'It's freedom': Cirque du Soleil artists on performing in Luzia

What goes through your mind when you're being flung, upside-down, from one performer to another?

For trapeze artists Kelly McDonald and Naomie Zimmermann, "it's freedom."

"It's travelling and giving you all that you would need to be happy," says Zimmermann.

The two alternate playing the role of the "Flyer" in "Adagio" — one of the acts in Cirque du Soleil's newest production, Luzia.

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Whether it's McDonald or Zimmermann on stage, they're bounced from one performer to another, seeming weightless.

"We want it to be more poetic, different to what you've seen before," says McDonald.

Trust and teamwork

For McDonald and Zimmermann, the artistry comes from trust and teamwork.

"I depend on the preparation of three other guys," McDonald says.

The performer, who has nearly two decades of experience as a gymnast, has gone from competing in an individual sport to becoming a team player.

"When you move into acrobatics in a show it's about creativity and creating a story and giving something to a wider audience they can take away."

That teamwork goes beyond just the big top. With just one day off a week, the performers, trainers and artists even spend their free time together.

"It is definitely like a family, we spend our whole days together, we hang out together... we're a big team," says Zimmermann.

'Touch of fear'

But it's more than just teamwork that makes their performance seamless. McDonald says "a touch of fear is involved, especially when you're learning a new trick, you're training with new people or performing a new act. You don't know what the response is going to be."

That fear, she says, is shared among every member of the team, but it can also be useful.

"Once you're prepared to go on stage, you have the trust you've built with your team, your show, you trust that you've created something that's worth showing to the public so the fear turns into excitement."

Both say that despite the rigorous training that goes into putting together a show like this, when it comes time to perform it becomes a different kind of experience.

"The trainers involved, the conditioning we do, the costume designers, everything that goes into it [is planned]," says McDonald, "but in the end it is magic and it feels that way still."

Luzia runs until Oct. 16.