By Paul Wilson
Cirque du Soleil’s shows are simultaneous auditory and visual performances that are characterized by a blend of tradition and imaginative new acts created by Cirque. Most of the time so much is happening that one person usually cannot take in all that they are seeing and hearing just during one show.
While watching something on the stage close to you, for example, a clown may briefly appear across the stage, do something and disappear before you have seen them, leaving the laughter of those who did notice them.
“Corteo’s” main character is the Dead Clown, whose dream of what his funeral would be like is the setting for the story. Before the show, two curtains are lowered all the way to the round stage creating a hallway between them, where the Dead Clown’s bed is placed.On the semi-transparent curtain that shrouds the center of the stage, angels painted on the curtain seem to draw up the edges to show you the Dead Clown’s life. A procession of those who knew him file past in his dream, and when the curtain finally rises, you are drawn into that dream, the Dead Clown’s dream about the time after his death, when those at his funeral remember and celebrate his life in a series of acts…
Acrobatic ladders
Performing acrobatic feats on various ladders, the artist tries to reach the angel above him. Finally he climbs to the top of his highest ladder to reach his goal and flies away, leaving his ladder to his friend.
Adagio duet
The two little people perform on, and within, a rotating vertical ring set, watched over by the head angel.
Bouncing beds
Resembling children playing on their beds, six artists bounce, flip, and balance on two beds, set up with the foot of each bed facing the other. At the end of the act, one of the characters jumps from bed to bed, bouncing up to balance on the head board only to fall back into the bed and bounce to the other bed.
Chandeliers
Aerial acrobatics are performed by four women on three chandeliers high above the Dead Clown as he lies on his bed during his dream.
Clown acts
As in most circuses, the clowns perform their comic acts interspersed with the other acts, but these clowns have many talents as well. The acts range from playing golf, to performing as small horses, to a juggling act that rivals the other jugglers, but is interrupted by a rain of stuffed chickens from above.
Cyr wheels
A simple metal hoop, the Cyr wheel (a Cirque invention) has the performer balanced inside the circle, rotating, balancing and moving around the stage. At times, the act has four such wheels on the round stage, moving in intricate patterns and showing amazing balance and precision.
Juggling
Four siblings show their skill at simultaneously juggling their own props and helping the others with their props at the same time. One character may be juggling clubs with his sister and at the same time juggling a different set of clubs with his brother. The other two jugglers also add their props, which include hoops and smaller rings, to the flurry of objects in mid-air. The act ends with one character juggling with his brother on the ground while his sister stands on his shoulders, and also juggles with the same brother.
Paradise
This is a Cirque combination of a trampoline-like net and three Korean frame stations that join the two into a seamless blend of ground and aerial acrobatics, sometimes joining the two, with artists jumping up to join those on the Korean frames, or those in the air falling down to bounce up to a different station.
Teeterboard
Urged on by two groups of artists, acrobats place themselves on either end of a long flexible board that is propped up like a teeter-totter. They start jumping on their end alternately until finally both are flying high in the air in their turn. Once high enough, they start flipping and turning only to land back on the board to launch their counterpart.
Tightwire
This is one of the more traditional circus acts, but this tight-rope walker is given in turns a unicycle and a set of hoops to perform with by the angels who hover all around her. Finally, she walks up a sloping wire out of sight to the top of the tent.
Tournik
This is a set of eight facing horizontal bars, with four bars arranged in a square in the center and the other four bars parallel to the four center bars about 8 feet away.
The act gains intensity and complexity as more and more acrobats join those performing until eight are swinging around the bars, changing positions without stopping and working with the others perfectly.
Cirque du Soleil’s performances can be seen without buying tickets to the Cirque, but the actual show itself should be experienced at least once.
Most of their shows (all but the newest ones) have been filmed and are available for sale only on their website (
www.cirquedusoleil.com) which also has information about each of their shows. For those who want to see what Cirque du Soleil is about with out buying something, the videos can be checked out of the Library system. Currently the Mariposa Library owns two videos of the Cirque.
“We Reinvent the Circus” was Cirque’s first show, and contains some hilarious clown acts among other things.
“Saltimbanco” is another early Cirque show that demonstrates their goal of taking traditional circus acts and changing them, inventing new acts or equipment, or finding new ways to use traditional equipment.
The
“La Nouba” and
“Dralion” videos are also in the San Joaquin Valley Library System along with “Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within,” a TV special that shows some of the behind the scenes work that went into making the show
“Varekai.” There are also some books about Cirque and its’ performers that are available to be checked out.
