End of 2011

Hello! Well I have two more days left of training in Montreal and then it is holiday time for two weeks! We have our final internal presentation on Friday and then myself and two other boys Antonio and Krito have to race off to the airport to catch our planes! I am ridiculously excited to go to England, I have wanted to see London for years, and it will be super nice to see Richard after missing him for two months. Of course, I wish I could be with my family but unfortunately that couldn't happen this year, but next year I will be able to go back home :) The past five months working with Cirque du Soleil has been everything I have dreamed of and more. I left Australia as a very young and naive18 year old just out of school and still living at home. I had no idea what to expect of my new adventure, I was just excited and ready to tackle anything. I never could have expected any of what I have experienced at Cirque du Soleil though, all of the mental and artistic challenges and of course life lessons you only learn from stepping out and seeing this big world alone. I feel I have had a speedy passage to adulthood here, of course I am still very young and oblivious to a million and one things, but I have learnt a lot and been forced to grow up a lot. Of course living alone I learnt to do practical things like laundry, cooking and grocery shopping but the things that really got me was dealing with my problems such as home sickness alone. It was when I didn't have my Dad to hug when I felt down that I realised I am a grown up here and I have to deal with things like a big girl! And of course, working and going through the creation process for a new show has taught me so much as well. I have experienced so many different art forms I never would have tried before, and every one of them has taught me so much and nurtured my growth as an artist. I feel so honoured to be a part of this creation, I didn't realise before coming to Montreal but not everybody that gets hired for Cirque gets a contract. Many get put into general formation, where they do three months of training and then get contracts or get sent home, discovering this made me appreciate my position even more. Also, very few artists get to be part of a creation of a show from the very beginning, many get placed into acts when the show has already kicked off. Our cast is very lucky to be building this beautiful show together, we own these acts and have built them from the get go. Once our two week holiday is over staging officially begins and 2012 will be kicked off with a very intense schedule until the premier in April. Staging is meant to be a rather tiring process with long hours, endless rehearsals and   late nights however I shall let everyone know how it goes when I have experienced it myself. Until then Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!