Adrienn Banhegyi took an activity that once was just a childhood hobby and transformed it into her dream career.
As an 8-year-old girl, Banhegyi, a Hungarian jump-rope artist, would skip rope with the children in her father’s physical education class. Now, 20 years later, Banhegyi is touring the world and performing in front of live audiences.
“(Jump roping is) definitely a nice activity to keep yourself very fit,” she said. “You can invent your own tricks (and) you can use music to choreograph your own routines. It gives a big variety of what you can do with the jump rope.”
Banhegyi is one of about 50 performers from 18 countries who will take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Breslin Center as a part of Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam.”
The show, which will run from May 23-27, is about a young girl named Zoé, who grows bored with her life and enters into the imaginary world of Quidam to entertain herself.
Jessica Leboeuf, a publicist for the show, said it has been on the road for almost 20 years and features various circuslike stunts, including aerial contortionism, juggling and balancing acts.
“You can prepare to be wowed, to be excited,” she said. “Whether you’ve seen a Cirque du Soleil show or not, “Quidam” is a unique performance and it’s like nothing else that you’ve seen before.”
Banhegyi, who is part of a seven minute jump-rope piece that includes about 20 other performers, is able to show off her rope-skipping skill during a 20 second solo performance that tests her speed and manipulation.
She said transitioning from a competitive jump-rope artist to one that focuses more on performing by joining Cirque du Soleil’s crew has been a longtime goal of hers.
“That’s kind of a dream — from the competitive (jump-rope artist), you become a performer and then you can feel the difference,” Banhegyi said.
Supply chain management junior Alex Giallonardo saw a Cirque du Soleil performance when he was a child, and although he was quite young at the time, Giallonardo said he remembers it almost perfectly.
“It was amazing,” he said. “The things that (the performers) do are incredible.”
Because of the uniqueness of the show, Giallonardo said he plans to see it again when it comes to East Lansing and anxiously is awaiting its arrival.
“It’s something incredibly different from anything else you’d see,” he said. “It combines superior athleticism with grace and also art. The whole show is fantastic, so I’m really excited to see it.”
Banhegyi, who is a newcomer to East Lansing, also said she is excited for the show’s premiere and to see the crowd’s reaction to her performance.
“In every city, it’s a different experience,” she said. “You always have a different audience. I really hope the public will enjoy the show.”
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