By Bonnie James/Deputy News Editor
Saltimbanco is a beautiful expression of life and love, declared American artiste R J Owens who plays the ringmaster in the globally-acclaimed entertainment group Cirque du Soleil’s longest running show.Saltimbanco had its Qatar premiere yesterday evening at Aspire Dome in front of a capacity crowd. There are five more shows – 8pm today and at 4pm and 8pm on Friday and Saturday.Saltimbanco – from the Italian “saltare in banco,” which literally means “to jump on a bench,” is a thrilling and kaleidoscopic celebration of awe-inspiring artistry and agility.It features breathtaking acrobatics and unbelievable athleticism during solo spotlights and epic ensembles. Decidedly baroque in its visual vocabulary, the show’s eclectic cast of characters draws spectators into a fanciful, dreamlike world, an imaginary city where diversity is a cause for hope.“I am unable to control my tears, when I witness some moments of the show, which is the purest expression of remembering to live life to its fullest,” Owens told Gulf Times yesterday.The portly 42-year-old from San Francisco, California, describes himself as “the oldest new member of the cast,” because he is senior to other artistes in age, but joined Cirque du Soleil only in January this year.
An actor and magician for 32 years, Owens was spotted by a Cirque du Soleil talent scout at the Edinburgh Festival and picked after a nine-hour audition held several months later.“I lost 44kg since January,” he said when asked whether he has to train like the other artistes. As Cirque du Soleil publicist Maxime Charbonneau explained, the team of 50 artistes from 21 countries have a fitness regime of two to three training sessions a week. A number of the artistes are from traditional circus schools and hence are highly accomplished acrobats and gymnasts. They are capable of performing up to nine shows a week. The total Saltimbanco team, including the crew, is about 90-strong.Two Boeing 747 cargo aircraft filled with 85 tonnes of equipment in 16 containers had landed in Doha airport on Sunday from Amman in Jordan.“The pre-rig works commenced on Monday in order to get the show ready on time. Our arena building specialists had visited the Aspire Dome earlier,” Charbonneau said while describing the venue as quite a big place.Though most of the acts are “fairly dangerous,” safety is a main priority. The artistic director and two physiotherapists keep a constant watch.Cirque du Soleil’s longest running touring piece, Saltimbanco has been seen by more than 13mn people all around the world since opening in 1992.“This is the show that opened the world to Cirque du Soleil and it was presented under a Big Top for 14 years,” recalled the publicist.The decision to make it an arena show was taken five years ago, so as to perform in smaller towns.The response to the Qatar debut of Saltimbanco has been very good, according to Charbonneau, with all the VVIP tickets sold out, a trend seen earlier in Beirut and Jordan as well.“Usually for a show, we start selling tickets six to eight months ahead, but in the case of the Qatar shows, even the announcement was made less than two months ago,” the publicist said.The passion that Saltimbanco inspires in the artistes was highly evident when Owens joyfully said “I have the best job in the world.”With a four-year contract that started in January this year, the artiste is determined to give his best to Cirque du Soleil, even after Saltimbanco closes in December with a grand finale at the group’s international headquarters in Montreal, Canada.“I will die with Cirque du Soleil, have a lot of tricks up my sleeve,” Owens beamed, a picture of confidence.