Cirque du Soleil coming to Saint John, featuring one of New Brunswick's own

A Cirque du Soleil show will be stopping in New Brunswick this winter, featuring one of the province's own renowned figure skaters. 

Growing up, Edmundston's Shawn Sawyer had two dreams — to compete at the Olympic Games and to be part of Cirque du Soleil. 

"When I achieved my dream of competing at the Olympics, I'm like, 'OK, one out of two, that's good — I'm good with that,'" he said.

"But then when I heard that Cirque du Soleil were going to experiment with the ice, I'm like, 'I have to be part of this.'"

Before dipping his toes into other forms of skating, Sawyer competed for Canada at the Turin Olympics in 2006, and won a sliver medal and three bronze medals at the Canadian National Skating Championships.

While he retired from competition in 2011, he continued performing and is now a featured role in Cirque du Soleil's Crystal, which will be stopping in Saint John from Jan. 2 to 5.

Sawyer said some people have compared the show to that of Cirque's O, which is in Las Vegas. That show uses water, while Crystal uses ice. 

"They really pushed the envelope to make something special," he said.

Crystal is the first Cirque du Soleil show to use ice, according to the company's website. It follows the lead character, Crystal, when she falls through a frozen pond and goes on a journey of self-discovery.

Sawyer started skating when he was nine years old. He said he had too much energy as a kid, so his parents put him in a variety of sports as a way to channel that energy. He tried hockey, judo, swimming, skiing and eventually, figure skating. 

Figure skating was the hardest sport he tried, said Sawyer, and that hooked him. 

With a background in competitive figure skating, performing is a different wheelhouse for Sawyer.

There are certain things he can now do on the ice that would have been deemed illegal in a competitive setting, he said. The show also has plenty of costume changes and he had to learn how to share the stage with 40 other artists, as opposed to having the whole ice to himself, he said.

"A lot of things had to be learned, and I'm still learning every single week," said Sawyer.

In the second act, Sawyer said there is a "tap dance" number where microphones are attached to the skates so the audience can hear the sound of the blades on the ice. 

Sawyer has been in the show for a few years now and has toured all around the world. But he said nothing beats coming back to New Brunswick.

"When I saw New Brunswick for upcoming tour dates, I was so excited. Coming back home, it's the best Christmas and birthday gift that I can ask for," said Sawyer, who turns 40 on Jan. 14.