Cirque du Soleil’s own sexy boy

Cirque du Soleil’s own sexy boy

Cirque du Soleil’s mammoth new production of Saltimbanco snakes its way around the country over the next few months, no doubt leaving a trail of dazzled audiences in its wake.

But for Brazilian performer Emerson Souza Neves (pictured), one of the openly gay cast members, it’s a bittersweet journey. The former professional diving champion made one brief earlier visit to Perth for a diving competition, and always yearned to return to Australia.

Now he’s here for months on end, but too busy to be able to see the country for himself.

“It’s such a beautiful country, but I just haven’t been able to go out and see it very much because of the show. But every job has a good and a bad side, and the good sides of working with Cirque far outweigh the bad,” he told the Star Observer.

Saltimbanco is Neves’ first international touring show with Cirque after five years working for the company on US-based productions.

Before that, he had qualified to compete for the Brazilian diving team in the 1996 Olympic Games, but a last-minute injury meant he had to drop out. It was this breadth of dive experience that prompted Cirque to invite him to audition for the company’s Las Vegas water-based shows.

But at the end of his training, there were no positions immediately available in the water shows, so he was asked to retrain for work on dry land, a prospect that made him feel like a fish out of water (pardon the pun).

“I didn’t know how I was going to go because I’d been a diver all my life and water is my element. It wasn’t easy, there was a lot of adapting to do, but I love what I do,” he said

Neves now performs some of Saltimbanco’s most impressive (and dangerous) physical feats — the Chinese poles, the Russian swing and the trapeze bungee.

Perhaps surprisingly for such a seasoned athlete and aerial performer, he had no qualms about admitting to pre-show jitters with some of the riskier moves.

“I have a knee injury now, so in Russian swing I just spot and do cues. I used to be a flyer for Russian swing though, and that is enough to give you nightmares. Before every jump I’d be so tense, it’d be so hard to relax and enjoy myself.

Jumping in Russian swing definitely scares me the most.”

Away from the high-flying daredevil work, Neves also lets his saucy side show in Saltimbanco, with his baroque clowning character, the cheeky ‘Sexy Boy’.

“I don’t consider myself sexy at all, but when the original Sexy Boy left the show, they asked me to step up. I think it’s because of the Brazilian way — the way we move, the way we dance. I do have a lot of fun doing Sexy Boy. He’s very naughty and he wants to be the centre of attention at all times. Boys or girls — he doesn’t care as long as it’s attention.”

info: Saltimbanco plays at Rod Laver Arena May 25 – June 11. Visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

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