Add to favorites Examiner Bio

A Conversation with Cirque du Soleil coach Michael John Ocampo

Photo courtesy Cirque du Soleil

It all started in Baie-Saint-Paul, a small town near Quebec City, in Canada. There, in the early eighties, a band of colourful characters roamed the streets, striding on stilts, juggling, dancing, breathing fire, and playing music. They were Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (the Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers), a street theatre group founded by Gilles Ste-Croix. Already, the townsfolk were impressed and intrigued by the young performers, including one Guy Laliberté who would later found and serve as CEO of Cirque du Soleil. Today the company has more than 4,000 employees from over 40 different countries, including more than a 1,000 artists. I recently had the chance to chat with Michael John Ocampo, who serves as acrobatics coach for Cirque’s long-running arena show, Saltimbanco.

 

Mike Parker – Prior to joining Cirque du Soleil you were a gymnast. While athletic ability is obviously hugely important to the performance, there is also an amazing amount of theatrical training that is also required. Were you involved in theatre prior to your association with Cirque?

 

Michael John Ocampo – No. I took a drama course in high school, but it was nothing I was aspiring to do. They saw me at a national championship event and they asked me to come and audition. All of the theatrical training that I’ve ever had was provided by Cirque du Soleil.

 

It was nothing I was looking to do. I was in my second year at the university and I had planned to become a French teacher. When the audition came along and they asked me to join their upcoming North American tour, the decision faced me to quit university for a while or to pursue Cirque for a while. Obviously, I chose to go with Cirque du Soleil.

 

Parker – Saltimbanco has been a touring show since 1992, but was retooled a couple of years ago to play in large arenas that can seat perhaps 5000 people. What challenges does presenting this show, which is essentially a very intimate show, in that kind of venue present?

 

Ocampo – The main challenge was being able to retool the stage very quickly. The performance itself has basically been opened up to play much higher and further to the sides of the stage so that all of the audience can see it.

 

Parker – Saltimbanco was designed, as I understand it, as something of an urban myth, or perhaps and urban allegory would be a better description. In addition to being simply an evening of entertainment, Saltimbanco also seeks to impart a message of hope through diversity, does it not?

 

Ocampo – You are reading into that correctly. That is what the producers were trying to do with Saltimbanco, and you see that through the characters, because there is not a real strong story line, but rather ideas and themes. One theme is the idea the diversity of city life and family. The simply idea is that city life can be a joyous, happy life. It is full of color, the music is upbeat, the lighting design is bright for the most part.

 

Parker – You’ve been with Cirque du Soleil as both an artist and as a coach for around 15 years. When you joined the circus, did it ever occur to you that you would be there for so long?

 

Ocampo – No. Not at all. I figured I’d give it three to five years, then return to university and get a real job. Fifteen years later I’m still here. It was not something I had planned, but I can’t complain. I’ve been able to travel the world twice and am getting ready to head out on my third European tour. I’ve been very lucky.

 

Parker – Tell me about your responsibilities as a Head Coach.

 

Ocampo – I oversee all of the acrobatics in the show. I have to look at who is injured and tweak things in the show and oversee the other coaches who work on the show. I report to the main office while we are on tour regarding everything that happens that involves the acrobatics.

 

Parker – What advice would you give to a young person who wants to run away and join the circus?

 

Ocampo – If someone wants to join Cirque Du Soleil, they are going to be at a high level of acrobatics. We take gymnasts, trampolinists, tumblers, sports acrobats. Now that is broadening and we are taking people from extreme sports like skateboarders, rollerbladers, divers – depending on the type of show we are casting at the time. We don’t necessarily look for people in the prime of their career, but maybe people who are approaching the end of their traditional career but still want to continue to perform.

 

Auditions are held worldwide and all of the information regarding how to audition for Cirque can be found on cirquedusoleil.com/casting.

 

Parker – Last words?

 

Ocampo – Saltimbanco is a great show to see, particularly if you have never seen a Cirque show before. It is the first Cirque du Soleil show I ever saw and I was just in awe.

 

 

1. What’s your favorite sound?

Ocampo – I’ve become a runner and I love to run through park settings when there is snow on the ground. I love the crunching sound of snow beneath my feet when I run.

 

2. What makes you happy?

Ocampo – Being with my partner and being able to tour with him.

 

3. What makes you angry?

Ocampo – I don’t generally get angry, but when people lie to me, that makes me angry; particularly when it involves the safety of one of our artists.

 

4. What is the secret of success?

Ocampo – Finding what makes you happy and experience it on a daily basis.

 

5. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, living or dead, who would it be?

Ocampo – Whoopie Goldburg.

 

6. What is the epitaph that is written on your tombstone?

Ocampo – “He tried his best. Whether he succeeded is up to you.”

 

7. When you get to heaven, what is the first thing you want to hear God say to you?

Ocampo – I’m really not that much of a religious person. I grew up Catholic, but kind of left the church. I think of myself as a spiritual person, but not in relation to God and heaven.