Cirque du Soleil’s Corteo begins Australian tour in Perth at RAC Arena with Sydney performer Kristi Wade

Sydney aerialist Kristi Wade’s niche desire to hang from a chandelier meant Corteo was always going to be her dream Cirque du Soleil show. Having grown up in Lake Conjola on the South Coast of New South Wales, Wade comes from a family of natural athletes, but while both her parents played touch football for Australia, she is the only one to have taken that sporting ability into the realm of performing arts. “My mum took me to see a Cirque du Soleil show when I was about eight or nine,” Wade recounts. “I had already begun sports acrobatics back then. I just fell in love straight away and told her ‘That’s what I want to do’, so she found circus classes in Sydney and I ended up training at Aerialize Sydney Aerial Theatre. “It eventually became my full-time freelance job. I was performing super young at street shows and festivals then started getting into my first contracts when I was 18.” A decision to extend her skills saw Wade travel to Canada when she was 20 to work with specialist coaches, going on to successfully audition for Cirque du Soleil and be accepted into the Montreal-based company’s performer database. “I then waited an extra two-and-a-half years to get a position,” the 35-year-old aerial artist says. “You’ve got to be the right fit for the position and have the right skill set and everything for a show.” Wade bided her time with more freelance circus work and training until 2015 when she was cast in her first Cirque du Soleil production, Toruk, touring the world with the show for four years. “It was everything. When you’ve had that goal from such a young age and to then achieve it, it’s kind of like time stood still,” she shares, excited to return to Perth after Toruk’s 2017 season at RAC Arena. “I remember having someone say to me, ‘What’s your next goal?’ and I was like, ‘Just do it again. Stay with the company.’ “In Australia, I feel like we’re kind of a small fish in the big pond of the circus world. So to get out of Australia, see the level of the acrobats overseas, and then actually achieve that meant the world to me. Now the circus community at home has grown, and the skill level has become much higher. “I think getting there now is more achievable. My actual audition video was a DVD that I posted in the mail to Cirque back then, whereas now it’s online, there’s social media, it’s easier. I feel extra excited that I was able to achieve it back when it was quite a lot harder.” While COVID-19 put her plans on hold, Wade joined her second Cirque du Soleil show, and the company’s 18th creation, Corteo, in 2024 and is thrilled it has finally made its way to Australia for the first time, starting in Perth. Directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca — who created Luzia, which toured to Perth in 2024 — Corteo premiered in Montreal in 2005 and features a double-sided stage where the audiences face each other. “It’s a beautiful show where the stage cuts the arena into almost two mini theatres,” Wade explains. “It creates a very different intimacy that’s really special. Daniele’s productions are always unique and kind of magical and chaotic all at once. He’s very clever at the way he tells a story.” Corteo, meaning cortege in Italian, follows clown Mauro who is dreaming of his funeral, travelling through his life and reminiscing about his ex-lovers, family and friends. The audience witnesses the different moments in his journey unfold in a joyous procession. “It’s kind of like he’s between heaven and earth, and he’s just in that beautiful angel era, making his way to the light,” Wade adds. “It’s a celebration of life and has really high-level acrobatics.” Chandelier is the first act in Corteo, featuring Wade and three other women as Mauro’s ex-lovers, performing their aerial routine as angels on three giant chandeliers. Wade continues in character across the entirety of the show, making stamina her main challenge in Corteo. “At Royal Albert Hall, we were performing 10 shows a week, and I would find myself coming home quite tired, because I’m giving so much of my energy to the audience every time, but we love it, so we do it,” she shares. “I used to say when I was younger that aerial is the closest thing I can get to flying. I feel very free in the air, and it’s a beautiful way of expressing yourself, being on stage and floating above people. “It’s so special and meaningful for me, touring Australia. I have my 96-year-old grandfather in Sydney who’s able to come and watch me. We’ve toured the world, so I can’t really ask for much more.” Corteo is at RAC Arena until August 17. Tickets at premier.ticketek.com.au.