Kaleido Star: Legendary Rose

Part 25: "The Amazing Paris International Circus Festival"

As before, any similarity of the names of the other performers to real people's names is coincidence.

The use of ESPN is just in media scope, and all copyrights (including that of Kaleido Star) are still reserved by their holders.

The Big Day

It was a beautiful morning in California, but a glorious early evening in Paris, France.

ESPN Announcer: "You are looking at Stadia L'Festival. This massive tent will be the showcase for the finest acrobats in the world to ply their trade for the ultimate prize - championship glory in the Paris International Circus Festival."

Layla even smiled - and became a little jealous as well. She wishes she could've had all the bells and whistles that ESPN put into the international broadcast of this event.

The assembled capacity crowd at Kaleido Stage oohed and aahed at the broadcast as a special team of inspectors ensured that the setup would be declared legal for competition.

Off in the training facility, most of the performers still in California for this event sat together with a stoic Sora and Rosetta. Both were envisioning the moment they would take flight - and what they would do when they got up there.

Ken was nervously pacing the top part of Kaleido Stage's main building. His future wife and their future baby hung in the balance, not unlike this competition. Succeed, and they marry in Paris with Sora and Rosetta as champions of the acrobatic world.

If Sora and Rosetta failed…

Ken just put that thought out of his mind.

ESPN Announcer: "The contest was set on its ear just after the introductions of the ten seeded performers by two announcements by defending champions Leon Oswald from France and May Wong from China, representing the Kaleido Stage in California."

"First, they announced that they were adding themselves to the event, as is the prerogative of the defending champions, who won three years ago with the Demon Spiral."

The crowd at Kaleido Stage (both in the tent and in the training facility) cheered the video of May Wong winning three years ago with the Demon Spiral.

ESPN Announcer: "But even more shocking was their second announcement: Even though the two performers insisted on doing an impossible stunt at which failure is certain death, Wong and Oswald gave their second choice seed to Sora Naegino of Japan and Rosetta Passel of France, also representing Kaleido Stage."

"Three years ago, Ms. Naegino was in this competition…"

Sora couldn't bear to watch it. She knew those were her tears, as if she were fighting with herself for the type of stage she wanted to perform on.

ESPN Announcer: "And now, word has come down that Ms. Naegino is going to perform the Legendary Great Maneuver three months pregnant, with a baby by her and the physical trainer at Kaleido Stage's Training Academy. An incredible story gets even more startling by the day."

"And because of the special arrangements which had to be made so that the Legendary Great Maneuver will be attempted, they have been allowed to attempt it at the one venue which can build and maintain the setup necessary: Kaleido Stage itself!"

The capacity crowd cheered as the cameras scanned the very recesses of Kaleido Stage's main performance area. Even the performers in the training facility were wowed by the crowd.

Sora and Rosetta remained resolute. Their only wish was to perform the maneuver and survive it.

ESPN Announcer: "All these and other stories will be told tonight, as we broadcast, for the first time worldwide, the triennial Paris International Circus Festival!"

Backstage in Paris

Yuri was looking over the event as Mr. Milieu prepared to go out and open the event with a small ceremony.

May and Leon were in costume and standing next to him. They were resplendent as demons, hoping to use the dark power they both made famous to secure a second consecutive championship for themselves and a third for Kaleido Stage.

Although both knew what that would mean if it happened, neither really allowed themselves to think about what would happen if Sora and Rosetta failed.

Just then, the announcement was made for Mr. Milieu to step out and begin the show.

Opening Statements

Milieu: "Thank you. I am Francois Milieu, and I am the Competition Director of tonight's event."

Applause followed from both venues.

Milieu: "Tonight is a historic night for circus artistry. Tonight is a night where we will crown a champion as we do every three years. But, tonight, for the first time, the world will see it live. Many do not believe what has been done in this performance hall - and we intend to amaze the world."

"Trust in that there are no camera tricks. No invisible lifelines. And no net. These are the best professionals in the world putting their very lives and careers on the line. DO NOT try this at all - at home, nor anywhere else."

"Tonight you will see 12 acts, spanning the genres of religion to burlesque to the grandest traditions of the circus stage. And, at the end of the night, you will see an attempt of a stunt that even we believe can not be done under the rigorous rules of this competition."

"Usually, at this point, we hear from the defending champions. However, since the defending champions are performing tonight, we have an opening statement from the head of Kaleido Stage and one of the champions from six years ago."

"Ladies and gentlemen, Yuri Killian."

Applause rained down as Yuri took to the stage.

Yuri: "I can say that I was more than a little taken aback by the nature of this year's qualifications. But, rest assured, the world will see performances it will not only not have seen before, but, more than likely, never see again."

"The winner of this show gains circus immortality, as I and Layla Hamilton did six years ago, and May Wong and Leon Oswald did three years ago."

"The losers? Some may not survive… And the audiences around the world, including here in France and back in the United States, need to be prepared for that fact."

"All I can say is that may each performer perform to the best of his or her ability, such that the winner be an honored champion."

"Thank you."

Music came up as indoor fireworks set the scene for the first performer.

ESPN Announcer: "Ladies and gentlemen, the rules:"

"Each performer will be ranked on a scale of 1-20 by five judges. The performer must successfully complete the maneuver, at minimum, which they submitted to the judges 30 days ago. Failure to complete it means they're out."

"This is with one exception, and we'll get to that later, because, right now, I see our first performer coming out to the stage…"

Brazil's Edoo and the "Monkey Maneuver"

In the minutes before the performance began, an elaborate set of jungle-gym like bars were assembled like an Erector set all over the arena.

Edoo decided to perform a complicated swinging routine all around the stage, leading, in one motion, toward a trapeze three stories above the floor, from which she would perform a quadruple twisting quintuple somersault to the ground.

Degree of difficulty: Off the charts - commensurate with the Paris Festival.

One new feature this year was that all props and set-ups had to be cleared by the Festival's committee so as not to encourage sabotage. So once everything was tightened to the satisfaction of the committee, Edoo came out and jumped into the mass of bars.

She spun and jumped from bar to bar with effortless ease, to the applause of the audience. She swung, as if not human, but in the jungles herself, to the relentless rushing beat of jungle music.

And then, the time came. As the music ascended and everyone held their breath, she leapt to the top of the setup, and then began to swing on the trapeze…

And then she let go and spun the four required twists…

However, she didn't quite make the five somersaults and fell to the ground with a shriek.

The crowd screamed and the lights were quickly dimmed.

Medics and a stretcher were summoned, as it was clear that Edoo blew out her knee entirely and would never be able to perform again, and may never walk again.

Such was the cost of failure at the Paris Festival.

Two-Time Defending World Junior Circus Champion: From Australia, Constance McPherson

A young girl of 14 then took the stage, flying over the heads of most of the Parisian crowd.

Flying from one trapeze to another (for her, six were set up) with effortless grace, McPherson wowed the crowd with the form which made her two-time Junior World Champion.

But, after a while, there was a problem: There was no "big move". No Golden Phoenix. No Demon Spiral.

Just a bunch of very difficult moves which showed what kind of prodigy she was. However, it was clear that she was at least one cycle away from serious consideration for this group.

So, by the end, only a very respectful applause, and Mr. Milieu could be seen shaking his head in the wings.

During a long commercial, the judges deliberated whether to score her at all, and eventually settled on a score of 25 out of 100. Not acceptable. Disappointment stretched from Paris to Kaleido Stage, where the reaction McPherson got reminded Ken of the first night Rosetta Passel performed there: sheer boredom.

When McPherson came off of the stage, Milieu had these sharp words for her:

Milieu: "If that's the best any of our performers can do, we'll be shut down. Come back in three or six years."

Egypt's "Mysterious Cleopatra" and the Aerial "Dance of the Seven Veils"

The caption "Parental Discretion Advised" came on the screen as "Mysterious Cleopatra" came out in a costume of seven veils and nothing else. She had told the committee that she would be nude at the end of the performance - such was the art of burlesque.

Too bad she barely got out onto the trapeze when one of her veils mysteriously went flying (yep, sabotage - probably by Shinto, who believed the stage was no place for such ridiculousness), snagged, and she literally had to dangle for dear life until the trapeze was lowered.

Another failure, but, at least, she got to walk away - much to the disgust of the competition organizers.

Kaleido Stage

The break in the action allowed the people at Kaleido Stage to say goodbye to Sora and Rosetta. The next time many would see them would be ascending the lifts to do the Legendary Great Maneuver on Kaleido Stage - performing last.

So they went off to change and to stretch.

Japan's Takehiro Fujiwara and the "Floor of Fire"

The first Japanese contestant was next. Flame jets were stationed in various portions of the floor of the arena, and Fujiwara came out wearing only a very thin leotard (as if to underscore that he feared no failure).

His twists and runs were exquisite, putting the Olympians in the audience to absolute shame, and that was before he started jumping directly over the flame jets, which started at a foot or two and got higher.

His climax was the "Run of Fire". He would perform four very high somersault jumps over five foot high flames. One miss would send him careening into the next flame jet.

But he would not miss. And, for that, he earned the first standing ovation of the evening, and a score of 70. Milieu bowed to Fujiwara on the way out, and the next performer was summoned.

From Japan: Shinto and "Eternal Blessing"

Too bad that Shinto never came and that the crowd would never know what the "Eternal Blessing" was.

One of the disadvantages for the competition allowing ESPN to broadcast it was the ugly scene the world was shown - "Mysterious Cleopatra" and Shinto were brawling on the floor backstage, with the rest of the performers (sans May and Leon - and Fujiwara, who had just finished and had just gotten scored) cheering them on.

Ken had the Kaleido Stage feed temporarily cut, and, shortly thereafter, ESPN declared "technical difficulties" at the demand of the Competition Committee.

Meanwhile, at their Kaleido Stage dressing room (and completely oblivious to the insanity in Paris - they were only waiting for May and Leon to finish, when they would be called to walk to the arena), Sora and Rosetta were mentally preparing for the stunt that could be their vindication - or their end.

In their dressing room at the Paris venue, all May could say was:

"That was stupid."

It was 25 minutes before the feed (and order) was restored.

Russia's Vladamir Chernekov and "Chains That Bind"

The next thing the telecast saw was a single person lowering from the ceiling like a spider from a web.

The audience saw the likeness of his performance to Layla Hamilton's, as he scared everyone in the place several times over, coming within a few feet on at least three occasions to landing on his head.

Overall, it looked effortless, but the committee saw it as a copycat of what "The Masked Star" (Layla) had done about 4 years ago.

Hence, the score reflected it: 35.

France's Mute with "Quiet Fury"

In Paris, Yuri propped up with interest. Mute, alone, would be performing a stunt of own creation.

Taking a cue from the stagehand, Mute silently took off from the trapeze. No second trapeze was seen.

A spotlight shone on the ground. One on Mute in the trapeze…

And then, Mute jumped.

Layla gasped back at Kaleido Stage.

Ken prepared to cut the feed again.

Yuri jumped to his feet.

And then…

Lights on Mute's costume made it apparent that Mute had twisted several times through the air and cleanly landed on the ground, from roughly the height that Edoo failed.

The crowd erupted, but the judges called for an inquiry because they wanted verification that a stunt (and not a series of visual tricks) had been created.

Sure enough, all the entrances to the stage area were sealed (as by rule), and it was made clear that nothing was amiss.

The committee stood, led the standing ovation, and awarded Mute a 90 total for first place so far.

Germany's Katarina Schwartz

Schwarz was called out to the stage, and began to perform a diabolo routine.

Most of the audience was getting bored (again, see Rosetta's first Kaleido Stage performance).

That was until they realized that the diabolos had razors on them, and she was spinning them awfully close to her body.

It was clear that she had practiced this a lot.

The sad part is that she missed one of the flying razors by only a fraction, and her wire ended up cut.

Fortunately, no injury, except to her reputation.

No score either.

And then a shocking announcement came over the public address:

Bridget Klammer and Marcos Cadilla had both fled the venue. No one really knew exactly why, but one thing was clear - they were both gone, essentially chickening out of the Paris International Circus Festival, perhaps oblivious to the cost to their reputations for such an act.

And that meant that the defending champions were next.

Kaleido Stage

It also was time for Layla to get Sora and Rosetta and escort them (with help) to the arena.

May Wong and Leon Oswald, with "The Double Demon Corkscrew"

A number of trapezes and ropes were set up all throughout the ceiling of the arena. May perched herself on one end of the line, Leon on the other.

At the beginning of the music, they began to swing on the trapezes. They swung to the first rope over on each side with a wild corkscrew mid-air motion (May calling out the move name, as usual), and caught it with one foot apiece.

Then, to the next trapeze with another wild series of mid-air spins and twists.

Then to the rope in the center, which had two loops. They each caught one.

Now for the big part of the stunt… They began to swing the center rope, for they would essentially do the other three parts of this in complete succession.

After about the fourth big swing, they let go….

First to the trapeze…

Then to the side rope… (both grabbing the same loop!)

Then to the end trapeze…

With a "Demon Spiral" between each…

It was unheard of to think that a performer could maintain that equilibrium.

In fact, when they both made it back to the sides of the line, May fell to one knee, as she did lose her balance.

But to no matter to the judges nor the audience. It was clear that Kaleido Stage was going to make it three in a row, as the judges awarded May and Leon a full 100 points for the effort.

So now, only one challenger awaited…

The telecast, and the simulcast in both Paris and in California cut to the Kaleido Stage grounds.

Sora Naegino and Rosetta Passel, with "The Legendary Great Maneuver"

ESPN Announcer: "And, well, the time has come…"

Rosetta and Sora, in costume, determined to walk to their fate… Layla, Anna, Mia, Jean, Marion, and Jonathan with them.

ESPN Announcer: "Sora Naegino of Japan and Rosetta Passel of France will perform a stunt which has become the stuff of legend in acrobatics."

"20 stories above the Kaleido Stage floor, they will go into flight. No lifelines. No guide wires. No kidding. One mistake will mean certain death."

Milieu (from Paris): "I wish to advise that, should these two girls complete the maneuver that they are designing to do, they shall win the competition by acclamation - such is the reputation of this stunt."

Sora and Rosetta entered the main Kaleido Stage tent. The top of the tent began to open.

Milieu: "I must warn that the risk of grave injury or death is just about mathematical certainty with this stunt."

"Those who do not wish to witness the dire risk of the Legendary Great Maneuver should leave the arena now."

And some did.

But back in California, Sora and Rosetta got their hands ready.

Layla took to the top to stand with Ken.

Mia walked out to the stage with Sora. Anna walked out to the stage with Rosetta. With hugs, Sora and Rosetta took their positions as the platforms began to rise.

The audience at Kaleido Stage went nuts.

Layla Hamilton asked over the public address system for silence throughout the performance as the competitors would begin to rise toward their positions.

5 stories…

10.…

15.….

And then finally to the top. 20 stories above Kaleido Stage.

Of course, for Sora, this was familiar ground. She had been here before.

She looked across the way to see how Rosetta was handling the height and the culmination of three years of work.

Rosetta looked up, saw Sora, and believed everything would be all right.

Upon the signal, it was time for them to start swinging…

Once…

Twice…

Three, then four times…

A fifth time…

A lot of speed had to be built up.

The wind was even still - the crowd was even quieter.

And then, the next time, upon Sora's call…

They let go and somersaulted through the air, as Sora had done years before…

Just then, a cough could be heard from above… It didn't look like Sora would make it…

Ken screamed: "NO!"