Lucie Colebeck on stage performing with Cirque du Soleil, which is back at the Royal Albert Hall for a two-month residency

LUCIE Colebeck spends some of her day upside down, flying through the air, it’s a skill she has nurtured since childhood and her ability to leap, twist and tumble has resulted in numerous titles as a gymnast.

Now she is a key performer for the world famous Cirque du Soleil, the gravity-defying theatrical company embarking this week on a two-month residency at the Royal Albert Hall.

The switch from professional competitions to performing in Cirque du Soleil’s 30th anniversary show, Alegría, has led her to develop a whole new skill set.

“It’s really different from being a professional gymnast or tumbler,” she said. “When you do competitions you train six or seven days a week to be ready for one or two competitions a year.

“Here, there are 14 of us and we do group training on the first day of each week.

“We practise the skills we need to use, work on the choreography and then do fitness training.

“You only have one session on the power track but then have between seven and 10 shows a week so that is instead of the two to three hours a day training you would do as a gymnast.”
With 14 people tumbling across the stage, synchronicity is the key.

Lucie Colebeck

“The choreography is about working in a group dynamic,” she said. “I saw it as a change from competing but also as an opportunity. Tumbling is an individual discipline and I trained by myself a lot. It could be quite robotic, and here it was a challenge to adopt a new way of working with 13 other people. It’s so fun.”

Choreographer Rachel Lancaster works on co-ordinating highly skilled and technical manoeuvres that have no room for error. Understandably it is a process that takes a lot of preparation.

“The creation process begins ahead of stage directions,” she said.

“We meet and get together and the designers work really hard with engineers to try and ascertain the limitations of the apparatus – and Cirque du Soleil are awesome with designing and creating apparatus.”

The thrill-givers ensure that for all the hair-raising moves, every step is planned.

“We carefully map it all out, look at the physics, before we try anything,” she said.

“We get together with the composer, the costume designer, lighting designer. The next stage is to bring in the acrobats and clowns, and that’s when it really comes together.”

Rachel’s background is in theatre and dance.

“I grew up in a household where my father was a mountaineer and rock climber. I was always surrounded by high-risk people as a child and I found that exciting. I went into dance and theatre and found out more about physical performance through research I was doing at the dance company.”

Alegría, a story of a kingdom that has lost its king and the power struggle that ensues, was first produced in 1994.

It has been seen by more than 14 million people around the world, performed in 255 cities in 40 countries and Rachel has looked at how the story and show could evolve.

“We examined the show from the start, and looked at what we wanted to keep and how it could be updated,” she said.

“Our job is to take the audience on a journey, that’s the driving force. We wanted to go on a new journey with this story and have people leave with the same sense of wonder, amazement, and disbelief.”

Coming to the Albert Hall adds another layer of excitement for the cast and crew.

“The venue is incredible, a great place to transfer,” Rachel said. “It is a magical place, a unique experience. Performing here always comes with a lot of excitement for all of us.”

As Lucie says as she limbers up for a physically challenging two-month spell, the Albert Hall’s vast historic space feels tailor-made for her work.

“Walking into the auditorium is always a jaw-dropping moment. It is an iconic show in an iconic venue.”

• Cirque du Soleil Alegría is at the Royal Albert Hall until March 3. Tickets available from cirquedusoleil.com