The Creative Merry-go-Round Behind Cavalia

Kathleen Herd Masser
Mirror contributing writer
  
   Ever since Cavalia invited the world into its tent, audiences have fallen under its spell. Spectators – enchanted by the magical maelstrom of horses and humans – seldom give a thought to what makes the aerialist fly, how the gymnast gets his body to do what it does, or why on earth anyone would want to hang upside down from a horse.
   “Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain,” spoke the wizard to Dorothy and her companions after Toto exposed him tugging at ropes and twiddling buttons.
   Louis Côté may not pull the ropes, but he is behind the curtain and responsible for seeing that they’re pulled. As Cavalia’s stage manager, Côté calls the cues during performances, with help from a backstage manager and the stable manager.
   Côté spent nine years with Cirque du Soleil and has stage-managed productions from Hawaii to the Jazz Fest in Montreal. Each has its own challenges and Cavalia’s is, not surprisingly, “Horses. You cannot change anything without them having to get used to it. When we moved from an arena to the big top, it took a week for them to adjust.”
   Some technical ideas had to be scrapped altogether, in consideration of equine sensibilities. “There were particular lights we wanted to use, but we couldn’t because they frightened some of the horses.”
   To Côté, this not as a problem, but “a positive thing. The horse won’t work for five hours. After an hour, they lose their concentration. This gave us – humans – a better way of working.”
   Nimble as a Mustang in his backstage domain, Côté loves his job, but he’s not a horseman. “I tried it,” he says, “but it’s not like we can go get a horse and just go for a ride. These are specialty horses. An untrained rider can jeopardize them.”
   Côté leaves the riding to the experts, like Alethea Shelton, who has been cantering since she was an eight-year-old in Floyd, Virginia. “I grew up riding,” she says.
   Shelton dropped out of college to attend massage school. But after eight months away from the stables, she realized she “didn’t want to be away from riding ever again.” She moved to Colorado where, with a partner, she created Big Horse Productions.
   Shelton started the Cavalia tour atop Choice, a 17-year-old quarter horse until “he didn’t enjoy it anymore. He was getting old. Now I’m with Joe. They’re the two slowest horses in the stable. They fit me better. I’m someone who needs a good foundation. I’m not a big crazy risk taker.”
   Along with the riding, she also relishes “the fact that I live nowhere. I’m a complete nomad. All my stuff is stored at my parents’ house. The only hard thing is that, whenever we move to a new town, it’s like starting over again.”
   Cavalia acrobat Pierre-Luc Sylvani adds, “You have to buy a new map.”
   Sylvani’s map collection is growing. Between tour dates, he has visited Puerta Vallarta and Hawaii, and spent time driving across the U.S. But he’s content to stay in Los Angeles for now. “I’m a big fan of movies,” he confesses, “and I’ve met Demi Moore and Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
   Sylvani studied gymnastics for 11 years before entering Êcole du Cirque de Montréal. He had just graduated when he landed his first big contract, with Cavalia. And if he weren’t performing acrobatics, what would he do? “Nothing,” he says without hesitation. “I was born for doing this.”
   Like Côté, Alain Gauthier is a Cirque du Soleil alumnus. And like Sylvani, he is a performer to his soul. Gauthier left Cirque in 1993, after seven years, and worked as a dancer, choreographer and stage actor. Today he is Cavalia’s Artistic Director on Tour.
   “Gradually,” he says, “as I was dancing, I started doing creation as well. Normand [Latourelle, Cavalia’s founder] asked me to join this adventure.
   “This is my first time working with horses. I rode a lot as a kid, but not since I was nine or 10. It’s exciting, this new mix of aerials and acrobatics with these creatures, just to explore their reactions.”
   Not everything worked.
   “We tried acrobats being dragged by horses, and a sleigh. It crashed and burned.”
   Recalls Sylvani, “The first time the horses saw the Russian bar, they flipped out.”
   There’s a rehearsal every day because the horses, Gauthier says, “need a lot of training. We have to organize so every department – even the techs – gets a share of time to rehearse.”
   And when major changes are implemented, “It takes a week or two until the rhythm of the show falls back into place.”
   Deciding what to change, or what to add, is a subtle process.
   “The show speaks to you,” Gauthier explains. “It tells you ‘this is where he belongs.’ It’s a matter of georhythmics and the color of the act. You have to do a lot of listening and be open to receive messages from the show – and from the boss. He has a very good eye.”
   Changes are afoot, but Gauthier won’t elaborate, other than to tease, “We have a new arrival. We’re going to be exploring new dimensions.”
   Apart from the stable manager and two others who live in RVs near the tent, cast and crew forgo impersonal hotel rooms in favor of apartments. But Cavalia does have its own traveling kitchen, where Chef Yves Babineau and kitchen manager François Guindon prepare two meals a day – lunch and a pre-show dinner. Most of the artists are vegetarians but, observes Babineau, “the crew likes its carbs,” so he offers six different selections at each meal. The menu changes daily and has featured such delicacies as oysters and calamari.
   Just as Cavalia creator and director Normand Latourelle is sensitive to the needs of his horses, he understands the strain that touring can place on human relationships. When possible, he finds jobs for spouses and partners. Rider Karen Turvey’s boyfriend is the main usher, and one of Latourelle’s own sons is in charge of concessions.
   To alleviate separation anxiety, Côté spends his time off in Montreal, and his wife will visit Santa Monica for two weeks after Christmas. Sylvani’s family are frequent flyers to wherever Cavalia happens to land. “They come where I am to see the show,” Sylvani says, adding, “They’ll be here at Christmas.”
   For Gauthier, Cavalia is holiday enough. “I had a vacation nine years ago. Life is a vacation.”
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   Cavalia has extended its Santa Monica run through January 2nd. For information and reservations, call (866) 999-8111 or visit the website at www.cavalia.net.