Las Vegas Academy of the Arts students get in character for ‘Avatar’ Cirque show

About two dozen students stood on the edge of the dance floor, taking turns crossing the floor in pairs, stalking, crawling, leaping and eventually hissing and yipping.

It wasn’t a usual day at Las Vegas Academy of the Arts, but it wasn’t too far out of the norm, either — at least until the guest instructors broke out the tails.

“The tail was hard,” said Rilee Nyborg, a junior majoring in dance at the magnet school, 315 S. 7th St. “The weight that it adds to your body was different, and trying to figure out how to control it with your body was hard also.”

Performers Christian Sanchez and Viktor Franyo visited the school Jan. 4 to teach a master class and show students some of the work that went into developing the characters and movements in “Toruk — The First Flight,” the show the pair is touring with that’s set to run at T-Mobile Arena through Jan. 22. The Cirque Du Soleil show is based on the James Cameron film “Avatar.” Although it doesn’t include characters from the film, it is set in Pandora, the film’s fictional planet setting.

The performers brought along part of the show’s costumes, tails that the performers portraying the Na’vi— the film’s blue, catlike aliens — wear.

“It was so different,” junior dance major Brittany Bruno said. “I’m not used to doing stuff like this. I enjoy stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new.”

Sanchez and Franyo had the students explore movements that would enhance the characters’ catlike chacteristics. They were instructed to react as if they were seeing things for the first time and to interact with their classmates in a more instinctive, animal-like manner.

“My favorite part was that I could see all of my friends get into such a specific character,” Nyborg said. “We’re usually being someone who is sad or happy or excited. The animal aspect was unusual.”

Sanchez said that they had some time off and were happy to share their experiences with the students. He was impressed with their explorations and how quickly they seemed to grasp the lesson.

“With gymnastics, it’s very set and stiff,” Sanchez said. “You do the move, you stop with your arms straight out and hold. A lot of these students were doing gymnastic moves but coming out of it fluidly and naturally. They let their bodies flow through the movement.”

For Sanchez, coming to Vegas was returning to home and getting a chance to spend time with his wife at home. For Franyo, it was another new city to see on the on the tour.

“I was there during the creation of the show and we’ve been on tour for a year and a half now,’ Franyo said. “I love traveling. We usually have Monday and Tuesday and sometimes even Wednesday to see the city. Before the tour, I was with the circus for 22 years.”

It was the desire to travel that brought him to a circus school in Budapest, Hungary. He was 7 years old and trying to figure out how he could travel and see the world.

“I was living in a small village,” Franyo said. “I didn’t even have sports experience and everyone was telling me it was impossible for me to get into the school. I think 75 people applied and I was one of the five they accepted.”

Jeneane Huggins, dance department chair for LVA, noted that the school gets a lot of guest instructors and the valley’s entertainment industry, particularly Cirque Du Soleil, has been vary generous with their time.

“People like to come in and work with the young people because they know that the kids are serious here.” Huggins said. “About 80 percent of our dance majors go on to dance professionally.”

To reach East Valley View reporter F. Andrew Taylor email ataylor@viewnews.com or call 702-380-4532.