MaMa Bird's Blog

Yes, that clown nose was Photoshopped in. And that costume wasn’t really one worn at Cirque Du Soleil. This is our living room and the costume is from Big Lots, but, this is the closest I could come to getting the shot I was hoping for at our exclusive behind-the-scenes look at Kooza. So it will have to do. Just go with it.

The e-mailed invitation that went out to a group of us mommy bloggers with Mile High Mamas, described the event as follows:

…coffee and dessert in the Cirque Du Soleil Kooza Artistic Tent at the Pepsi Center grounds. We’d like to invite you to join us. The event will be on Thursday, August 27 at 2 p.m. The afternoon will give you a back stage look at Kooza, a chance to try on costumes, make up and try a stunt or two.

In addition to all of that, we were going to be able to meet and chat with a few of the Kooza moms who are married to some of the performers. Cool!

We also received notice that bringing our kids would be fine. I had to give that some serious thought as Reagan is a handful if not properly fed and entertained. But, from the description of the event, how could she possibly not be entertained? I even decided it would be engaging enough for her to skip her nap time to attend. Always a gamble. Decided to roll the dice. As long as she’s having fun, we’re usually in the clear of sleep-deprived HOLY-MOLY! melt-downs.

Arrived at the Pepsi Center grounds along with all the other mothers to find out there had been some mis-communication between the PR folks and Kooza. Kids weren’t going to be allowed in the tent! After some back and forth it was decided that they could come in as long as we kept them in line and close at hand. My heart started to pound. I was the only one who dared bring a two-year-old and probably like most toddlers, she is not known for her faithful obedience.

Now, I must point out that the fourth word in that invitation says we are actually going to be IN something. Not only were we not in anything, we were parked outside right next to the train tracks to meet with the Kooza moms. This would be fine if it weren’t for the fact that the trains were indeed running. The entire time. Besides making conversation difficult, two-year-olds to trains, are like a moths to a flame. While introductions were being made, thankfully, one astute Mile High Mama (Ms. Aimee!) rescued me by taking Reagan for a walk around the grounds so I could plug my blog participate.

The Q & A with the Kooza moms was the highlight of the afternoon for me. They described what life was like being married to a Cirque performer and raising children on the road. Having come from multiple generations of circus performers, they knew no other way of life. A few were acrobats themselves. While trying to follow the conversation, I was unfortunately running to and fro, keeping Reagan away from the train tracks, down off the tent spikes and out from under the travel trailer. Two clowns in training we were.

It was finally time to take a peek inside the Artistic Tent! The moment we had all been waiting for! We went in groups of ten to make it more manageable because the size of the group was much larger than anticipated. The opportunity to try on costumes, make-up and try some stunts was scratched altogether, sadly. I had given up on the idea that I was ever going to be able to pull my camera out and snap some pics, knowing I needed to keep Reagan wrapped around me at all times. With that many beautiful costumes about and acrobats practicing their stunts, I knew better than to let Dennis the Menace’s curious cousin loose. Plus, we had some professional photographers among us, so why not leave the picture-taking to them? As expected, Aimee got some beautiful photos and did an excellent write-up.

We did bring an actual clown nose home with us that all the kids received. Eventually I will get a real picture of Reagan wearing it, even if not on the shoulders of a high wire artist, wearing a Cirque mask inside the Big Top.

Just a couple of the Kooza wives we met:
Robin Barcus Slonina, wife of Jimmy Slonina, clown. 
www.RobinBarcus.com and www.SkinCityBodyPainting.com.
Adrienne Lutz, wife of Jim Lutz, Trombone/back-up band leader.
www.dreemama.blogspot.com.