Circus brings Topekan home for the holidaysTWHS alumna Enstrom plays violin in Cirque du Soleil's 'Quidam'
MATT BEARD/CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
In Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam," Yves Decoste and Valentyna Sidenko achieve seemingly impossible positions in their human statue act.
from: cjonline.com
By Bill Blankenship, THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
December 23, 2012
Not all the marvels of Cirque du Soleil happen under the spotlights. This year, a touring schedule miracle for Cirque's "Quidam" production means its troupe member from Topeka will be home for Christmas and New Year's Eve.
"I will definitely be at home for Christmas," said Alicia Enstrom, a 2002 graduate of Topeka West High School who grew up in Topeka. "I don't think I've been home for Christmas or Thanksgiving for a really long time, and I'll be home for both this year."
Enstrom, 29, who plays violin in the six-piece orchestra of "Quidam," spoke by cellphone recently while on a tour stop in Grand Forks, N.D.
Enstrom grew up in a musical family and began playing violin at age 3. She was concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra and soloed with it her senior year as first runner-up in the Capitol Federal Youth Talent Auditions.
MATT BEARD/CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
In Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam," Yves Decoste and Valentyna Sidenko achieve seemingly impossible positions in their human statue act.
from: cjonline.com
By Bill Blankenship, THE CAPITAL-JOURNAL
December 23, 2012
Not all the marvels of Cirque du Soleil happen under the spotlights. This year, a touring schedule miracle for Cirque's "Quidam" production means its troupe member from Topeka will be home for Christmas and New Year's Eve.
"I will definitely be at home for Christmas," said Alicia Enstrom, a 2002 graduate of Topeka West High School who grew up in Topeka. "I don't think I've been home for Christmas or Thanksgiving for a really long time, and I'll be home for both this year."
Enstrom, 29, who plays violin in the six-piece orchestra of "Quidam," spoke by cellphone recently while on a tour stop in Grand Forks, N.D.
Enstrom grew up in a musical family and began playing violin at age 3. She was concertmaster of the Topeka Symphony Youth Orchestra and soloed with it her senior year as first runner-up in the Capitol Federal Youth Talent Auditions.
Alicia Enstrom, a 2002 alumna of Topeka West High School, will play violin in the orchestra of Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam," which stops this week in Kansas City, Mo., and next week in Wichita.
While at Topeka West, she also was a an all-state and all-city soccer player, an all-city golfer and concert master of the high school's orchestra. She earned a scholarship to study at the prestigious Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., but in her junior year she took a break to go on tour with the group Barrage.
The globe-trekking act, which is described as a cross between "Stomp" and "Riverdance," kept Enstrom busy for 3½ years before she decided to take a leave of absence to return to Vanderbilt to finish a final semester needed to earn her bachelor's degree.
"That same time I saw my first Cirque show in Chicago with my family, and I didn't realize until then that they had live bands," she said.
She was thinking about returning to Barrage, but said she also sent an audition tape to Cirque du Soleil to keep open her options.
MATT BEARD/CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
A sprite named Target (Ardee Dionisio) uses sparklers in one of his scenes in Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam," which will bring Topeka violinist Alicia Enstrom close to home when it is staged Wednesday through Dec. 30 at the Sprint Center in Kansas City, Mo., and Jan. 2-6 at the Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita.
"About the same time I was getting ready to tell Barrage I was coming back, I got a call about Cirque du Soleil's holiday show up in New York at Madison Square Garden," Enstrom said. "So I decided why not try something new."
After rehearsing in Montreal, the show, "Wintuk," a tale about a little boy's journey to find snow, moved to New York City, where Enstrom found herself not only playing in the band but also in makeup and costume on stage as one of the People of the North.
read more:
http://cjonline.com/news/2012-12-23/circus-brings-topekan-home-holidays
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