Dan
Worldwide, --
Male, 33
Lead artist, feature act and fire coach for Cirque Du Soleil. Recently for the ZAiA production in Macau from 2010 to 2012. Currently freelancing while between Cirque contracts.
I'm a fire dancer / fire manipulation specialist. I use flaming props such as fire swords, fire ropes, fire staffs, with special effects and pyrotechnics in a combination of dance and martial arts style movements. Ask me anything, and check my website... www.sparkfiredance.com
Well the key there is it's not a mistake if the audience doesn't realise. There are obvious mistakes, jugglers dropping, acrobats falling over, these happen once in awhile, as rarely as we can make it! Then there are the times when something wasn't done quite as smoothly as it could have been, when an artist is sick and can only give 90%, when an injury means a trick is skipped, these are more often than you'll ever know.
Share Answer: 
From 30K USD for new recruits in certain acts, up to 250K USD for established artists who hold exclusive rights to their act.
sources:
- Brian d Johnson, Macleans magazine, "cirque du soleil" July 27 1998
- Cirque_du_Soleil HRM Practices ICMR center for Management Research, Manasi Pawar 2007
Share Answer: 
From 30K USD for new recruits in certain acts, up to 250K USD for established artists who hold exclusive rights to their act.
Sources:
- Brian d Johnson, Macleans magazine, "cirque du soleil" July 27 1998
- Cirque_du_Soleil HRM Practices ICMR center for Management Research, Manasi Pawar 2007
Share Answer: 
It took me 2 hours in the beginning. After quite a few months of doing the same makeup day after day I got it down to a comfortable 35 minutes. If I really need to I can do it in 22 minutes, but it's definitely cutting a few corners. I've seen an acrobat (who will go unnamed) do his in 15 minutes when he was really late, but you'd not want to get caught by the director looking like that. For photoshoots or media appearances they'll have the head makeup artist do alot on us and it can take several hours.
Share Answer: 
Dry Cleaner
What happens to clothing at dry cleaners that goes unclaimed?
Fashion Model
What's the most lucrative type of gig models can book?
Antiques Dealer
How easy is it to forge a rare piece, and are fakes a big problem in the antiquing world?
Group acts have rotations so different versions can be performed depending on whose out and there's always a contingency plan. The lead roles have backups. The acts can be modified, or if it's a specialty act there's often a backup act other artists can do. If not then the act can be cut. The backup artists and acts are usually rotated into the show once or twice a week to keep them practiced at it. Artists are also rotated through different show cues so they can be covered if necessary. Cirque encourages artists to continue to develop other skills that it can utilise for backup acts. If the injury happens during show the artist is assessed by the physios and the call is made to stage management as to whether they'll be out of the next show fully or on a modified track, for example cues only, no jumping etc. If you've gotten sick or injured outside of work, or an injury has worsened, you're expected to notify a minimum of 3 hours prior to show so stage management can modify the lineup accordingly. If an artist from a specialty act is out with a serious injury for quite awhile, i.e. surgery, then another temporary replacement act can be sourced and flown in. If an act is already out, and someone from a backup act gets sick there might be an emergency staging to modify the show as necessary. So really, there's quite a few variations that can occur on the shows, and we have to keep on our toes! As for myself, when I was too injured to perform at all (which was only once for a couple weeks) the two chinese dancers who I had been coaching fire performed a duo as replacement.
Share Answer: 
Worst, Chinese. Very unresponsive. Different social backgrounds.
Best, to be honest I love performing at festivals best, when there's some fat dubstep or drum n bass rockin out and I can go wild and the crowds there with me for every drop... Like this:
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=372227859566075
Share Answer: 
No special training. My discipline is a self taught one. When I started there wasn't even youtube videos to learn from, which I think gives you a special something, to have to learn and discover the hard way from scratch.
I was performing at festivals from my early teens, during and after finishing high school. Work wise most jobs I've had felt like a waste of time compared. I prefer to spend my hours developing something that expands myself, my learning, abilities, or buisness acumen... and often that only comes from running your own buisness.
I certainly had much more of a home base and stable life before performing full time though. I had to give up a lot to follow the performance path, it's a tough choice to make, but lifes full of those.
Still on the lookout for what to do next. The toughest question for any performer as it's not a great career to grow old with!
Share Answer: 
-OR-
Login with Facebook (max 20 characters - letters, numbers, and underscores only. Note that your username is private, and you have the option to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
(A valid e-mail address is required. Your e-mail will not be shared with anyone.)
(min 5 characters)
By checking this box, you acknowledge that you have read and agree to Jobstr.com’s Terms and Privacy Policy.
-OR-
Register with Facebook(Don't worry: you'll be able to choose an alias when asking questions or hosting a Q&A.)
Browse Jobs
Host a Q&A
Search
Submit Your Question
Host a Q&A
Last 7
