http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERch966UhFI
PORTLAND, Maine - The circus has come to town - and it's a far cry from Barnum and Bailey. Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment giant, often described as the world's biggest producer of theatrical shows, and it's bringing one of its traveling shows to Portland this week.
Varekai is one of 19 different productions staged at the moment by Cirque De Soleil across the globe. "Varekai is a word that means 'forever' in the language of the Gypsies, and it talks about one's journey," says Cirque's publicist Vanessa Napoli.
It's a journey, says Napoli, that takes its inspiration from the Greek myth of Icarus, who flew too close to the sun - with fatal consequences. But in this version, which was written specifically for Cirque du Soleil, there's a different outcome.
"The writer Dominique Champagne said, basically, 'What if I could change the ending to the Greek mythology and Icarus does not plummet into the ocean,' " Napoli says, " 'but when he loses his feathered wings he lands in a magical enchanted forest, and so he lands in Varekai,' " where he meets all sorts of weird and wonderful creatures, and eventually falls in love.
The plot, though, is perhaps secondary to the action, as Cirque's troupe of 45 performers perform jaw-droppingly dangerous feats of dexterity, strength and balance.
On the afternoon before opening night in Portland, a team of Eastern European acrobats practices an act called "Russian Swing." It features two big swinging gondola-type devices on swiveling platforms, which catapult performers high into the air. They either land on one of the swings, or are hurled into giant sheets hanging from the back of the stage, from where they slide down to the ground.
The acrobats are wearing safety harnesses during rehearsal. That won't be the case tonight, says Napoli. "Right now, during rehearsals, they're trying new tricks, which is why they're tied. But during the show they're not," Napoli says.
Tom Porter: "That's unbelievable - they're not going to be tied?"
Vanessa Napoli: "Well you can definitely hear the 'huhhhh' (sharp intake of breath), 'Oh, my gosh' in the audience while this act is happening."
"This is top level, you know," says Dymtro Liubashenko, a veteran of the Russian Swing team. "For us, it's really like - for the sportsman, it's actually like a dream to work here."
I ask the powerfully-built Ukrainian how much practice it takes to perfect the act and stay at that level. "One year was really hard training, and now we're OK," he says. "We don't need a lot of training."
Tom Porter: "Do you find it kind of easy now?"
Dymtro Liubashenko: "Yeah."
Tom Porter: "Well, it doesn't look easy."
Another highlight of Varekai is a 5-minute aerial display from someone who's a bit more local to the area. "My name's Kerren McKeeman. I'm from Hollis, New Hampshire. I do a solo act on the single point trapeze."
McKeeman has been working on her act for more than four years. At one point, she hangs from the trapeze by the toes of one foot. Another trick sounds equally, if not more, dangerous - definitely not one to try at home.
Kerren McKeeman: "I hang from my neck."
Tom Porter: "Do you get scared?"
Kerren McKeeman: "I like to say it's sort of a healthy fear, you know. It motivates you to train harder, sure. If it's making you nervous and you have sweaty palms then that's not the right kind."
McKeeman - whose petite build clearly belies considerable strength - studied gymnastics and dance at school. She got the circus bug early on, she says, after attending a camp organized by Circus Smirkus - the Vermont-based international youth circus.
Other performers took different routes to Cirque du Soleil. Raphael Botelho is from Brazil. "I am an acrobat. I came from capoeira," he says. "It's a martial art from Brazil."
After capoeira, Botelho became a professional break dancer before successfully auditioning for his "dream job" at Cirque du Soleil six years ago. "You need to believe in your dreams," he says.
Cirque du Soleil spokesperson Vanessa Napoli says the Montreal-based company employs some 1,500 performers globally - many of them already prize-winning athletes.
"Usually they are national champions," she says. "We have a pair that were world champions in acrobatic gymnastics for two years in a row. So they're at a super professional level."
But she says beyond sheer physical prowess, Cirque du Soleil's acrobats also need to be able to convey emotion to the audience, they need to have stage presence.
''Varekai" runs at the Cross Insurance Center in Portland through the weekend.