EXCLUSIVE: Here’s the trailer that’s not for the faint-hearted.
It’s for Cirque Life, the Canadian docuseries for pubcaster CBC that pulls back the curtain on the world-famous Cirque de Soleil. “I love adrenaline, and pushing myself and pushing my limits,” says one performer as the trailer gets underway. “I make people believe impossible things are possible,” adds another.
The five-part series follows the circus performers as they prepare for Luzia, one of the Canadian contemporary circus company’s most celebrated shows. Performers, clowns and managers talk about the risks, egos and family atmosphere at Cirque, as shots of death-defying stunts play.
The series is following the cast and crew of Luzia as it returns home to Montréal for the first time since its 2016 premiere. They include Cirque Life running woman Olivia Aepli, acrobat Mikaël Bruyère-L’Abbé, singer Majo Cornejo, cyr wheel performer and pole dancer Zore España, contortionist Aleksei Goloborodko and clown Eric Koller among others.
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Over a relentless summer, they tackle up to ten performances per week during a four-month run. The stakes are high and footage shows performers injured, proving things can go wrong.
The whole spectacle is summed up by one piece to camera, where a performer is asked, “What’s the difference between being a Cirque artist and a rock star?” The response: “Um, I don’t think there is one.”
Cirque Life comes from Cineflix, whose sale arm, Cineflix Rights, is the worldwide distributor. Exec producers include Tanya Blake and J.C. Mills for Cineflix; and Susan Levison and Richard Lowell for Cirque du Soleil. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual, & Sports; Jennifer Dettman is Executive Director, Unscripted Content; Sandra Kleinfeld is Senior Director, Documentary; and Ann-Marie Redmond is Executive in Charge of Production.
Could be one for those wanting more high-octane TV following Netflix’s Skyscraper Live event, which saw free solo climber Alex Honnold scale Taiwan’s Taipei 101 building without a harness.