Life is a non-stop circus for Cirque du Soliel leader

For Jamie Reilly, life is always a bit of a circus. And for the last three years, her life has been nothing but Cirque du Soliel’s Amaluna, the latest spectacular from the Canadian company currently playing at Redmond’s Marymoor Park.

As the company manager, it’s a daunting task. Reilly began working on the show in 2010, when Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte decided the storied troupe’s next production should showcase women. So Reilly and other leaders started kicking around ideas.

“He really wanted to take the opportunity of a new creation to put women at the forefront, and show woman through strength, through delicacy, through balance, and all of the amazing talents that women have,” Reilly says.

That’s easier said than done when it comes to creating one of the ground breaking productions that incorporate the best of acrobatics, theater and music into a transcendent production the company is known for.

“There is an actual story line here to follow in Amaluna and from beginning to end, so in the creation process to build characters and to build a flow that would connect all of the numbers and the acts that we have through a story line was certainly in itself a different challenge.”

The rehearsals were grueling. The performers worked six days a week for two years to develop and hone their acts.

“I would say the biggest challenge is that you bring in such a large amount of creators from the acrobatic side to choreographers to custom designers to music composers and so on and so forth,” she says.

The show finally came together and debuted in Cirque du Soliel’s hometown of Montreal in April of 2012. It was a massive undertaking even on their home court. But bringing it to Redmond is something else altogether.

“Even preparing a theater like Redmond, we’ll start a year to 18 months prior to our arrival,” Reilly says.

It’s not surprising, considering Cirque du Soliel turns Marymoor Park into a small town. Sixty-five tractor-trailers carrying close to 2,000 tons of equipment rolled into town last month, from the Big Top to numerous other tents, box office, administrative offices and kitchen.

Reilly says the company travels with nearly 150 cast members, crew and professional staff, while 200 others support the show full time back in Montreal. It’s a family and a village. And once they’re done here, Reilly and the rest of the company will pick up and do it all over again at their next stops, which include Calgary, Edmonton, Denver and Minneapolis. But it’s a journey Reilly never tires of.

“This is where my heart belongs. I think that this is a lifestyle and very much as we’ve learned from our Native Americans you either are a nomad or you’re sedentary and I think I am definitely a nomad.”

And given the success of Amaluna – Cirque du Soleil just announced the company was extending its Redmond run through March 24 – it’s a safe bet the road will eventually lead Reilly and the company back in the not too distant future.