October 17.2003 • Just
THEATER
For now he’s living his dream. “O ne of my
goals in my life was to be in Cirque du Soleil,”
he says. “It changed the concept of the circus
completely. It's more than a circus because it
gives you a chance to express more of yourself.
To he in the show you have to he a dancer, an
actor. You play with your emotions, you play
with your feelings.”
Parisien concurs but adds that the perform
ers are not the only ones whose imaginations
are captured by Cirque du Soleil. “We’re help
ing people to have dreams,” he says. “ 1 believe
our world could be a better world, and what I
do— it’s my tiny, tiny collaboration toward that
better world." |H
T
he circus is in
town! And with
it, the totally hot
gay gymnast
Gaston Elie, who opens
the show high above
the big top on the
synchronized trapeze.
Gracefully moving in
perfect tandem with his
female partner, the 29-
year-old Argentinean is the high point of Cirque
du Soleil’s latest offering in Portland, Alegría,
which mas through Oct. 26 at the Grand
Chapiteau on Southwest Moody Avenue.
For anyone who hasn’t seen a Cirque
extravaganza, it’s an amazing blend of circus
acts, music and spectacle. While nominally
each show has a basic storyline and theme
(alegría is Spanish for elation and joy), accord
ing to artistic director Pierre Parisién (who is
also gay), it is “not important.” Instead, just let
the splendor of the production and the artistry
of the performers wash over you. Sit back and
gaze in wonder at the strength, elegance and
agility of these magnificent performers.
Especially Gaston Elie.
A sixth generation of a circus family, Elie
has been perfonning since he was 8 years old.
His father, who owns a traveling circus in
Buenos Aires, is a trapeze artist, his mother a
tightrope walker and his sister a contortionist.
When Elie was growing up, his father used
to let him perform a very simple trapeze routine
during the matinee shows (“because my number
wasn’t good enough to perform at night"). Liv
ing out of three suitcases, he has been on the
road his entire life and traveling with Cirque du
Soleil since 1999. “It is my passion,” he says.
For the past year, Elie has been joined by
his equally yummy boyfriend, Keith Stiles, a
fomier competitive bodybuilder.
The couple met
two years ago when
Alt’gnii was per
fonning in Denver.
Elie was riding the
Cirque float in the
Gay Pride parade,
and Stiles, a
licensed massage
therapist, was on
another float in
front of him. After
a series of mix-ups
worthy of a roman
tic comedy, they
hi xiked up and
tried to sustain a
long-distance rela
tionship for six
months. When
Alegria was hxiking
for a masseur to
join the company,
Stiles gave up his
business in Denver
and ran away with
the circus.
performs Alegria through
Oct. ¿6 under the Grand Chapiteau on Sou duces r
Mixxiy Avenue south of the Murquum Budge.
Tickets are $3/ .50-$65 from 800-678-5440 or
icuxc. cirquedusi >leil. com.
C IR Q U E DU SOLEIL
FLOYD Ski AVER is a Portland free-lance uriter
who just may note run away and join the circus.
HIV unfriendly?
Discrimination suit filed
against Cirque du Soleil
n July, Lambda Legal filed a federal discrimi
nation complaint agaiast Cirque du Soleil
when a performer claimed he was fired from
the Mystere show in Las Vegas because he is
HIV-positive.
Matthew Cusick, who has been living with
HIV for 10 years and whose viral load is un
detectable, was hired to perform as a catcher
on the Russian high bar and as a gymnast on
the Chinese poles. He claims that after four
months of training with the show (and exten
sive medical exams with Cirque du Soleil’s
physicians) he was let go before his first
perfonnance because he has HIV.
Although dangerous acts, neither would
have put him at risk of exchanging IxxJy fluids
with another performer. Yet, in a letter to
Lambda Legal, Cirque’s attorneys said the com
pany was acting as a “socially responsible
employer” and had an obligation to avoid
“known safety hazards."
Federal and state laws prohibit discrimina
tion agaiast people with disabilities if they pose
no real risk to themselves or to others and if
the illness doesn’t interfere with their ability to
do the job. Cirque du Soleil officials didn’t
respond to Just Out's requests for comment.
— FS
I
Gaston Elie’s jaw-dropping
irque du Soleil the pinnacle of A legria
is “very open
about homosexuality,” says Elie. “A lot of
gay people work for the
company, and it’s not a
problem.” In fact, Stiles
receives all the benefits that
any other spouse receives.
"When my boyfriend is
inside the circus, we kiss and
hug each other,” Elie says.
“We hold hands. Everybody
knows he’s my boyfriend,
and I’m gay.”
Artistic director Parisien
says that when Alegria was
in Vancouver, British
Columbia, recently, one of
its gay publicists was having
dinner at an outdiHir cafe
Artistic director Pierre Parisien says not to worry tixi much about when he recognized the first
gay couple to legally marry
the storyline and just concentrate on the pomp and circumstance
synchronized act with his trapeze partner is
in Canada. He introduced himself and offered
them tickets as a wedding gift.
While there are only two other openly gay
performers besides Elie in the 56-member cast
of Alegrui, many of the crew and behind-the-
scenes people are queer.
Elie says he lixiks forward to “the chance to
have more of a normal life” and possibly set
tling in Las Vegas with Stiles. "I want to have a
dog,” he smiles.
Cirque nins three shows in Vegas: the long-
mnning My.stere; O, which takes place in and
above a 1.5 million-gallon pixil; and the
recently opened “erotic” show, Zumanity. But
Elie is still nervous about the future. “I’m a lit
tle afraid because 1 like to travel,” he explains.
“I’ve never been more than a year in one place
my whole life. I spent a year in Mississippi with
the circus, but after that I was ready to get back
on the road."
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