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Benjamin Pring bluffs his way Into Cirque du Soleil
and falls in love With a Clown by L isa B radshaw
enjamin Pring never meant to be a performer.
The 27-year-old was studying business at New York University
and taking dance classes just for fun. After a student performance,
someone told him he should go to the upcoming auditions for the
Doug Elkins Dance Company, which specializes in a combination
of hip hop, ballet and capoeria, a Brazilian form of martial arts.
Pring, whose family moved from the Philippines to Massachusetts
when he was a kid, went on a whim, “not expecting anything,” he says,
“but they took me.” He smiles as he admits, “I really fooled everybody
and just mimicked whatever I saw.”
Pring came from a swimming and diving background and is naturally
“very flexible,” he says, which helped him out considerably. In any case,
he knew a good thing when he saw it and stayed with the company for
three years while finishing his business degree.
After that he decided to audition for Pilobolus Dance Theatre, one of
the most creative troupes in modem dance with a major international
influence. The company performs all over the world, and its pieces are
regularly commissioned by other groups. “People who see Pilobolus never
forget it,” Pring states.
Pilobolus only employs a handful of dancers, and for three years Pring
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was one of them. “It didn’t require any dance skills,” he says, trying to
explain how he again held his own in a competitive audition. “Just a good
imaginative mind and good improvisational skills, which is really my forte.”
Eventually, one of the dancers from Pilobolus suggested he audition
with her for Cirque du Soleil. “Why not? 1 sent in my videotape, and
Cirque du Soleil said, ‘You’re the one we want.’ So here I am.”
The business major is still kind of amazed at his good fortune. “I haven’t
been to many auditions at all, and I don’t even have a head shot or a formal
resume. I really just, like, got by,” he laughs, “like the jack of all trades."
A
ctually, the jack of all trades is exactly what Pring is in Cirque du
Soleil’s Dralion. Playing the element of Fire, it’s his job to entertain
the audience during transitions on stage. When it’s time to set up
the trapeze, for instance, out comes Pring in one of the most memorable
of the company’s costumes and makeup jobs with a flag, a spear or in a
big metal wheel he rolls around in— “the gerbil wheel”— to distract you
from stage manipulations. “Don’t look at the setup, look at the big
wheeeel,” he laughs.
Project provides support, safety
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Word up: Slam champ
Alix Olson returns to Oregon
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