Kooza: Day 1

Oh my god. I mean...oh my god.

Back stage at a Cirque show is exactly what you would imagine it to be. I arrived for my 6 o' clock call and went straight into the Artistic Tent, right behind the Big Top. First off, there are floor mats and scaffolding and trampolines (the trampoline brand is called EuroTramp, by the way) and gym equipment everywhere, and everyone is working out or stretching or practising the high wire and ribbon acrobatics like it's any other day at the office. These men are gorgeous. And the women are so petite and tiny.

I was introduced to Terryl, the woman I'm taking over from in wardrobe, and she showed me around and introduced me to various people. There are people from all over: Russians, Frenchmen, Spaniards, Canadians and Englishmen to name a few. I was introduced to two Englishmen, Lee (the Pickpocket) and Sean (one of the clowns), and we stood there chatting for a quarter of an hour about England. It turns out Lee lived about 20 minutes away from my parents. It was so weird to be standing in a circus tent talking to a clown and an acrobat about shite Tamworth is. Then I met Manon, this lovely little French woman who I think was also one of the clowns, and a really nice Russian girl who couldn't pronounce my name and then imitated my accent. Tarryl showed me the rest of the presets and then they called places for the show. For the next two hours all I really remember seeing were feathers, sequins, spandex and a lot of jockstraps, and then the evening ended with a lot of laundry and zipping and buttoning.

It is so exciting to meet a whole new group of people whom I would never have otherwise met. And to hear so many different accents and languages made me feel so comfortable with my own! Tomorrow night is the public preview and then the show opens on Friday night. I think Kooza is going to be an absolutely crazy, incredible experience. SO EXCITED!

-K