Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia continues Australian circus performer Nelson Smyles’ dream at Claremont Showground

When Nelson Smyles received an email from Cirque du Soleil in 2017 during his third year of studying at Melbourne’s National Institute of Circus Arts, asking about his availability, he was not sure whether to believe it, given he had so far lacked the confidence to audition for the revered Montreal-based company. It turned out Instagram videos of Smyles in action had caught Cirque du Soleil’s attention, and after contact with a couple of references from NICA, Port Macquarie-raised Smyles flew to Montreal 11 days after graduation for some whirlwind training, before joining the cast of Luzia in Los Angeles. “You know that cliched movie scene where they’re driving between the palm trees up to Hollywood and into stardom? It felt exactly like that,” Smyles recalls. “I saw Cirque du Soleil written on the tent, and I still get that crazy feeling even today after nearly seven years with the company.” Smyles’ formative training in gymnastics — before a massive growth spurt thwarted his chances of being a compact competitive gymnast — along with platform and springboard diving, and parkour, had helped prepare him for the hoop diving act (and understudy clown) for Cirque du Soleil’s 38th original production since 1984. “I just wanted to be Spider-Man when I was a kid, and actually kind of still do, so that little passion kept me going,” says the 28-year-old, whose mum is a visual artist, and dad a former world champion ballroom dancer. Having premiered in April 2016, and marking the first Cirque du Soleil production to integrate the element of water into the show, Luzia invites audiences to immerse themselves in an imaginative journey through Mexico where traditional and contemporary circus disciplines are taken to the next level. The hoop diving act features acrobats in costume as hummingbirds — the animal in Mexican culture considered to be returned fallen warriors — performing on two 8m-long treadmills. “It means that a tumbling pass can be done on the spot and creates a whole different kind of realm of possibilities for what we can do as artists and hoop divers,” Smyles explains. “There’s a lot of duo and group tricks in the act. It’s very cool and as well as the treadmills going, the stage is also turning. So everyone in the Big Top gets an incredible view of all the acrobatics. “When they first told me it was hoop diving, I thought ‘I’ve got hoop diving in the bag’, and then they added ‘on giant treadmills’ and I said ‘What?’” While Smyles originally thought his mum’s artistic genes would assist his makeup skills, as all performers apply their own, he was shocked to find his first attempt took two hours. “I’ve got it down to a good episode of The Simpsons now, so about 25 minutes,” he quips, before talking about being back on home soil for the Luzia Australian tour. “I saw Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza in Melbourne when I was there at NICA and it was such a special experience for the school. So to bring the show back to Melbourne, that took me away from Melbourne, I still haven’t been able to piece it together with words. “It’s a very full-circle, special moment for me.” Describing Luzia as the perfect representation of Mexican culture and mythology, touring the show to Mexico at the end of 2018 was another mind-blowing moment. “I’d never been to Mexico, I had only known the show, so to then go and explore Mexico and see everything that Luzia was representing in Mexico, it was incredible. “It’s so perfectly represented and for someone who might not get the chance to go to Mexico, Luzia is absolutely the next best thing. “The audiences would wait out the back for everyone to come out, especially all of the musicians and the people from Mexico who work on the show. They were celebrities.” Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia is Under the Big Top, Higham car park at Claremont Showground, July 25 to September 1. Tickets at cirquedusoleil.com/luzia. Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia lowdown The water used in Luzia must be filtered, disinfected and maintained at a constant 39C for the wellbeing of the artists. All 10,000 litres of water used during the performance are recycled for the entire duration of a city stay. All of the metal-based infrastructure elements, as well as the electrical and electronic equipment (including lighting and sound equipment) installed close to water, must be protected from electric shock. A bridge suspended 14m above the stage supports the water reserve and the set of 174 nozzles, which can be individually controlled to create two-dimensional images using water droplets and blank spaces. With its two revolving rings and central platter, the stage floor has 94,657 holes through which the water drains into a 5000L basin hidden underneath. The two hoop diving treadmills weigh 3630kg each and are powered independently by 28 automobile-type batteries. The group of acrobats wearing vibrant hummingbird costumes, complete with wings and a long beak, jump through hoops just 75cm in diameter. The acrobats leap through the hoops sometimes feet-first, sometimes backwards, sometimes bent in half. Some even leapfrog over their partners in order to jump through the rings. The costumes in each scene have their own distinct colour or combination of colours, and since animals play a prominent role in Mexican lore and mythology, they became a high inspiration for Luzia’s costume design, too. The Running Woman butterfly wings are a tribute to the annual migratory journey of the monarch butterfly from southern Canada to central Mexico for the winter. Each wing is 6m long and comprises 40m of silk. Look out for the 9kg white dress that magically turns red thanks to 61 white, individually programmed flowers, each one equipped with a small motor to open and reveal its colourful petals. A total of 115 people from 26 countries are part of the touring cast and crew of Luzia, with the 47 artists alone representing 18 different nationalities. The light-coloured Big Top, or Le Grand Chapiteau, helps to counter the effects of the sun, thus reducing energy consumption and minimising greenhouse gas emissions. It is 19m high and 51m in diameter, with four 25m steel masts and 550 pegs holding it firmly to the asphalt.