THEATRE NOTES Cirque du Soleil, Ballet San Jose
and SVCT’s Out of Order by Paul Myrvold
Cirque du Soleil TOTEM
C
irque du Soleil always wraps a story loosely around their circus acts. For Totem, the story, derived
from myth and science, is one of origins and evolution of life on earth from an initiating spark carried by “the Crystal Man” descending from the upper reach- es of the tent and delivered to acrobatic dancers representing amphibian life, then on through the rise of primates to modern Man. Along the way homage is paid to AmerIndian traditions by, among others, the awesomely agile Hoop Dancer and by the buckskin-clad Roller Skating duo who come on paddling birch bark canoes like Hiawatha and Minehaha and seal their love with twirling embraces on the intimate con- fines of a not so large drum measuring 1.8 meters in diameter. The Fixed Trapeze Duo working high
above the stage without safety lines or nets seemed like young, feisty, sulky kids, teenagers poking at each other, until physical contact turns to mutual light-hearted seduction with bold chore- ographed movements of lifts, drops and clutches. Another favorite of the evening were the five young Chinese girls who, perched high on seven-foot unicycles, balanced stacks of small steel bowls on their heads. Sometimes they held station- ary positions by using a rocking back and forth movement in perfect unison, at other times circling or weaving through each other. As they did so, with no use of hands, they flipped the bowls one at a time to each other with their feet and
UNICYCLES
caught them with the bowls on their heads as the changing patterns became ever more complicated. The audience rewarded them with warm, enthusiastic applause. One can count on Cirque du Soleil to
deliver a superbly produced show with acts of daring, skill, agility and strength, drilled and rehearsed to perfection. The performers give their all and the audi- ence loves them for it. I can’t review each act in these pages, but all showed satisfying, sometimes heart-stopping dar- ing and expertise. The fantastic, sugarcoated, eye-candy
costume designs by Kym Barrett run the gamut from utter simplicity (the Fixed Trapeze Duo) to achingly beauti-
PHOTO: DANIEL DESMARAIS
ful (the white buckskin clad Roller Skaters) to over-the-top fantastic (the Crystal Man). Carl Fillion’s scenic design superbly represents a watery environment with tall reeds upstage masking the musicians, a flat, round mainstage upon which most of the acts perform and a large slanted platform between the two upon which are project- ed incredibly, I mean INCREDIBLY, realistic scenes of a marsh, a swamp, a beach with waves lapping, a volcano with lava flowing, a river, ocean waves and much more. Just terrific! Never seen anything like it. And there in the middle of that slanted platform, an artic- ulated center cutout lifts, humps upward to make a hillock or a bridge, or curls ~ continued on page 42
Out & About • April 2012 41
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68