Seduced by Cirque
‘You have two major warm-ups, the physical warm-up first, and then the psychological warm-up. I break up the psychological warm-up in two parts, it starts when I do my makeup when I’m slowly getting into the mood of performing ... It’s important that you build your character and get
into this world of performing.’
GAËL OUISSE
There is no other way to put it: Gaël Ouisse was seduced by Mystère.
“I fell in love with the (Cirque du Soleil) show,” when he saw it in Las Vegas, he says. And that one experience was enough to make him determined to run away and join the Cirque.
The 36-year-old gymnast is a native of Saint-Brieuc, France.
He began working on his craft at age eight, eventually studying physical education at university. He competed nationally in France and internationally, but making the Cirque roster was a dream come true.
“There is path from gymnastics to moving to Cirque that is well established today,” says Ouisse, adding that many gymnasts look to Cirque du Soleil to further their acrobatic career.
He was first invited in 2005 to perform in Love, a popular musical tribute to The Beatles playing in the Cirque tent in Las Vegas. He stayed with the show until 2009 when he joined Totem.
Totem is about evolution, love and technology and the characters range from scientists to apes. Ouisse says every Cirque show is different, and Totem brings its own special quality to the stage in a lavish production.
“In this touring show there is large automation as well as innovative projection of images while the show is running. This gives more content to the story and to the images that are produced onstage,” Ouisse says.
He’s part of the Rings Trio Act in which Bollywoodinspired music accompanies two men as they compete against each other on the rings until a woman arrives and shows the men how it is performed. As a result, he spends a lot of time in the air.
He also plays other roles in the shows, including a beach boy during the Rings Trio act, and also a business man in a humorous sequence called Monkey Business.
Ouisse says the cast has to be incredibly fit to perform in such an intense show.
“You have two major warm-ups, the physical warm-up first, and then the psychological warm-up. I break up the psychological warm-up in two parts, it starts when I do my makeup when I’m slowly getting into the mood of performing. Then I go to my physical warm-up right before going onstage, and it’s important that you build your character and get into this world of performing,” he says.
The physical warm-up is about 45 minutes and consists mostly of stretching exercises, combined with weights and working out with rings, he says. The makeup alone for the character that he plays in the show requires about an hour to apply.