VoxSusana Blog

The last two weeks have been such an emotional trip. I'm not sure if I can describe it well enough to give you an idea of what most everyone has been going through but I'll try. The last days of the show, Saltimbanco, were intense to be sure. Everyone knew the end was near and there were the typical symptoms of loss and separation anxiety. Some people were staying distant and others were bonding even more. We were getting together to toast each other every night and former Saltimbanco players who had moved on to other shows came into town to be a part of the goodbye. I made some really good friends, including Elisa, Chris and Maggie. I will miss them so much. I also just started getting to know some of the other wives and partners so it was a little frustrating to get cut off so quickly. It really showed for all of us on the day of the last show and on the next two days as people were leaving. So there we all were, family, friends, crew, staff, and former castmates at the

If you've been wondering where I've been and why I haven't been writing, it's this simple...the 69 Techno Show. That is the name of the Technicians Show, a parody of Saltimbanco, which we presented for the Saltimbanco artists. (69 is because Saltimbanco has performed in 69 cities.) Some of the acts are funny, some are serious and some are both. Some of the techs and crew learned how to do Chinese Poles, Russian Swing, Trapeze and Bungees. They were actually pretty good! For me, it was both fun and nerve-racking. I was the pink singer (the songbird) and it was really fun to step into Chantal and Francine's shoes for a little while. Elisa sang as well and we became good friends during this time. I sang parts of Adagio and Amazonia with Elisa and as a solo, I sang a Michel Colombier song, for the beginning of Bungees, which went over well and is really suited to my voice. Thanks Michel! You're with us in spirit... Here are the kids with Elisa and me. They p

Now that we are in Rio, the spouses/partners get the best part of the deal. We get to sit by the pool, go to the beach, the gym, and go shopping. So, we've been so-o-o-o busy that I haven't written. We've walked Ipanema Beach and Copacabana and explored some of the nightlife here. There is so much to see. I've made some really good friends in a short time so it will be hard to leave in a few weeks. Everyone is feeling a bit of that stress. But at night we fall asleep to the sound of the waves which is enough to relieve the stress for a short while. Okay well, there have been a couple of parties to go to. You wouldn't expect this group to just go back to the hotel every night. We had a premiere party which wasn't much of one and that was disappointing since I never attended a real Cirque du Soleil party. The Halloween party a few days later made up for it a bit. Getting dressed up is really fun for this group!

We are finally here and absolutely thrilled to be sitting in our room listening to the waves crashing from the beach outside our hotel. We've only been here a little over 24 hours and we've already driven around Ipanema, Copacabana and visited Corcovado Mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer statue. What an amazing view! Everyone is in a better mood now that they have a little time off and well..., we're in paradise! There is going to be a lot more to write about in the weeks to come. I´m really glad that Cirque picked this setting to be the last one for Saltimbanco. It is getting more "real" by the minute that this show is going to end. It is sad because this is a really great show. It´s so uplifting and the music is great. I´m really going to miss the cast and crew. I´ve gotten to know some people pretty well in the short time I´ve been here and for some others, they´ve been together for years. My hope is that everyone will have great opportunities in

I don´t think I´ve partied this much since college. I'm finally staying home to recover from all the antics. In fact, Armen is out tonight, again, because some of the guys from the Barbatuques are performing in a band but I just had to bow out. Gotta have boundaries! So I now have an opportunity to put down some thoughts. There hasn't been much time to blog with moving hotels, going out and staying out late, preparing for the tech show and music class, etc. Oh yeah, I signed up to give a few music classes to the students here. My birthday dinner was a great time. We went to the Grill Hall, a Churrascaria , which is a Brazilian steakhouse where the waiters continuously go around with all kinds of barbequed meats on skewers, in rodizio style, until you tell them to stop. Well, you get a token or a sort of hourglass shaped wooden piece that has red on one side and green on the other, meaning stop and go obviously. Of course, the red doesn't seem to stop the waiters from

That's what the stage manager calls out when it's time for the band to take their place at the top of the show. I guess it's the equivalent of "Places, please!" This past Sunday, after a full week of shows (10 for the week and 2 that day), the Cirque band performed for us at a club called Bleecker Street and rocked the house! The party started at 1 am and went til around 4:30am. It was a lot of fun! I took some pics and video, as well as danced like a mad women. (You can tell that since some of the pics are blurry..haha!)

If you're in Sao Paulo and want to go to a great place for Brazilian food, music and fun, you must go to Barnaldo Lucrecia. This is a great place! It's high energy. The bands there are amazing and the food is great. Everyone here sings with the bands and dances in the aisles, even the waiters. http://www.barnaldolucrecia.com.br/ It's so much fun!

I am so far away from the US but I'm often reminded that "there's no place like home." First if all there is a lot of poverty in Brazil and it's right in your face. We can see one favela (slum) from our hotel window in the midst of a nice part of town. (The picture is a favela from Rio so you get the idea). Also, being one of only a handful of Americans here on the tour, it can be difficult to hear the regular jabs against Americans that I hear from non-Americans and some Americans who choose not to see the positive in our country. Americans are often characterized as materialistic, loud, obnoxious and narcissistic towards the rest of the world. It's strange to me how often I've seen the non-Americans on this tour lose their cool over something. But no matter what anyone says, I really believe that there is so much good we do in the world that often goes unrecognized. And when I received this email, I was reminded of that and felt a little closer to home.

Up to now I've been writing about what makes being here with Cirque really fun and interesting, and it is. But there is also another side for family members that can be not so fun, even taxing and discouraging. I don't mean to bring anyone down but sometimes I am really bored and it can be depressing in a city like Sao Paulo since there so much fear around going anywhere alone. Anyway, I try to get involved in as much as possible but then again, this is a workplace and when the cast and crew is at work, there isn't a lot to do socially. I see some of the family members but the Russian wives hang out together and the other family members usually have things to do with their children. Now, this can be sad and boring but I fill my time with online courses and learning music. The thing is when you are alone, you only have yourself to talk to and that is not easy. We often fill our lives up with so much that we don't even know who we are without all that stuff. That

One of the most interesting things I've done so far in Brazil is hang out with the Barbatuques . This is a famous Brazilian body percussion group. Our Artistic director, Matthew Jessner, set up an exchange with the group which included some "getting to know each other time." On Monday night, we had a pizza party with them at their director Fernando Barbaros' house in an area of Sao Paulo called Vila Madalena. I tried to talk to the people there and worked on my Portuguese a bit while they practiced their English. We had pizza made in a dome shaped brick oven in the back yard. Later we hung out in the house and participated in a jam session. Everyone clapped and sang or grabbed an instrument and played along. The next day we all gathered to learn body percussion. It was really amazing. Here's a video of the group.

Every few weeks, the cast and crew of Saltimbanco gets to enjoy double dark days when they can go and explore the place they are touring in or just relax by the pool. We decided to get out of Sao Paulo for some clean air and fun in the sand. Monday morning, we rented two cars and eight of us went on this journey. We weren't exactly sure which beach we would be staying at but we had Betty with us (one half of the Boleadoras act). She speaks 5 languages including Portuguese so we were in good hands and were not too concerned about getting lost. After having lunch at one of the only restaurants we could find in this remote area, we came upon an area called Camburi. It's a tiny beach town north of Sao Paulo on the coast. We stayed in a pousada which is basically a bed and breakfast. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. When you get off the main highway, you basically turn down one of many dirt roads and it can be really confusing to find a place to stay or eat. But we were

We had a great time Sunday night celebrating some Cirque cast and crew birthdays. Here are some pictures to prove it!

In case you don't recall, Mother's Day (in May) was very exciting here in Sao Paulo. There were bombings and shootings; just the usual family fun. So the authorities decided it would be a good idea if they let the petty criminals out of jail for Father's Day (today) and warned us to be careful out there. Oh, and by the way, they are supposed to turn themselves back in. We were instructed by the consulate to stay around the hotel or at the site for Sunday and Monday and not to take any buses or go to ATM's in case there is violence. For me, I stayed at the hotel for the most part. Sunday seems to have been a relatively quiet day. Of course, there's always tomorrow and it's our day off so we'll have to figure out something. Some people were really worried but we have some new Brazilian-Armenian friends who said we shouldn't worry too much. People don't like the police apparently; especially the criminals. These friends testified to having

So I finally arrived in Sao Paulo yesterday morning and have started my adventure with Cirque du Soleil and the Saltimbanco cast and crew! The flight was long and tiring but I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw the first signs of civilization. What started as beautiful rolling hills and a landscape of houses in suburbia quickly became a concrete jungle from the aerial view. It's not exactly a paradise but being back with my husband makes it worth it. I do have to say it was one the smoothest landings I've ever experienced. Thanks John Kennedy! (pilot for AA flight 995) Shortly after I landed I realized that my bags didn't make it with me. Actually, I had a strange feeling about that the night before my flight. My husband said that the flights were overbooked by 20% and some Cirque families were having difficulties getting bumped from flights. I read some tips for travelers which said if you check-in very early you will be assured a seat on the plane but the down

This the official 1st blog entry - yeah! It's T minus 7 days until I take off for Sao Paolo, Brazil and join the Cirque du Soleil family. I'm actually along for the ride since my husband, Armen Chakmakian , is in the Saltimbanco band. I've already been on the road with them once (in June for 10 days in Buenos Aires) which was amazing and I'm back in LA now. The next leg of the tour is about 4 months! Do you think I'll survive? If you know me, you know that I need to have a purpose and for the next 4 months that might just be writing this blog. Of course, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity. So, I've taken an extended leave from my job and put everyday life on hold to go and live abroad until the end of the year with one of the best Cirque shows and an amazing group of talented people. Armen has already gone ahead to get settled and hopefully not get into too much trouble. The premiere party is supposed to be a blast especially if the Russians want