Flying Under the Big Top

Ukrainian Acrobat Lands Success with Cirque du Soleil

By Zenia Kish

An acrobat, according to the dictionary, is either a skillful gymnast with an extraordinary sense of balance or one who can change viewpoints on short notice in response to external circumstances. Both of these definitions apply to Halyna Tyryk, a young Ukrainian performer premiering in Cirque du Soleil’s new show Corteo.

Born and raised in Lviv, 25-year old Halyna used to go to the circus with her parents as a child, but she never imagined that she would one day be swinging and somersaulting under the big top herself. Although she was an Olympic gymnast on the Ukrainian team at the Sydney Olympics in 2000, Halyna admitted, in a recent interview, that her training did not fully prepare her for the rigours and artistic diversity circus-life would demand.

What is the hardest part of her new job? “Learning all the special techniques of the circus,” she says emphatically. “I studied musical instruments, voice training, acting, singing.”

Landing the job was not easy either. Halyna underwent Cirque’s intensive, multiple auditions, over a period of up to six months.

Then she began training in Montreal. The entire process has taken two years and, this month, Halyna is at last taking to the stage – or rather, the sky – in Cirque’s capacious tent. Her act, entitled Paradise, incorporates Korean frames and a trampoline in a performance she can describe only as “aerial acrobatics – like trapeze without a trapeze.”

Corteo, which is Italian for cortege, is a pageant of human emotions, exploring the gamut of love, deception, fear, beauty, and pain through the surreal dreamscape of a clown imagining his own funeral. The clown pictures his funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels. The acrobatic procession dramatizes the human condition at dizzying heights, incorporating circus staples like the tightrope with exotic new accessories like giant swinging chandeliers, Cyr wheels, bouncing beds and shifting ladders.

In Corteo, Italian director Daniele Finzi Pasca, who is new to the company, offers a departure from the well-known Cirque repertory by reinterpreting their unrivalled athleticism with a new aesthetic sensitivity. The clown at the center of the story is not the blundering buffoon of modern-day circuses, but a return to an earlier, psychologically complex character type that predates the advent of the circus itself. In an interview, Pasca admits to being inspired by labyrinths as a description of life’s journey. “The labyrinth is a great voyage: To find yourself you have to lose yourself,” he explains.

“The words I’d use to describe the new performance are poetic, natural, lyrical – all brought together in the tradition of old world theatre,” explains Melanie Houley, spokesperson for Cirque du Soleil. Cirque has garnered worldwide fame for consistently challenging the traditional boundaries of the circus with innovative artistry and techniques.

Cirque du Soleil is a company that was established in Quebec in the early 1980s by a group of highly talented and innovative street performers. Their unique entertainment attracted increasingly large audiences, and now the company tours shows internationally and also has permanent shows in Las Vegas, Orlando and New York.

The troupe currently has 11 shows running simultaneously around the world, and is always scouting new performers. Its talent scouts search the world, seeking out the multi-dexterous showmen and women best suited to Cirque’s dynamic performance portfolio: gymnasts, acrobats, dancers, and athletes are all under surveillance for Cirque candidacy. Halyna was approached for an audition after some of her friends on the Ukrainian gymnastic team joined the circus.

Moving to Montreal for training, Halyna didn’t merely begin a new career – she was inducted into a new lifestyle. The first step was to overcome cultural, climatic and linguistic factors. She then plunged into the strenuous circus program, which introduced her to new methods of integrating art, music and gymnastics that stretched her beyond her previous physical limits.

She also had a chance to work with many other performers from around the world. The training school brought together a cast of 50 drawn from 14 different countries, including Armenia, Belarus, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, France, Italy, Kenya, Romania, Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, the United States and Ukraine. Language barriers were overcome by cultivating a strong physical rapport through trust exercises, body language and intensified interaction. Although they hardly understand each other’s spoken languages, the performers have little trouble communicating says Halyna.

Despite the physical rigours of circus life, Halyna hopes to continue working at the circus. She is enchanted by the performance style, and her voice registers heightened excitement as she speaks of the future. “There is nothing like this in Eastern Europe. Although there are no plans to bring Cirque there, I hope that one day something similar can develop.”

Having honed an exceptional flexibility and international finesse, Halyna now sounds poised and ready to begin her acrobatic flight of fancy in Toronto.

Corteo runs in from August 4 to September 11 inclusive in Toronto. Ticket prices range from $66 to $95 for adults and $46.25 to $66.50 for children (2 to 12 years inclusive). For students 13 plus (with a valid student ID) and senior citizens (65 plus), prices are from $59.50 to $85.50 for performances from Tuesday to Thursday, and Friday at 4:00 p.m. To order tickets, call the Admission Network at 1.800.678.5440 or go to cirquedusoleil.com.