Cirque du Soleil’s “La Nouba” celebrates its 15th anniversary at Walt Disney World later this month. On December 23 actually, but he celebration of the milestone will be with a special pre-show moment during the 6 p.m. performance on Wednesday, December 18, 2013. The event will be celebrated with an unprecedented appearance by Special Friends from Walt Disney World Resort. The evening will also include a few more surprises to commemorate this historic moment. The anniversary also marks the 15-year partnership between two of the world’s most iconic entertainment brands.

La Nouba is a mesmerizing and extraordinary avant-garde circus spectacle performed by Cirque du Soleil exclusively in the Downtown Disney West Side area at Walt Disney World Resort. .La Nouba translates to English as “”to party, to live it up,”” and this theme is evident in the energetic performances, the colorful costumes and the moving live music.

Since opening, La Nouba has entertained more than 9 million guests and still features over 20% of the original cast. The unique cast of 65 international performers includes an artist who has not missed a show in 15 years – the trampoline performer Alexander “Sasha” Daniltchenko. He has spent his life on the trampoline: Before joining Cirque du Soleil, he was a gold-medal winning athlete for his homeland’s national team. He has no plans to stop jumping any time soon.
“Maybe I have a high pain tolerance,” he suggests with a grin. He can remember a painful time: “Around 7,000 shows, my back was so bad.”

Others of the long-time performers of “La Nuoba” are the clowns Sergey and Balto. After a decade and a half, the clowns still love it. Balto shared that for him, “It’s a pride. It’s still a pleasure. After 15 years, we still get a standing ovation every show.” Sergey shares the sentiment, “It’s gone by fast. It’s a lot of work, but I still love the performance. This is my dream. For me, there won’t be a retirement … I was born a clown and I’ll die that way.”