With Cirque du Soleil coming to the Miller High Life Theater in Milwaukee with their first Christmas show, ‘Twas the Night Before, you might be wondering what it takes to become a performer in one of the best-known acrobatic troupes in the world.
Based on Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” Cirque’s story about a jaded young girl who rediscovers the magic of Christmas features exhilarating acrobatics performed by a cast of 26 artists from 21 countries – including Aryn Shelander, an aerialist, contortionist, foot-archer and hair-hanger. She’s making her debut performance with Cirque.
Shelander will perform in a duo straps aerial act with partner Ben Huey, a cast member for the past three years, in which the pair will be suspended by two thin straps attached to an apparatus while 20 feet in the air.
Raised in San Francisco, Shelander has performed on “America’s Got Talent” and has graced stages across North America, Europe and the Mediterranean.
“I grew up going to Cirque du Soleil shows, and this is my absolute dream,” she says during a rehearsal break. “But it was one of those dreams that was almost too big to say out loud.”
Shelander’s affinity for Cirque started in high school when a close friend who she knew from gymnastics gave her a Cirque du Soleil scarf as a birthday present. “I wore that scarf to every important event, job interviews, whatever,” Shelander says. “It was my token of good luck.”
Tell us who you’d pick to be a Betty this year!
Then, at age 22, Shelander says she “found circus” when she met a contortionist. “She encouraged me to audition for a community circus in San Francisco,” Shelander explains. “I auditioned with my very regular gymnastics routine and I got into the program. I then met a coach, Serchmaa Byamba, who would become my contortion mom.”
Byamba is a world-renowned contortionist with expertise in Mongolian contortion, and inspired Shelander to train in Mongolian contortion for 10 years. She continued her tech job alongside, before quitting at 30 and switching all her attention to circus.
Now, five years later, Shelander’s in Milwaukee set to perform with Cirque du Soleil. “It sounds so cheesy, but it’s a dream come true,” she says.
So, is performing in Cirque du Soleil as difficult as it appears?
“That’s such a hard question to answer because the degree of challenge that we’re always trying to do needs to be matched to our strength, conditioning and skill level,” Shelander explains. “As we become more conditioned or used to a skill, we’ll add the next skill. I’m always trying to perform at about 80% of my max because we always want to be safe. If I was performing at 100%, that would add more risk.”
“We also need to think about the safety and longevity of our performance because sometimes we are performing the same act six times in one weekend,“ she adds.” We always must have this margin of comfort because the repetition is very challenging, too.”
Rehearsals can run as long as seven hours each day.
“We always try to work within our energy level,” Shelander explains. “Only two of the rehearsals have us doing our peak skills. Other times, we only need to be lightly warm and we aren’t doing our most powerful skills. We need to make sure everyone has a safe amount of energy and that we get time for breaks and food.”
Although she’ll be performing in ‘Twas the Night Before for the first time in Milwaukee, Shelander isn’t a total stranger to the city, having performed in a Cirque Mechanics show in the city in March 2024. “It’s been very nice to revisit Milwaukee and go back to some of our favorite coffee shops,” Shelander says. “The quality of the coffee is amazing.” Discourse Coffee and Canary Coffee Bar are favorites among the Cirque du Soleil cast.
Cirque du Soleil has received a strong reception from Milwaukee audiences for past performances, says Melissa Colello, a Cirque veteran who serves as the show’s touring artistic director.
“I think the fact that we have come back to Milwaukee is a nice thing for us as a crew and cast,” Colello says. “It’s a little homey. The audience is always there for us.”
A Cirque cast member even took part in the Milwaukee Holiday Lights Festival’s Kickoff Extravaganza on Nov. 20.
Challenges abound for ‘Twas the Night Before performers, Colello explains. And differences in stage size, aerial points, light angles, and even the backstage areas can add challenges for the performers.
“Cirque du Soleil has high-level acrobatics,” she said. “We go from venue to venue and they’re all different.”
Casting is also highly important, given the importance of creating a team that works well together, Colello adds. “In a month, we’ll do 48 shows. It’s a lot of performances and they are so physical,” she says. “And having a cast that is cohesive is super important to the success of the show.”
Shows are Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 1 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sunday at noon.
