While many people will never be able to answer that question, Mexican-Italian singer Alessandra Gonzalez has been doing just that for the past six years.
Born and raised in Rome, Alessandra was destined to become a performer and has been singing and dancing since she can remember.
At the age of six, she entered the world of dance as a classical ballerina, and soon branched out to myriad other styles, from jazz to Mexican folk dancing.
Alessandra inherited not only her Mexican roots from her father, an opera singer, but also his passion for singing.
A year after putting on her first ballet shoes, a seven-year-old Alessandra became noticed for her vocal talent, reaching the final round of Italy’s “Sanremo for children”, the famed Lo Zecchino d’Oro in Bologna.
As the multi-talented performer blossomed into a young woman, her love for both singing and dancing continued to develop simultaneously.
In 2002, she followed in her father’s footsteps and began studying singing with some of Italy’s finest voices, and in the following years, she trained under dancing greats at Rome’s Kledi Dance Academy and the Maison de la Danse.
Alessandra’s voice became her career in 2005, with her solo performance of Michael Jackson and Lionel Ritchie’s iconic ‘We are the World’ at the Vatican’s annual Concerto di Natale.
A year later, she appeared as a guest performer at the esteemed Gai Mattiolo fashion show in Rome, singing the classic ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’.
It wasn’t long before Alessandra took the performing arts scene by storm, becoming the ultimate triple threat with lead roles in musicals including Moulin Rouge, Peter Pan and The Wizard of Oz.
In 2010, Alessandra stumbled across a casting call for the international phenomenon, Cirque du Soleil, on Facebook of all places.
“I didn’t know how many people were going to apply so I wasn’t sure if I would get it, but I thought I had a pretty good chance of doing my best and getting the job,” she says.
Alessandra was successful in scoring the lead role of Zoe in the company’s show Quidam and, in what she describes as her most memorable career moment to date, she performed the show’s premier in 2011.
It was while touring for Quidam from 2011 to 2016, that Alessandra met her partner Benjamin Harrison, an Australian musician who was a member of the show’s band and who is currently working on a new Cirque du Soleil project in Montreal.
When Quidam came to an end, Alessandra remained a member of the Cirque du Soleil family, performing KOOZA in the role of the Indian Singer and as understudy for The Innocent.
Having already visited Sydney and Brisbane for the show, Alessandra is currently performing in Melbourne, where KOOZA will run until March 26, before moving on to Perth from April 13.
Since performing her first show for Quidam in 2011, Alessandra has been travelling the world with Cirque du Soleil for over six years, an experience which she describes as challenging yet exciting.
“It’s great to see new countries and learn about different cultures,” she explains.
“I’m working with people from all over the world, and we go to new places and explore them together; we’re pretty much like one big family.”
Watching Alessandra and the live band set the mood while performers wow the audience with acrobatic stunts, from mesmerising contortionists to thrilling tightrope walkers, their close bond is reflected in their seamless and natural harmony on stage.
While KOOZA follows the journey of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world, it seems that Alessandra and her crew have certainly found theirs.
