Friday, November 29, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Horse Power

'Cheval' undergoes subtle changes to strengthen bond between horses and humans

Riders perform tricks, above, and horses are paraded in precise formations, below, during "Cheval," an equestrian show being performed in a hand-painted tent at Bellagio, 3600 Las Vegas Blvd. South, through Jan. 5.

The Bellagio, where Gilles Ste-Croix spent many months helping create Cirque du Soleil's "O," looms large to the north of Cheval Theater's big top in a parking lot off Harmon Avenue.

The hotel is a constant visual reminder of why audiences might have been confused last year when Ste-Croix debuted his comparably low-tech horse show here.

"I think people came here expecting a horse to fly," says the perpetually upbeat Canadian.

His answer to that? He's working on it.

But for now, changes will be more subtle for "Cheval," which avoids computerized stagecraft to celebrate the more earthy bond between humans and horses.

"The show got more theatrical, but it also got more technically strong, because the horses got better and the artists got better," director and founder Ste-Croix says.

Like last year, the touring show hits the Strip for a strategic stretch that covers the holidays, the National Finals Rodeo and the annual winter vacations for Cirque's "O" and "Mystere." The first five-week stint drew 45,000 people. Ste-Croix considers that a good start, but one with room for improvement.

"Last year I relied very much on the horses, and some comments were, `Oh this show is too much horses.'

"I said, `Well, it's a horse show. How can I change that?' " he recalls with a shrug. Cheval is the French word for "horse" after all.

But change it he did. "There was repetition, and I tried to clear this out," he volunteers. "Where there were moments that repeated themselves, I created other moments instead."

Ste-Croix also reconfigured the seating under the big top for the show that will be parked south of the Bellagio through Jan. 5. He converted 500 of the 2,000 seats into an expanded bandstand and stage area.

It doesn't replace any of the action in the dirt-covered center ring, "but now there is always some witness (to the action), I would say," he says.

He also has added new acts, including horseback jugglers who wield fire torches.

"If you know how to juggle on the ground you have to learn again how to juggle on the horse," says Robert Donnert, who grew up in a Hungarian circus family and performs with his brother David. "You have to stand, you have to hold your balance and you have to go with the circle. The horse is always running in a circle and you have to always keep up with the circle."

Overall, says Ste-Croix, "the show has picked up because the artists are more experienced, and the horses as well."

Some of the performers "had very little background with horses but they were good acrobats," while others "were just trained in the circus to do tricks on horses and they had to become theatrical," Ste-Croix says.

Ste-Croix was part of Cirque du Soleil since its earliest days, but stepped down from his post as artistic director after "O" opened in late 1998.

As he did with Cirque, Ste-Croix scouted the world looking for acts to create "Cheval," redressing them and setting their routines to new music.

"This is totally different from a normal circus, where we grew up," says Donnert. "The makeup, the music, we have to get used to it.

"But I like the audience reaction," he says. "Before, it's like, you did your act, they applaud you, that was nice. But here it's something else. People react to every little thing you do."

Christian Ferland returns to "Cheval" as a comic Everyman who wants to join the show but doesn't get much help from his horse Bohemio, a Hispano-Arabian who flops down in the dirt and refuses to stand up again.

Washing Bohemio from an oversized tank of water behind the tent, Ferland reveals that the Las Vegas engagement will be his swan song.

"It's going to be most difficult leaving a good friend behind," he says of his partner for the past two years.

Ferland had never worked with a horse before he was cast in "Cheval." "Our relationship onstage has grown a lot," he says of Bohemio. "I'm much more confident and secure that he's going to give me the tricks that I want, and I don't need to follow the routine as much as I used to."

The show as a whole is "much more dynamic," he says. "It's the experience that makes people grow together. The show grew with its people."

But what about that flying horse?

"We will get there, I'm working on it," Ste-Croix says. At home base in Montreal, he's working with a 160-pound miniature like Chabo, who is currently in the show. They're fitting him with an apparatus that will lift him like a marionette.

""But it takes a while because it doesn't exist in the world. A horse with wings? It doesn't exist."

Even a Cirque du Soleil creator can only deliver so much.