Sunday, October 19, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

SUPERSIZE SISTERS: Standing Out

`Zumanity' performers demonstrate big really is beautiful

The Botero Sisters never fail to elicit loud cheers from audiences during the introduction segment of "Zumanity," says the show's artistic coordinator Marcus Bugler. Li Medeiros, left and her younger sister, Lu, march out onstage eating bananas during a recent performance at New York-New York. Photo by Jeff Scheid. People often mistake them for twins but actually there are many differences between the Botero Sisters. Lu Medeiros, left, is 31, an inch taller and a bit more shy than her sister, Li, 33. Photo by Christine H. Wetzel. Li Medeiros, one of the Botero Sisters, poses in costume in the "Zumanity" theater at New York-New York. The sisters go through five costume changes during "Zumanity." Above, Lu Medeiros models the Roman centurion costume.

They're large and in charge. Big, beautiful and brassy.

And they're bucking the system, specifically the hallowed Las Vegas rule: Thou shalt not appear onstage wearing little more than a velvet bikini and a mesh body suit without being tall and svelte.

Li and Lu Medeiros are anything but. Standing at just a shade over 5 feet, both are short by showgirl standards. Tipping the scales at nearly 200 pounds each, they are heavy by any standards.

But they've been raising eyebrows and wowing crowds with their performances as the Botero Sisters in Cirque du Soleil's "Zumanity" since the show premiered in August at New York-New York.

If you've seen the show, you know who they are: The zaftig Brazilian women with fuschia hair piled high on their heads, attired in revealing bondage outfits, suggestively serving strawberries to audience members.

If you've never seen the show, you may wonder what part these large women play in a sexual circus of muscular men and slender women with small waistlines and pert breasts. Maybe you think they're clowns, their size and costumes designed to get the easy laugh. Well, you would be wrong.

The concept, the women say, is crystal clear. Be confident, sensual, bold and above all, show the audience that fat women are sexual, too.

"It doesn't matter what shape or size you are," Li, 33, says through an interpreter. "Fat women should not be self-conscious."

"You don't have to be Miss Universe to be beautiful. Big women can feel sensual with what they have," says Lu, 31.

The idea goes against not only Las Vegas criteria for performers but American notions of large women and the roles they play in entertainment, says Marcus Bugler, artistic coordinator for "Zumanity."

In the United States, heavy women are desexualized and often encouraged to cover up their bodies, the exact opposite of what "Zumanity" creators are doing with the Botero sisters.

"In the world of entertainment, dance and fashion, you don't see big women perform," Bugler says. "I don't think that's correct at all. There's such sensuality in a full-figured woman."

Born and raised in image-conscious Brazil, the sisters knew what they might face in their "Zumanity" roles. Li and Lu -- 12th-generation circus performers and skilled jugglers, dancers and bungee acrobats -- were born in the circus and began performing at 9 and 8 respectively. They've been heavy for most of their lives, fighting an uphill battle for audiences to accept them based on their abilities.

Whenever the sisters took the stage in Brazil, audiences automatically dismissed them because of their weight, Lu says. Only after displaying their juggling, bungee or other expertise would crowds give their approval.

Naturally, before they made their debut appearance in "Zumanity," they worried about the public reaction, Lu says.

"I said, `I don't know what they're going to say.' Then I said, `Who cares? I don't speak English anyway,' " Lu jokes in Portuguese.

"It was like a challenge for the first show," Li says. "We always wanted to do it, to break that taboo."

Their impact turned out to be strong and positive. Their presence sets the tone for the entire performance, Bugler adds.

When they first appear 15 minutes before showtime, the sisters quickly win over the audience with their antics as well as their contained sexuality and coy smiles.

During a recent performance, the crowd tittered nervously as the women worked their way around the theater, bending to offer patrons a strawberry along with a view of ample cleavage.

But the crowd soon became absorbed in their presence, watching as the women squeezed past seated audience members -- backsides on prominent display -- laughing when they lay across the laps of patrons.

One man chivalrously fed Li a strawberry. She responded in kind by feeding him six in quick succession. The man smiled and chuckled as much as his bulging cheeks allowed.

Interacting with the audience is the part they love most about their jobs, the sisters say. Not once have they heard or received a negative response in their roles.

"Here (in America), they respect us right away," Li says, adding that sometimes, she feels like a baby doll because people want to touch her skin and hair. "The audience plays the sensual game with us."

Onstage, their presence is less dominant. The women serve as eye-candy during several scenes. Only twice for brief moments do they get to utilize their circus skills by twirling hoops and juggling sex toys.

But that could change, Bugler says.

No matter, as the sisters say they are quite happy with their roles and the opportunities they've been given.

Their parents are coming to see the show in November. Li expects them to cry, for two reasons.

First, because of the way the audience accepts them, Lu says. Their parents have always known the difficulties the women faced in Brazil.

And, Li predicts they will cry "with happiness, because it was a dream to be in Cirque."