great height on their spring floor. After acro, they also tested for flexibility and strength. At one point, Elle told me she had not liked the way she was doing one of the requested exercises so she just stopped. In retrospect, that was probably not a good choice. The first day of testing goes from 8 AM to 9 PM or later. Much of it is spent waiting as all 10 judges watch each of the 5 groups. There is a dinner break during which the judges deliberate and then post who is invited to come back the next day to continue the audition.

Much speculation goes into what the judges use for criteria. People talk about body types, quotas for non-Canadians, gender, act preference, and other possible reasons for who gets in and who goes home. People came from as far away as Switzerland for this audition. One girl had been working on her 3 minute routine with a professional choreographer since August. Candidates came from fields of dance, gymnastics and circus and with all different levels of previous training.

In addition to acro, strength and flexibility, candidates also took a dance class and did an acting exercise this first long day. I left in the afternoon and went back to the loft to anxiously await the outcome. On their way to dinner, Jonathan called me to tell me it might be an even later than usual night but he would call by 9 PM either way. In the background, Elle called out that she was sure she was going to be cut.

It was a long hour and half. Watched the Olympics. Wrote a grant. I can’t imagine how nerve-wracking it was for the auditionees. When they returned from dinner, the list was up and they gathered around it to see whose numbers were still in the running. Elle was right, she had been cut. So was the girl who had come from Switzerland, and a boy from Circus Smirkus who everyone thought would get into ENC for sure. Melvin and Rackim had made it through the first round of cuts! Jonathan called and gave me the news. As happy as I was for Melvin and Rackim, I was devastated for Elliana.

When she got home, she was very philosophical about it. She said she always believed that everything happens for a reason and she kept insisting to everyone that she was alright. Sad and disappointed but alright. Melvin and Rackim were understandably relieved and happy. Melvin was sure what saved him was that he just decided to have fun and not be stressed out like everyone else. I certainly think this was a factor in his favor. There is nothing quite like Melvin when he is having fun.

Next morning, Melvin and Rackim headed back to ENC. Elle and I talked about her options. We got in touch with her friend Aerial, the daughter of my friend Meghan Xelias, who runs an aerial school in Minnesota. Aerial had made it through the ENC auditions last year but not been chosen and had ended up going to the circus school in Quebec City, Ecole de Cirque de Quebec. Several people had told us very good things about the Quebec City school and Aerial loves it there.

That morning, I went to ENC to meet with the ENC director, Daniela Arendasova. She could not have been nicer to me. We discussed how we train our students, what ENC looks for in candidates, ENC's phoilosphy, and Renaldo. Daniella was also kind enough to offer to me to come up as her guest and watch their final exam process. Something I would like to take her up on, if it is possible. I left her with our most recent DVD, program, newsletter and brochures.

Melvin and Rackim were going through further evaluations in dance and acting—since artistic presentation is very important at ENC. In addition to seeing numerous ENC videos, I was able to watch two live student presentations, one of an interesting solo on a double decker dance trapeze and one by our host, Jonathan, of his acrobatic juggling duet.

I reached one of the trio of directors at the school in Quebec. He invited Elliana up to the school and said they could audition her on the spot. We made an appointment for Friday morning with the intention of traveling the three hours up there on Thursday afternoon and staying at Aerial's in Quebec City. If Melvin made it through the Wednesday cuts, he would be presenting his 3 minute juggling/ tumbling/partner acrobatic act on Thursday and Elliana needed to be there as his assistant.

Elliana and I went out to dinner with Sara Deull, an aerialist we had met at the AYCO Festival in August and whose father is a rigging expert I had met at the AYCO Educator's Conference in October. Sara is a student at Montreal's McGill University and has been working as an aerialist since she arrived in Montreal. ENC and Cirque are not the only circus presences in Montreal. Sara was currently performing at the Festival of Light doing an aerial act from a globe suspended outside 50 feet in the air. Sara invited us to come to Trapezium, a local flying trapeze place, for some time doing flying trapeze but we ended up not being able to fit it into our schedule. Sara grew up spending summers with Zip Zap Circus, a great social circus in South Africa. A former Zip Zap student, Wandi, is now performing with Universoul Circus. He has come to our school and worked with our students and told me that our school feels very much like Zip Zap. Sara and I talked about arranging a student exchange program between Circus Harmony and Zip Zap.

Back at ENC, it was another stressful dinner time as audtionees (and the rest of us) waited to see who would be cut Wednesday. If you made it through Wednesday, it meant you got to stay for the final 2 days of the full audition. Melvin and Rackim both made it through! They now had two more days of auditioning and then would have to wait until mid-March to see if they have been accepted.

Thursday, I was scheduled for two meetings at Cirque Du Soleil. One was with the group of women who work in the Social Action Department. These are the people I've called over the years to arrange for tickets, workshops, program ads and the like. It was good to meet them and be able to put faces to names. In the course of our conversation, we found out that they also deal with my former acro juggling partner and room mate in NYC, Karen Gersch. I knew that teachers for Cirque du Soleil’s Cirque Du Monde (their social circus program) often stay in my old bedroom in Karen's loft. I didn't know that these women all knew who Karen was. I have to remember to send them a photo of Karen and me working together, juggling on the streets of Montreal in the 70s!

My other meeting at Cirque was an hour and half that had been scheduled with Michel LaFortune, social circus director, and Gil Favreau, director of social affairs and international cooperation. I knew both of them from previous American Youth Circus Organization festivals and conferences. I had also shared the dais with Michel in Monte Carlo, last year, when we both presented on social circus to the combined symposium of the World Circus Federation and the European Circus Association.

We talked about the American Youth Circus Organization, other American social circuses, Cirque’s social circus teacher trainings, all our projects and their new collaborative project with ENC. I was gratified to hear that they really did read the emails I send out and were very aware of what Circus Harmony had been doing. They proudly showed me the prototype of the manual and 3 DVD set they were creating for social circus teachers. Gil also shared the name of a Missouri congressman he had met in Las Vegas who he thought might be supportive of our work.

After the meeting, I crossed the street to ENC and talked with several of the students. One of them helped me check on the weather. This was the day the big blizzard was hitting the northeastern American states. While it actually was not as bad in Canada, it was still bad enough that the roads past Quebec City were being closed. I was starting to worry about Elliana and me making it up there safely, later in the afternoon. We had scheduled a ride share but I could not reach the driver.

Elliana arrived at ENC to help Melvin with his act. The act auditions ended up being hours behind. I cancelled our ride and we planned to take the bus. As it got later and reports of the storm got worse, we decided to leave early the next morning instead. We were told that ENC never closes because of snow. Likewise, the roads between Quebec City and Montreal were always kept clear. They know how to deal with snow up north!

Melvin finally got to present his act, three and a half hours after his scheduled time! Immediately after the act, the judges interview you. Questions for candidates vary but center around why you want to attend ENC and how you think you will handle or have handled various circus-related situations. They also question you on your performing experience. In Melvin's case, they asked him if it would be hard for him to spend three years NOT doing much performing since he was so used to performing in a regular basis with us.

If I felt ENC or the Quebec City program lacked anything, it is the fact that their students get very little actual performing time. I think this is one of the special and true strengths of our program—that the students do get to perform on such a regular basis. Both ENC and Quebec only have yearly shows and those are primarily for their third year students. Even the student acts that I saw presented to the auditionees seemed noticeably nervous about performing.

Melvin felt his act went well. Rackim presented a contortion lyra act that he was also happy with. After the groups presented their acts, they had the dreaded running endurance tests. Candidates have actually been known to throw up at the end of the test. Melvin scored a not high 7.5 on the test. Rackim got a very respectable 9 and the lowest score we heard about was a 4. In their interviews and on their written applications, candidates had expressed the acts they were interested in working on. The last day of auditions would be comprised of actual classes chosen for the auditionees by the judges.

Elle and I woke at 5:30 Friday morning to catch the bus for the three hour trip to Quebec City. Although we both slept though most of the ride, when I did look out the window I primarily saw just huge expanses of frozen, white tundra. Also, the further north we went, the less English there was. Luckily some of the staff and students in Quebec City did speak English. Aerial loves the school but she did say that the most difficult part was adapting to an almost all French situation. "I'm just naturally very chatty," she said. "And it was hard for me at first."

The Ecole de Cirque de Quebec is housed in a huge, old, church that takes up an entire city block. While ENC was created and built to be a circus school, ECQ has adapted the church to fit its needs. Every nook and cranny is used for some sort of class or classes. And it is huge. They even have a full flying trapeze rig on one end. In fact, one of the tests for the audition was to take candidates up onto a balcony and ask them to jump into the flying net below.

Elle auditioned with two women from France and one from Quebec who had also been cut from the ENC auditions. ECQ's actual auditions are not until early April. So, it was very nice of them to hold these impromptu auditions. Elle was there earlier than the other candidates. They had her take a dance class and stood her next to a student who could translate for her. I got some time to talk with one of the directors and show him the work of our school. Similar to ENC's Mise Nouveau program, ECQ has a one year pre-professional program to prepare people for their professional program. This is the program that Aerial is in. They only have 15 spots for each year in their professional program and many of these will likely be taken by the 12 current pre-professional students.

At ECQ, you are expected to develop a main act, a second act, take a third discipline that supports your main act (for example take trampoline if your main act is Russian Barre or handstands if your main act is contortion) and you must also be part of some team act. Their focus is on helping each student find their own voice or character. It seemed that the work here was more independent and individualized than at ENC. But we were not at ENC on a normal class day since the students have off the whole week of the auditions, so, I can't say for sure.

One thing I did notice that really stood out to me was that there were no African American students at ECQ. They have only just been granted the degree program and are only now gaining international recognition. Previously, most of their students had just been from Canada and primarily from Quebec. I think this will change as the school's reputation continues to grow.

Elle and the French girls were asked to audition their acts in front of the whole school. I'm not sure why the Quebecois girl did not do so. They were also tested in tumbling, strength, flexibility and trapeze in addition to the jumping in the net test. (The other auditionees hesitated at first, but Elliana leapt right off). The whole process was very relaxed and friendly. I think I would liken ENC to Julliard or another high level conservatory school. I'm not sure what to compare ECQ to. It is high level training but in a very different sort of atmosphere.

I do know of high caliber shows that do look to ECQ for talent and students from ECQ have performed with Cirque Du Soliel. Still, it should be noted that ENC is very connected to Cirque Du Soleil and is certainly the first place that Cirque looks to for talent. It was really interesting to visit both schools and talk with both directors and some of the students. I wish I had seen more of the finished work of some ECQ students and more of the day to day operations of ENC. When we left, the director said they would let Elliana know in mid-April, after they hold their regular auditions.

While we were in Quebec, Melvin and Rackim had gone to ENC to take their classes. Melvin was assigned more classes than anyone else: he did hand to hand partner acrobatics, double trapeze, hoop diving, cradle and straps. He said he did well in all of them. This is a chance for the teachers to see how he works with other students and if he can take direction and corrections as well as seeing his aptitude in different disciplines.

Elle and I took the three hour bus ride back to Montreal in time for Elle to join Melvin, Rackim and other auditionees and current students at the annual audition party. I got to stay home and watch the Olympics. You may have noticed that a number of ENC students were featured in the opening ceremony of this year's Winter Olympics. The three navigated Montreal just fine on their own. I have to say that Montreal has a very impressive and on schedule metro system of busses and subways.

Saturday, we had tickets to see a show we had all been looking forward to: 7 Fingers new production, PSY. 7 Fingers is a group directed by an old friend of mine, Gypsy Snider. In fact, Gypsy was on of the people who encouraged us to have Elle audition in Quebec. 7 Fingers is perhaps the best example of the new Circus Theater genre—using great circus acts and skills for a cohesive show that is choreographed to be on a theater stage instead of in a circus ring. Check them out at www.7Fingers.com or look up any of their YouTube videos.

The show was being presented at Tohu, the third anchor of the Circus City plaza, forming a triangle with Cirque Du Soleil and Ecole National De Cirque. The building was created expressly for presenting circus shows. It also has a lovely little permanent circus exhibit along with other gallery space. Of course, those of you who know me know that I love a circus space that sells coffee and cappuccino as part of their concessions. At the show, we met up with Sara Deull and a trapeze friend of hers who was interested in social circus. We went out to eat afterwards and talked about all manner of circus things and programs.

From there, we went to meet my boyfriend of thirty years ago, Kevin McKenna, a Quebec native who had gone to art school with my old juggling acro partner, Karen Gersch. “Will you recognize him?” Melvin asked as we went to meet him. “Does she look the same?” Melvin asked Kevin when we finally did. Kevin’s reply was “Well, some of the parts have changed.” Melvin went back to the house, exhausted form his week of auditions. Elliana, Kevin and I want to downtown Montreal and hung out at a book store, went to dinner and then up to Mount Royal for a beautiful view of the city.

Sunday morning, we got up at 5 because we were told we needed to be at the airport 3 hours before our flight. It is harder to get into America than out of America! We made it through customs and to our gate only to eventually find out that the plane would be delayed and we would miss our connecting flight. I gave Melvin and Elle a crash course in negotiating with airlines and we ended up on another flight. However, the connection was in Canada instead of America meaning we had to go through customs again. But we also each got a $350 travel voucher—enough to get either of them at least TO Canada if they get into their prospective schools!

The flight home was uneventful, except for me getting pulled out of line for having clementines in my bag which I was told could have wiped out the United States ecosystem. I got off with a lecture and a warning and we arrived home safely just as Canada beat America for the Olympic gold medal hockey game. The flight attendant had been giving us updates during the trip.

Now, we wait. Melvin will hear in mid-March. Elliana will hear in mid-April. Meanwhile, we need to think about starting some sort of scholarship fund to help our students who do want to go on to secondary circus or academic colleges. I’d like to look at CircEsteem’s model of taking money from the student performers’ shows and putting it n a college fund for each of them then matching whatever is put in. Anyone want to help set up the After Arches College Fund?

This trip really is the start of a new chapter in America’s social circus history. To already have one student studying at Ecole National de Cirque and to have three more being considered at ENC and the ECQ is really a testament to how far our little social circus program (and CIrEsteem’s) has come.

Circus Harmony’s primary mission is still to “teach the art of life through circus education. We work to build character and expand community for youth of all ages, cultures, abilities and backgrounds. Through teaching and performance of circus skills, we help children defy gravity, soar with confidence and leap over social barriers, all at the same time.” But we are now at a point where we can also help our students who want to pursue circus as a professional career. They are ready and we need to be, as well. Ready to help them get into circus schools or colleges with or near circus training centers. Ready to help them navigate booking their own acts on professional shows. We’ve given them a solid foundation. Now, it is time to really help them fly on their own. To let them go and look down and get the perspective on who they are, where they are from and where they are going.

Please join us and be a part of this continuing story.