Star Cirque

A still moment to meet the Quidam players, who flex imagination as well as body.

Photographs by MICHAEL RONDOU, Text by SUSAN ASCHOFF
© St. Petersburg Times
published November 29, 2002

Name: Mark Ward

Mark Ward

Age: 36

Home: Texas

Role in Quidam: John, the navigator

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Nine, four with Quidam

"I have the opportunity to reach out and touch the audience. I like to think of myself as the element of intimacy. I'm the one who can reach out and shake you, or sit down beside you. That's the fourth wall kind of thing happening, and I'm allowed to break that."

Name: Jason Papp

Jason Papp

Age: 28

Hometown: Hamilton, Ontario

Role in Quidam: Boom-Boom, a.k.a. La Mort

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Four

"I'm a character whose soul has left him and is struggling between life and death. I'd guess you'd call it purgatory. I'm from the darker side of human relationships, an evil seduction. I'm the bully on the playground."

Name: Elena Lev

Elena Lev

Age: 20

Hometown: Moscow

Role in Quidam: Contortionist with 10 hoops

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Eight, one with Quidam

"I've been traveling since I was a baby" with circuses. "My mother (Elena) was my coach. Cirque du Soleil hired my father (Andrei). He does the high bar (trapeze). All my friends and family are in the circus. My act was created by me and my parents. I've been doing it for 10 years. It's something of my own; I can change it if I want to. I like my life. If I was reborn, I'd go to the same direction."

Name: Mireille Goyette

Mireille Goyette

Age: 21

Hometown: Quebec

Role in Quidam: Rabbit; skipping ropes and Spanish Webs

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Four

My character "is looking for love all the time. She plays with guys, someone who likes to tease. She never knows if the one she has is the good one, so she goes to someone else." On her dressing room mirror, Goyette always writes, in lipstick, Life is Too Beautiful to Let It Pass By.

Name: Elena Kolesnikova

Elena Kolesnikova and Alexandre Maiorov

Age: 26

Hometown: Volgograd, Russia

Role in Quidam: Banquine, a group of 15 performing synchronized acrobatics

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Seven

"I am a flyer. For me it's normal, because I did this all my life. The good thing is we can see the world and we can see the people" traveling with the show. "When you travel a lot, it's part of your life. My daughter, Anastasia, was born two years ago. She's in Russia. My sister takes care of her. That's good for her to be home in Russia. She learns how to speak Russian, and she plays with all the kids. I miss her. When we talk on the phone, she shows me things. She shows me her dress, because she thinks I can see her."

Name: Alexandre Maiorov

Age: 30

Hometown: Yaroslavl, Russia

Cirque du Soleil Quidam coverage

Role in Quidam: Banquine, a group of 15 performing synchronized acrobatics

Years with Cirque du Soleil: Seven

"I'm a catcher. A catcher has to catch a flyer and throw the flyer. We are like choreography. For me, it was always sports. Not only acrosports but soccer, gymnastics, basketball. At 7, the coach came to see us (at school) and asked us to try acrosports. My parents (Leonid, a retired builder, and Galina, who works as a retail clerk) said, "If you want to go to acrosports, go.' When I was young, I only wanted to be a good sportsman. Now, Cirque du Soleil is my dream. And my dream is true."

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