I went to see this last night. This is the type of experience that cannot be described properly in words because it is totally sensual. It is so much more than incredible acrobatic tricks because you are enveloped by the music, the colors, the textures, the costumes, the lights and the mood. I especially enjoyed the colors: it was a muted maroon, turqoise, pink, teal and gold palette.
When we arrived there was a gorgeous see-through screen set up. It was reminiscent of Italy, of the Italian Renaissance with cherubs.
This is not a very good picture, but hopefully it gives the idea:
The stage was in the center, set up in a horseshoe shape- not quite theatre in the round, rather the crowd was on opposite sides of the stage. I liked this set-up much better than previous Cirque's I have seen.
The story simply is a clown is imaging his own funeral. He is sort of a buffoon, a silly overgrown kid. His bed is on the stage when the angels come to take him up to heaven. There is a procession (Corteo) of his life, lived and things hoped for. Angels, looking like those that sit on top of Christmas trees are floating through the air the whole show.
One of the first breathtaking acts was beautiful gymnastics and dance taking place on elegant candle chandeliers:
Soon after more beds appeared on the stage. These were special beds because they had trampolines hidden in them. A pillow fight and pajama party took place, but it was a fantasy pillow fight. The acrobats were wearing adorable pajama costumes. The tricks seemed unlike anything humans could pull off. I used to do quite a bit of trampoline, and the proximity of the headboards on either end made these tricks much more difficult. For anyone who knows gymnastics terms, "traveling" was a huge no-no or the head would be smashed by the headboard. I truly loved this act! It was so much fun with perfect musical accompaniment.
Afterwards were more beautiful dancing, angels coming down from the sky. Men jumping into the air flipping on a see-saw or teeterboard. That was also quite scary as they would land the double flips on the end of the board! Then they had the "Cyr" act which is giant hula-hoops that the performers get in and roll around the stage. There was a constant stream of amazing acts, yet it was comical with midgets, giants, clowns and all sorts of silliness.
Another mind-boggling thing, that you cannot help but notice, is the bodies on the cast! Mon dieux, it was a sight to see.
I truly love the international flavor of these shows. They use Italian, French, Spanish and English during the show. I was particularly pleased that I understood the few Italian phrases. The songs are in Italian, French, Spanish and a "makeshift" Cirque language. I finally found that was true last night, because it states so on the back of my new CD. On my other Cirque du Soleil CD, Quidam, I suspected that one of the languages was made up, but I was not certain. I spent a long time trying to figure out what language it was: it sounds like a mix of Italian and French but I could tell that it was not real words from those languages. Also the entire cast is very international. They represent Canada, Italy, France, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and more. The only people in the cast from the USA are several musicians in the band. I was wondering about why this was, but then it occured to me that any child in the USA who has a talent for acrobatics, would only have the outlet of the sport of gymnastics. In these other countries suppose there places to learn acrobatics and circus acts as well as families with a long history of this type of talent.
There were 2 little people in the show, who absolutely stole the show, Valentyna Paylevanyan and her husband Gregor Paylevanyan from Ukraine. The most unique act of the night was when Valentyna came out held up by a bouquet of helium balloons. Here she is:
They were actually holding her up. There was not enough that she would fly away, but enough to let her float in the air and slowly come down to the floor. The clown pushed her into the air for a bit, then let her out into the audience with instructions to "push her with two hands" if she lands at your seat! I leave you with the video of this video of Valentyna:
When we arrived there was a gorgeous see-through screen set up. It was reminiscent of Italy, of the Italian Renaissance with cherubs.
This is not a very good picture, but hopefully it gives the idea:
The stage was in the center, set up in a horseshoe shape- not quite theatre in the round, rather the crowd was on opposite sides of the stage. I liked this set-up much better than previous Cirque's I have seen.
The story simply is a clown is imaging his own funeral. He is sort of a buffoon, a silly overgrown kid. His bed is on the stage when the angels come to take him up to heaven. There is a procession (Corteo) of his life, lived and things hoped for. Angels, looking like those that sit on top of Christmas trees are floating through the air the whole show.
One of the first breathtaking acts was beautiful gymnastics and dance taking place on elegant candle chandeliers:
Soon after more beds appeared on the stage. These were special beds because they had trampolines hidden in them. A pillow fight and pajama party took place, but it was a fantasy pillow fight. The acrobats were wearing adorable pajama costumes. The tricks seemed unlike anything humans could pull off. I used to do quite a bit of trampoline, and the proximity of the headboards on either end made these tricks much more difficult. For anyone who knows gymnastics terms, "traveling" was a huge no-no or the head would be smashed by the headboard. I truly loved this act! It was so much fun with perfect musical accompaniment.
Afterwards were more beautiful dancing, angels coming down from the sky. Men jumping into the air flipping on a see-saw or teeterboard. That was also quite scary as they would land the double flips on the end of the board! Then they had the "Cyr" act which is giant hula-hoops that the performers get in and roll around the stage. There was a constant stream of amazing acts, yet it was comical with midgets, giants, clowns and all sorts of silliness.
Another mind-boggling thing, that you cannot help but notice, is the bodies on the cast! Mon dieux, it was a sight to see.
I truly love the international flavor of these shows. They use Italian, French, Spanish and English during the show. I was particularly pleased that I understood the few Italian phrases. The songs are in Italian, French, Spanish and a "makeshift" Cirque language. I finally found that was true last night, because it states so on the back of my new CD. On my other Cirque du Soleil CD, Quidam, I suspected that one of the languages was made up, but I was not certain. I spent a long time trying to figure out what language it was: it sounds like a mix of Italian and French but I could tell that it was not real words from those languages. Also the entire cast is very international. They represent Canada, Italy, France, Spain, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and more. The only people in the cast from the USA are several musicians in the band. I was wondering about why this was, but then it occured to me that any child in the USA who has a talent for acrobatics, would only have the outlet of the sport of gymnastics. In these other countries suppose there places to learn acrobatics and circus acts as well as families with a long history of this type of talent.
There were 2 little people in the show, who absolutely stole the show, Valentyna Paylevanyan and her husband Gregor Paylevanyan from Ukraine. The most unique act of the night was when Valentyna came out held up by a bouquet of helium balloons. Here she is:
They were actually holding her up. There was not enough that she would fly away, but enough to let her float in the air and slowly come down to the floor. The clown pushed her into the air for a bit, then let her out into the audience with instructions to "push her with two hands" if she lands at your seat! I leave you with the video of this video of Valentyna:
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