Cirque du Soleil: Top-level volunteering experience 06.08.2010

The first show of the world-wide known Cirque du Soleil will be staged on August 20 in Millennium Square. Kazan is the third city after Moscow and Saint-Petersburg to host the legendary Canadian show. According to the rules set by the organisers the theatrical performance must take place inside unique pavilions. Their assembling has started already.

A small army of volunteers responsible for numerous support functions will undertake the major part of preparation of the Kazan shows. Eduard Safin, coordinator of the Cirque du Soleil volunteers, told kazan2013.com about the structure of the volunteer group and its functions.

- What is Cirque du Soleil and how does it differ from a circus as we know it?
- Cirque du Soleil is not what you imagine when you hear about a circus. It’s a mix of acrobatics, theater, high-quality performance, staginess that we are unlikely to witness in a common circus with all due respect for it. It’s thanks to its novelty and otherness that the project gained phenomenal world-wide reputation.

- What are the principles of volunteer recruitement?
- There is no doubt that the volunteers should be responsible, disciplined young people with volunteering experience and a good command of English since each of them will have to communicate with Canadian representatives of the circus to one extent or another.

- What are the duties of the volunteers and what groups are they divided into?
- They perform various duties. The volunteers are divided into the following groups:
1) Interpreters or the volunteers who are mediators in the most important activities. First of all it’s an assembly-disassembly process of the big top and also the kitchen. So it’s safe to say that the success of such a large event as Cirque du Soleil depends on interpreters as they will translate for Canadian engineers and cooks. And it’s up to them whether the big top will be assembled properly and the cooks prepare tasty dishes for the circus staff.
2) The second group of volunteers will work with the circus audience. These volunteers will become an integral part of the show itself; they will make sure that the audience observe the rules under the big top during the performances.
3) Apart from that the rest of the volunteers will work as booking clerks, secretaries and circus messengers – they will shoulder most functions that require a good command of English and a huge energy store to handle assigned tasks.

- What are the major difficulties in volunteer recruitment for such a large socially significant event?
- I wouldn’t say that there are any but there are issues that yet need to be explored. One of the issues is a part-time employment of volunteers in September. For most volunteers are students and we don’t want that their involvement into circus activity had a negative impact on their studies. Most volunteers are not just active participants of the universities and city’s social life bur also A students. That’s why we made up a personal work schedule for each volunteer taking into account their class times.

- We know that Cirque du Soleil was created in Canada, are there any peculiarities of foreign business conducting? What were requirements placed on you and your volunteers by the organisers?
- I haven’t noticed any special difference. Organisation of such a large-scale event demands thorough preparation that’s why we need to think several moves ahead. That’s what the Canadians do. They labour the point including accommodation, food services, medical treatment of the circus staff and level of recruited volunteers as well. The demands are high but most our volunteers are not newcomers and have enough experience. The key condition here is their personal interest and positive attitude. These are the qualities the Canadian colleagues pointed out after the interviews with our volunteers.

- The Cirque du Soleil volunteer backbone is made of the Universiade 2013 volunteers. Does their training level differ from that of the others? Did they meet your expectations?
- It’s early to judge as the volunteers start their work on August 11. Of course we count on the Universiade volunteers – their knowledge, experience, skills. After I met them and talked to them during interviews I had no doubt about them especially as I had positive experience of work. So I count that they will keep this spirit and wish to work during the whole period of the tour. Not everyone is given a chance to work at such a grand event that’s why this chance should be used wisely and with benefit.

- How do you see the result of your work?
- It’s a quality and well-coordinated work of the volunteer team without any complaint from the Canadians. By their terms if they are not content with the work of this or that volunteer they have a right to replace him or her. I hope there won’t be such a precedent.

- On the threshold of the Universiade Kazan hosts a series of large sporting, cultural and social events. Do you think we can regard the Cirque du Soleil tour as a successive stage of promotion of Kazan as a world cultural and tourist centre?
- I’m positive. There is a good reason why Kazan was selected to host Cirque du Soleil tour; such megalopises as Moscow and Saint-Petersburg were visited by the renowned circus. I think that Kazan is no exception for our city got the Third Capital of Russia title. A lot of work has been done to develop tourism in Tatarstan: historical monuments are being restored, children’s and youth competitive sports events are held, large international cultural programs are organised. Holding of such events not only shapes your region’s image as a developed centre of Russia but also raises the cultural level of the citizens. It’s enjoyable that our city got a chance to host such an entertaining and bright show.

Cirque du Soleil trivia:
- About 100 volunteers will work at Cirque du Soleil in Kazan.
- The big top assembly will start on August 11 and end on August 20.
- The volunteers will take training course by the Cirque du Soleil staff on August 17-19.
- The circus will give 48 performances in 30 days.
- The big top disassembly will start on September 29 and end on Spetember 29.