Western Ontario Athletics

LONDON, Ont. - Western Mustangs cheerleader Aaron Charbonneau has been selected to join Cirque du Soleil this summer.

The 23-year-old native of Blenheim, Ont, Charbonneau is just completing his Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in history at Western.

He said after applying for Cirque du Soleil just over a year ago, he got an invite to an audition in Burlington, Ont., in June with over 30 people.

After an intense eight-hour audition - which included four hours of "selective training" with flips and trampoline work and then four hours of acting and dancing - he heard he'd made the cut.

"It's very exciting," Charbonneau said. "We heard the same day at the end of the auditions if we'd made it. They told us if we'd made it that far, that we were in."

"When I actually got the phone call that said they are considering me for a position, it was pretty exciting. This is a 20-year dream finally coming true. I considered this my Olympics."

Now Charbonneau is anxious and eager to get started. He writes an exam on July 27 and then expects to be in Montreal in early Augusts for six weeks of training.

From there, Charbonneau said they will do a trial show in Mexico and then eventually could be performing in Canada or the U.S.

Charbonneau said he is very grateful for the guidance and training from coach David-Lee Tracey, better known as "Trace."

Before Western cheerlading, Charbonneau competed in gymnastics and came to train with the Western cheerleading program with hopes of one day landing in Cirque du Soleit.

"I just had the skills from gymnastics. Western cheerleading allowed me to develop the personality and the onstage presence and perfomance aspect of the sport, as opposed to being what I describe as a dry gymnast," Charbonneau said.

"With Western being top of the line in cheerleading, it was good preparation. This opportunity would not have been possible without the cheerleading experience here."

"I might have got into Cirque but I don't think I would have been looked at this quickly. Cheerleading taught me stage presence and gave me that extra edge on everyone else."

Charbonneau would like to be a Cirque du Soleil lifer - it's believed he is the first Western grad to work for Cirque du Soleil - certainly the first to perform.

"I really would like this to turn into a real career," he said. "I would like to continue with this into my 50s. (After performing), there are different jobs all through Cirque that you can do."

"A lot of people who are performers move into marketing positions with Cirque and other admin positions in the office."

"It's one step toward anything that could happen."

Charbonneau said he may also look into teaching, as he could train young performers with Cirque.

"They need to be taught as young performers and Cirque needs teachers. It could be a very cool job after performance to travel and teach," Charbonneau said. "But here are people in Cirque who are still peforming over the age of 60. It depends on the act."

Look for Charbonneau in the future with Cirque du Soleil. He'll be working as a "general acrobat" with this performance - yet to be named.

"I'll be doing hoop diving, a lot of tumbling on stage, some skipping type stuff, flipping into skipping ropes," he said.

Charbonneau was quick to thank Trace and the cheerleading program at Western.

"Trace is a motivator and he gets us to where we need to be," Charbonneau said. "Most people who have gone through Western cheerleading are eventually going through to what they want to do."

"He (Trace) knew I wanted to use this to step into Cirque and he told me it would happen and now it has happened. It's a testament to his program and how he is running it properly while still competing and winning championships."

"He just preaches the same that he practices... and he has pushed us to keep the education as high if not higher than our cheerleading to help us to succeed."

Charbonneau hopes some of his friends can see him perform either in Mexico or on tour. He also hopes he has set a precedent for other Western cheerleaders.

"Really, I hope that some people from our team consider this as their next step."