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Elisa Tauro grew up in Toronto and, from a very young age onwards dreamt of becoming a circus acrobat. 1 year ago, she became part of the cast of Cirque du Soleil’s show O in Las Vegas. A position every circus acrobat dreams about. In this second part of our interview, Elisa tells us how life and work at O developed and how things are going now.
We all hope of getting our dream job. Getting a job that you identify so much with, love so much, and care so much about.
For me, getting that phone call from Cirque du Soleil if I was still interested in O first triggered a whole range of emotions.
It had taken me the whole pandemic to get over not being on stage anymore. I had to find out what else I had to offer. What else I can do.
With something as intense and all-encompassing as being an acrobat in the circus, you feel your job does define you. Because you love it so much. So, when you don’t have that job anymore, you think, “Who am I?” And you’ve been defined by your job for so long, you need a moment to recalibrate, dig deep, and find out.
The shut down due to the pandemic seemed to take forever. I had thought it’s my time to retire. Then, totally unexpected, Cirque du Soleil called me…
It was a shock to the system. And I didn’t dare tell people that I had gotten the job I had always dreamt of. I only told my immediate family.
In that short week leading up to moving to Las Vegas last year, then arriving there before starting my new job at O, I suffered from impostor syndrome.
I thought, “Maybe I don’t have what it takes anymore. Maybe I can’t do it. Do they know who they are hiring?”
Once I arrived at O and met everyone and I was handed my official Cirque du Soleil employee card, I was ok and thought, “Ok, this is real. This is actually happening.”
The training was incredibly intense for me. Learning new skills. Getting my body back into shape.
During the pandemic, I had gotten into stunts because I thought it was a good way to keep fit. But circus skills are just a whole other level. Much more intense. I had to train harder than ever before.
And you know what? I just loved every minute of it.
I also loved our Bateau team. It’s a close team. Everyone gets along. We joke around. We laugh. It’s a dangerous act. And we all trust each other completely.
We get along really well. You have to be close with your porter and everyone else in the show to keep each other safe and know you can fully rely on each other.
Before the Bateau act, we have a little ritual. We all have a personal high five before the act. You must do it every time. It becomes part of your act.
Basically, the act starts offstage long before the audience sees us, when we’re all greeting each other, to say “Ok, here we go!”
I loved everything about Bateau. I went in kind of quickly. There were a few shows in the beginning when I would be onstage and just take a moment and think, “This is amazing!” I’d come offstage and look at the girl I just performed with and I’d say, “This is just so much fun!”
It is a strange feeling that I got this show. It’s weird when you’ve realized your dream. When it’s actually come true, and you are living it every day.
You’ve reached that peak.
I am always grateful and appreciative that I was able to reach my dream and my goal and that, now that I have reached it, it really is the perfect fit and I love it.
Because sometimes it can also turn out that the real thing doesn’t measure up to what you dreamt about all those years. I think that happens to many people.
For me, reality really did measure up and I am where I belong.
I am also aware of all the hard work I’ve put in over the years to get where I am now.
And, arriving and now working at O, I am aware of the ups and downs of learning a new skill set.
You really do go up and down. One week you think you’ve got it. The next week you feel you’ve lost it. It’s been a full year with O now and I still get nervous before Bateau.
But that’s good. I’m a firm believer that if you’re not nervous it either means you don’t care enough or it’s not hard enough. Then it’s time to level up. Add a new trick or a new flip.
The little rush is part of it as well.
Which is why, after the show, you have to come home and unwind. Eat and watch Netflix.
One of the hardest things in the act is when we’ve done it and we jump into the water at the end of the act, and I’m always out of breath, standing there bowing, whilst huffing and puffing.
But I guess it’s good as well because the audience can see how tough this was for us. I also think we get more of an applause when someone falls. They realize we are not robots, not invincible, but that it really takes a lot of skill and strength.
That’s O.
What’s really nice about this show is that it helped me realize that I’ve still got quite a few years I can be doing this.
When I was in La Perle I was one of the older girls in the show. I was 30 at the time.
So, in my mind when the pandemic happened, I thought, “Ok it’s time to call it quits.”
Then, when I came to O, it was amazing to see that a lot of the cast are older. A lot of them have families. Kids. These people have been around for a long time. They’re still performing incredibly well. They make it work.
It inspires you when you see, yes, we can keep doing this.
But you have to find a healthy balance and take care of your body.
There is a kind of “work hard, play hard” type thing in our profession. People get such a rush from performing. They work so hard that they also want to have fun and party in their free time. But you need to be careful and truly treat your body like a temple if you want to be in it for the long haul.
“Charting the course of life and the pursuit of dreams, this steel-frame ship floating above the water provides the setting for this unique display of acrobatic timing and strength. The origin of the Bateau (French for “boat”) is the traditional circus discipline of the aerial cradle, combined here with the parallel bars for the very first time. This dynamic presentation brings the delicate balance of air and water to life. The team of 11 performers, including four women, is made up of flyers and catchers.”
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Liam Klenk was born in Central Europe and has since lived on four continents. Liam has always been engaged in creative pursuits, ranging from photography and graphic design, to writing short stories and poetry, to working in theatre and shows. In 2016, Liam published his first book and memoir, 'Paralian'.
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