MARCH 2018 EDA INCLUSIVE! Cirque du Soleil, Part 1: by West Kennerly

For the Ides of March EDA Inclusive I assembled a series of photos that I shot last month during Jewel’s Cirque rehearsals at the MJ One Theater in Las Vegas. The photos cover most of February up to the big show on Friday night, March 2nd. 

My goal was to document everything without running into all of the activity swirling around me. The best vantage point in the beginning was the front row where I could learn everyone’s positions and movements. It was fascinating to watch the meticulous detail and hard work that went into every facet of the production. The long days and nights that everyone devoted to the show was impressive. It was difficult to capture the scope and magnitude of a show like that in still photos so I resorted to the old Ken Burns effects to guide the viewer’s attention around the photos.

It was an extraordinary experience and I was honored that Jewel asked me to shoot it. At times my mind wandered from this massive theater back to the tiny coffee shop where we first met 25 years ago. It was a blast seeing her family again and people who have worked with her for many years. It was also great to finally meet a lot of the loyal EDA’s who came from all over the country and around the world. 

On a personal note, I loved seeing Jewel and Kase again. They are like family to me. There was a moment just before the curtain went up on the big night when she called me to the top of the tree and said a few touching words into the video camera. It caused my eyes to tear up making it hard to run back down the stairs without falling. Fortunately it didn’t happen and the show was a brilliant success! Hopefully the mic caught her voice and I can share it in my next post. Alan will also be continuing our coverage of this special event in part 2 - planned for next month's EDA blog. Stay tuned!

All the best,

West Kennerly