太陽馬戲團停演,，雜技演員如何度日
Michal Lev-Ram
2020-05-08
3月14日,，格雷格·彭尼斯演完成了他在太陽馬戲團的最后一場演出——至少在可以預見的未來是最后一場。
次日,，太陽馬戲團，這家一度高速發(fā)展的現(xiàn)場演出娛樂巨頭發(fā)布聲明,，將暫停拉斯維加斯的所有演出,，包括Mystere,、O和Michael Jackson ONE等，后者是彭尼斯過去五年一直參演的節(jié)目,。(太陽馬戲團此前已經(jīng)宣布,，由于新冠病毒疫情在全球的傳播不斷升級，將暫停巡回演出,。)
從那天起,，彭尼斯的生活就發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化。彭尼斯出生在巴黎,，2012年以蹦床雜技演員和舞蹈演員的身份加入了馬戲團,。這位36歲的體操運動員只是眾多失業(yè)的前奧運選手之一。據(jù)報道,，太陽馬戲團是前奧運運動員的最大雇主,，在停演拉斯維加斯和全球巡回演出的44個劇目后，太陽馬戲團也暫時解雇了95%的員工,。目前,，沒有人知道這次裁員將持續(xù)多久，也不知道暫時裁員是否會變成徹底失業(yè),。盡管拉斯維加斯市長卡洛琳?古德曼一直在推動酒店和賭場重新開業(yè),，當?shù)貐s一直沒有出臺企業(yè)安全復工指南。而且,，由于馬戲團演出需要大批觀眾聚集觀看,，短期內(nèi)能否有這么多觀眾到場也是個問題。
太陽馬戲團和拉斯維加斯市都在努力走出困境,，《財富》雜志新欄目“新冠疫情中的經(jīng)濟”采訪了彭尼斯,，想了解他在當前危機中如何自處。
為清晰起見,，以下問答經(jīng)過了精簡并稍作編輯,。
太陽馬戲團雜技演員格雷格·彭尼斯，2018年,。圖片來源：Ginger Griep-Ruiz
《財富》:你是如何成為一名體操運動員的?為什么選擇蹦床?
彭尼斯：我出生在巴黎,，在那里長大。我們社區(qū)每年都會舉辦活動,，向人們展示各種體育項目,，也可以參與練習。那是我第一次見到蹦床,。我從7歲左右開始練習,，后來父母給我報名參加了比賽，因此我進入了法國國家隊。后來我還參加了2008年和2012年奧運會,，再之后就進入了人生的下一階段,。
你為什么會選擇來太陽馬戲團?
十五六歲的時候，我看了一盤老錄像帶,，是太陽馬戲團在奧蘭多的演出La Nouba,。那是我第一次看到蹦床被用作表演器材，覺得這簡直是世界上最酷的事,。太陽馬戲團和國際體操聯(lián)合會合作密切,，當我準備進入人生下一階段時，就聯(lián)系了他們的選角部門,，表達了自己想要加入的意愿,。我把自己翻轉(zhuǎn)、扭轉(zhuǎn)和表演的視頻發(fā)給他們,。之后的程序就和普通工作面試差不多了,，要做電話和視頻面試。他們需要我在Mystère演出中頂替別人,，所以我就直接去了拉斯維加斯,。(通常情況下，新演員會在蒙特利爾的總部登臺,。)
你最終參演了Michael Jackson ON,。你能描述一下過去每天和每周的日程安排嗎?
我的主要工作是雜技演員，特長是蹦床,。但我也在演出需要時做替補舞蹈演員,，而且是其中一個主要角色的替補。我之前的演出日程是一周五天,，每個晚上兩場,，這是最基本的。此外,，我還要進行訓練和排練,，所以可能每周要在實際演出的基礎上再加10小時。但每周都不一樣,，工作節(jié)奏很快,，和我參加比賽時差不多。
你什么時候第一次意識到,，當前這場危機可能對太陽馬戲團造成不利影響的?
我有家人生活在法國,，當我看到，繼中國之后法國受到的嚴重沖擊以及新冠疫情對歐洲的影響時,，我就覺得疫情可能會在某個時刻蔓延到這里,。尤其是像拉斯維加斯這樣的旅游勝地,，人們從世界各地飛來。因此,，這一刻遲早會到來,，只是時間問題,。馬戲團每周都有例會,，我在會上得知賭場正在密切關(guān)注形勢，每周都有最新的情況通報,。然后,，3月14日就成了最后一場演出。
你是怎么接受這種現(xiàn)狀的,？別人呢,？
團里每個人對此的反應都不同。我是決定立刻調(diào)整心態(tài),，進入堅強應對模式,。這就是現(xiàn)實。我們要盡量利用現(xiàn)有資源,，而不是被病毒打敗,。
你有沒有得到什么補償?
停演幾周前，馬戲團管理層曾給過我們時間體會停業(yè)意味著什么,。我最擔心的還是是健康福利,。他們說馬戲團會繼續(xù)負責大家的福利，直到六月,。同時表示,，裁員只是暫時的。但每個人也都做了些功課,，研究失業(yè)后的選擇,。
你申請失業(yè)補助了嗎?
申請了，我屬于當?shù)鼐用?，很快就收到了失業(yè)補助,。但我聽說有些人需要接受電話面試。每個人情況都不太一樣,。
總的來說,，你覺得目前的情況對你的經(jīng)濟狀況產(chǎn)生了什么影響?
我手頭上有一些積蓄，但也稍微調(diào)整了一下生活方式,。公司保證福利會負責到6月,，我相信六月以后會有新的安排。每周我會收到一兩封電子郵件,。我的伴侶也在太陽馬戲團工作,。
你現(xiàn)在怎么打發(fā)時間?
這是最難的部分,。從前，我的生活節(jié)奏和日程都非常緊張,。因此,，疫情一開始我就制定了一個時間表，包括鍛煉,、跑步和內(nèi)華達州允許的所有活動,。鍛煉、輔導學業(yè)（潘尼斯的伴侶有一個年幼的孩子）和在家跳舞,，這些活動都推動著生活繼續(xù)向前,。這么做很有用，保住了生活的精氣神,。
拉斯維加斯封鎖后,，你去過拉斯維加斯大道嗎?
我們最近開車去了一趟，就想看看現(xiàn)在是什么樣子,。我的法國朋友們總覺得維加斯像一座假城,，現(xiàn)在里面連人都沒有了，看起來就更假了,。
你希望接下來能發(fā)生什么?
現(xiàn)在,，我覺得拉斯維加斯需要復蘇。首先是酒店和賭場要重新開張,，太陽馬戲團才能開始考慮復演,。我知道馬戲不是必須行業(yè)，雖然能提供很多幫助,，但也不是必需的,。我不覺得會有誰說要讓演出業(yè)第一批復工。但等我們真正復工時,，可以預見一定會有一些調(diào)整：或許改成一晚一場,，或者每周的演出場次減少？很多事情都需要考慮,。
你有考慮其他工作嗎,？還是說，你有信心能重回馬戲團繼續(xù)演出?
出于某種原因,，我有信心能回去繼續(xù)做我喜歡的事,。我想我會重新在舞臺上翻轉(zhuǎn)、旋轉(zhuǎn),、跳舞,。雖然不知道以后還會不會有一個坐滿觀眾的房間，還是會進行網(wǎng)絡直播,。但我認為,，人們需要互動,，而我們需要現(xiàn)場表演。一切只不過是時間和規(guī)則的問題,。（財富中文網(wǎng)）
譯者：Agatha
3月14日,，格雷格·彭尼斯演完成了他在太陽馬戲團的最后一場演出——至少在可以預見的未來是最后一場。
次日,，太陽馬戲團,，這家一度高速發(fā)展的現(xiàn)場演出娛樂巨頭發(fā)布聲明，將暫停拉斯維加斯的所有演出,，包括Mystere,、O和Michael Jackson ONE等，后者是彭尼斯過去五年一直參演的節(jié)目,。(太陽馬戲團此前已經(jīng)宣布，由于新冠病毒疫情在全球的傳播不斷升級,，將暫停巡回演出,。)
從那天起，彭尼斯的生活就發(fā)生了翻天覆地的變化,。彭尼斯出生在巴黎,，2012年以蹦床雜技演員和舞蹈演員的身份加入了馬戲團。這位36歲的體操運動員只是眾多失業(yè)的前奧運選手之一,。據(jù)報道,，太陽馬戲團是前奧運運動員的最大雇主，在停演拉斯維加斯和全球巡回演出的44個劇目后,，太陽馬戲團也暫時解雇了95%的員工,。目前，沒有人知道這次裁員將持續(xù)多久,，也不知道暫時裁員是否會變成徹底失業(yè),。盡管拉斯維加斯市長卡洛琳?古德曼一直在推動酒店和賭場重新開業(yè)，當?shù)貐s一直沒有出臺企業(yè)安全復工指南,。而且,，由于馬戲團演出需要大批觀眾聚集觀看，短期內(nèi)能否有這么多觀眾到場也是個問題,。
太陽馬戲團和拉斯維加斯市都在努力走出困境,，《財富》雜志新欄目“新冠疫情中的經(jīng)濟”采訪了彭尼斯，想了解他在當前危機中如何自處,。
為清晰起見,，以下問答經(jīng)過了精簡并稍作編輯。
《財富》:你是如何成為一名體操運動員的?為什么選擇蹦床?
彭尼斯：我出生在巴黎,，在那里長大,。我們社區(qū)每年都會舉辦活動,，向人們展示各種體育項目，也可以參與練習,。那是我第一次見到蹦床,。我從7歲左右開始練習，后來父母給我報名參加了比賽,，因此我進入了法國國家隊,。后來我還參加了2008年和2012年奧運會，再之后就進入了人生的下一階段,。
你為什么會選擇來太陽馬戲團?
十五六歲的時候,，我看了一盤老錄像帶，是太陽馬戲團在奧蘭多的演出La Nouba,。那是我第一次看到蹦床被用作表演器材,，覺得這簡直是世界上最酷的事。太陽馬戲團和國際體操聯(lián)合會合作密切,，當我準備進入人生下一階段時,，就聯(lián)系了他們的選角部門，表達了自己想要加入的意愿,。我把自己翻轉(zhuǎn),、扭轉(zhuǎn)和表演的視頻發(fā)給他們。之后的程序就和普通工作面試差不多了,，要做電話和視頻面試,。他們需要我在Mystère演出中頂替別人，所以我就直接去了拉斯維加斯,。(通常情況下,，新演員會在蒙特利爾的總部登臺。)
你最終參演了Michael Jackson ON,。你能描述一下過去每天和每周的日程安排嗎?
我的主要工作是雜技演員,，特長是蹦床。但我也在演出需要時做替補舞蹈演員,，而且是其中一個主要角色的替補,。我之前的演出日程是一周五天，每個晚上兩場,，這是最基本的,。此外，我還要進行訓練和排練,，所以可能每周要在實際演出的基礎上再加10小時,。但每周都不一樣，工作節(jié)奏很快,，和我參加比賽時差不多,。
你什么時候第一次意識到,，當前這場危機可能對太陽馬戲團造成不利影響的?
我有家人生活在法國，當我看到,，繼中國之后法國受到的嚴重沖擊以及新冠疫情對歐洲的影響時,，我就覺得疫情可能會在某個時刻蔓延到這里。尤其是像拉斯維加斯這樣的旅游勝地,，人們從世界各地飛來,。因此，這一刻遲早會到來,，只是時間問題,。馬戲團每周都有例會，我在會上得知賭場正在密切關(guān)注形勢,，每周都有最新的情況通報,。然后，3月14日就成了最后一場演出,。
你是怎么接受這種現(xiàn)狀的,？別人呢？
團里每個人對此的反應都不同,。我是決定立刻調(diào)整心態(tài)，進入堅強應對模式,。這就是現(xiàn)實,。我們要盡量利用現(xiàn)有資源，而不是被病毒打敗,。
你有沒有得到什么補償?
停演幾周前,，馬戲團管理層曾給過我們時間體會停業(yè)意味著什么。我最擔心的還是是健康福利,。他們說馬戲團會繼續(xù)負責大家的福利,，直到六月。同時表示,，裁員只是暫時的,。但每個人也都做了些功課，研究失業(yè)后的選擇,。
你申請失業(yè)補助了嗎?
申請了,，我屬于當?shù)鼐用瘢芸炀褪盏搅耸I(yè)補助,。但我聽說有些人需要接受電話面試,。每個人情況都不太一樣。
總的來說,，你覺得目前的情況對你的經(jīng)濟狀況產(chǎn)生了什么影響?
我手頭上有一些積蓄,，但也稍微調(diào)整了一下生活方式,。公司保證福利會負責到6月，我相信六月以后會有新的安排,。每周我會收到一兩封電子郵件,。我的伴侶也在太陽馬戲團工作。
你現(xiàn)在怎么打發(fā)時間?
這是最難的部分,。從前,，我的生活節(jié)奏和日程都非常緊張。因此,，疫情一開始我就制定了一個時間表,，包括鍛煉、跑步和內(nèi)華達州允許的所有活動,。鍛煉,、輔導學業(yè)（潘尼斯的伴侶有一個年幼的孩子）和在家跳舞，這些活動都推動著生活繼續(xù)向前,。這么做很有用,，保住了生活的精氣神。
拉斯維加斯封鎖后,，你去過拉斯維加斯大道嗎?
我們最近開車去了一趟,，就想看看現(xiàn)在是什么樣子。我的法國朋友們總覺得維加斯像一座假城,，現(xiàn)在里面連人都沒有了,，看起來就更假了。
你希望接下來能發(fā)生什么?
現(xiàn)在,，我覺得拉斯維加斯需要復蘇,。首先是酒店和賭場要重新開張，太陽馬戲團才能開始考慮復演,。我知道馬戲不是必須行業(yè),，雖然能提供很多幫助，但也不是必需的,。我不覺得會有誰說要讓演出業(yè)第一批復工,。但等我們真正復工時，可以預見一定會有一些調(diào)整：或許改成一晚一場,，或者每周的演出場次減少,？很多事情都需要考慮。
你有考慮其他工作嗎,？還是說,，你有信心能重回馬戲團繼續(xù)演出?
出于某種原因，我有信心能回去繼續(xù)做我喜歡的事。我想我會重新在舞臺上翻轉(zhuǎn),、旋轉(zhuǎn),、跳舞。雖然不知道以后還會不會有一個坐滿觀眾的房間,，還是會進行網(wǎng)絡直播,。但我認為，人們需要互動,，而我們需要現(xiàn)場表演,。一切只不過是時間和規(guī)則的問題。（財富中文網(wǎng)）
譯者：Agatha
On March 14, Greg Pennes performed in his last Cirque du Soleil show—at least for the foreseeable future.
The following day, Cirque, the once fast-growing live entertainment powerhouse, issued a statement saying that it would temporarily suspend all Las Vegas–based shows including Mystère, O, and Michael Jackson ONE, the production Pennes had been a part of for the past five years. (Cirque had already announced that it would suspend its traveling shows owing to the escalating global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.)
Since then, life has changed drastically for Paris-born Pennes, who joined Cirque as a trampoline acrobat and dancer in 2012. The 36-year-old gymnast is just one of many former Olympic athletes who is now out of a job. After shuttering its 44 Vegas-based and traveling shows, Cirque, reportedly the largest employer of ex-Olympians, temporarily let go of 95% of its staff. It’s not clear how long the layoffs will last, and whether some will end up being permanent. Even as Las Vegas Mayor Carolyn Goodman has pushed for hotels and casinos to reopen, no guidelines have been issued on how local businesses might do so safely. And it’s doubtful Cirque, with its reliance on large audiences, will be able to gather crowds under the big top anytime soon.
As Cirque—and the city of Las Vegas—scramble to figure out their future, Fortune caught up with Pennes to find out how he is navigating the current crisis for a new series, The Coronavirus Economy.
The following Q&A has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.
Fortune: How did you become a gymnast, and why the trampoline?
Pennes: I was born and raised in Paris, and every year in my neighborhood there was an event showing different sports that you can practice. That’s where I first saw the trampoline. I started jumping at around age 7, and then my parents signed me up for competitions. This led me to the French National Team. I competed in the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, and then I was ready for my next chapter.
What led you to Cirque du Soleil?
I saw an old VHS tape of La Nouba, the show they did in Orlando, when I was around 15 or 16 years old. It was the first time I saw the trampoline being utilized as a performance apparatus, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. Cirque works closely with the International Gymnastics Federation, and when I was ready to move on, I just contacted their casting department and told them so. I had to send a video reel of me doing flips and twists and acting. And then the process was similar to a regular job interview—I had to do calls and video interviews. They needed me to replace someone on the show Mystère, so I went straight to Las Vegas. [Normally, new performers are onboarded at Cirque’s headquarters in Montreal.]
Eventually, you became part of the cast of Michael Jackson ONE. Can you describe what your daily and weekly schedule used to look like?
I am mostly an acrobat, and the trampoline is my specialty. But I’m also a backup dancer for the show whenever they need me, and I back up for one of the main characters. The schedule is five days a week, two shows a night. That’s the bare minimum. And then we do trainings and rehearsals too, so maybe another 10 hours a week on top of the actual shows. But every week is different. The pace was pretty intense—as intense as when I was competing.
When did you first see signs that this current crisis could be bad for Cirque?
I still have family in France. We saw that they got hit pretty badly after China. I saw how it was hitting Europe and started to think that it will probably will come here at some point. Working in such a touristy place like Vegas, with people flying in from all over the world, I just figured it was a question of time. We always have weekly meetings, and they were telling us that the casinos were monitoring the situation. We had an update every week. And then, on March 14, it was our last show.
How did you take it? How did others take it?
Reactions were all over the place. Everyone is different. Right away, I decided to switch my mind and be in strong mode. This is the reality of what we’re living now. Let’s make the most of it instead of letting the virus win.
How have you been compensated?
The weeks before we closed they [Cirque management] gave us time to understand what would happen if the show would shut down. The biggest concern was about health benefits. They said Cirque was going to still take care of our benefits through June. They told us it would be a temporary layoff situation. Everybody did their own research about unemployment options.
Did you apply for unemployment?
Yes, I’m a resident, and I started receiving unemployment pretty quickly. My application went through quickly, but I have heard of others who had to go through phone calls. These are very individual situations.
Overall, how would you say that the current situation has impacted you financially?
We had some money on the side, but we adjusted our way of living a bit. We’re guaranteed [benefits] until June, and I’m sure we’ll hear from the company what will happen after June. We usually get an email or two a week. My partner was also employed by Cirque.
How are you filling your time now?
That’s the hardest part. Our rhythm and pace was pretty intense. Early on we set up a schedule—workouts and runs and any activities that are allowed in Nevada right now. Our days have been driven by workouts, schoolwork [Pennes’s partner has a young child], and dancing at home. That’s helped a lot. We keep the vibe going.
Have you been to the [Las Vegas] Strip since things shut down?
We took a drive recently, just to see what it looks like. You know, my friends back in France always thought Vegas is like a fake city. When you take the people out of it, it looks even more fake.
What do you hope will happen next?
Right now, I’m thinking Vegas needs to rise again. It would start first with hotels and casinos reopening before we [Cirque productions] can even think about coming back. I know that we aren’t essential. I think we can help a lot, but we’re not essential. I don’t expect anyone to say shows can open up first thing. Whenever this does happen, I foresee some adjustment of shows. Maybe one a night or less shows during the week? A ton of options are on the table.
Are you looking at other employment options? Or are you confident that you can go back to performing with Cirque?
For some reason I feel confident that I will go back to doing what I love. I think I will be back doing flips and twists and dancing onstage. I don’t know if there will be a room full of people or if it will be live-streamed. But I think people just need interaction, and we need live performance. It’s just a matter of time and regulation.
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