Two thousand and eleven has been a tough year for Cirque du Soleil and
its productions world-wide, and an even harder one for a fan such as
myself. with the announcements that ZED would close at the end of 2011
and VIVA ELVIS at the end of 2012 (at the urgency of MGM Resorts
International), and rocky starts to their newest productions (ZARKANA
in New York City, which I had previously reviewed… negatively; and
MICHAEL JACKSON THE IMMORTAL WORLD TOUR, which I had planned to
dissect but… I can’t. I just found it too horrible), that only left
IRIS, Cirque du Soleil’s swaré in Hollywood to help save the year.
On Friday, December 2, 2011, I along with scores of other Cirque du
Soleil Passionates descended upon the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood,
California for CirqueCon 2011, where many of us would see IRIS –
Cirque du Soleil’s newest resident/venue production – for the very
first time. Whilst there we’d also be treated to watching the solo
trapeze artist (Uuve Jansson) rehearse with her coach (Sasha
Pikhienko) assisting her, as well as a fantastic Q&A session with a
panel of seven behind-the-scenes personnel. But they were not just any
seven people; they were the heads of their respective offices!
o) Denise Biggi, Artistic Director
o) Claudette Waddle, General Stage Manager
o) Kevin Kiely, Technical Director
o) Robert Foster, Head of Automation
o) Mark Jenkins, Head of Carpentry
o) Chris Latsch, Head of Electrics
o) Jared Peter, Head of Properties
I have to say it was one of the best Q&A sessions we’ve had at
CirqueCon, with a number of fantastic stories about how they came into
the business, how each came to Cirque du Soleil, and some of the
roadblocks they faced, and hurdles they had to overcome to load in the
show (not to mention some of the tension they felt at having to unload
the show for the upcoming Academy Awards). About an hour or so later
we all stepped on-stage for a group photo (which you can see here,
thanks to Passionate Tim Steele – http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?
fbid=10151143461400014&set=a.275206435013.325149.272446895013&type=1&t
heater) and then gathered at The Grill on Hollywood to eat, drink, and
talk of our shared passion for Cirque du Soleil.
And then, by 8:00pm, we re-assembled at the Kodak Theater to take in
Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS.
THE CONCEPT
Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS draws much of its inspiration from Hollywood
in all its past and present glory. The initial spark of the concept,
though, was ignited during Cirque du Soleil’s performance at the 74th
Academy Awards – held in the Kodak Theater on March 24, 2002 – nearly
10 years ago. That night, for five minutes, Cirque du Soleil was the
focus of the awards ceremony. It took the company four months to
create the special show seen that night, which featured eleven acts
from some of their most popular productions at the time: Dralion, La
Nouba, Quidam, Mystère, “O” and Alegría, all set to the electro-urban
sound of the La Nouba soundtrack. It was so well received that it set
the creative wheels at Cirque in motion. The result: a poetic
phantasmagoria inspired by the world of cinema.
The name of the show, IRIS, taken directly from a camera diaphragm as
well as the colored iris of the human eye, presents an imaginary
journey through the evolution of cinema – from the foundations of the
art form to the bustle of the soundstage – through optical effects and
film genres. IRIS transposes into a language of dance and acrobatics
all of cinemas splendor, inventiveness and, above all, its sense of
wonder. IRIS also conjures up a place between motion and picture,
light and sound, which shifts constantly between reality and make-
believe, to explore the limitless possibilities of cinema. By
combining dance, acrobatics, live video, film footage and interactive
projections, the show illustrates both the mechanics of cinema and its
extraordinary power to deceive the eye through a number of “scenes”
using acrobatics as their core, such as: Aerial Straps Duo,
Contortion, Hand-to-Hand, Filmstrip, Icarian Games, Movie Set, Trapeze
& Brooms, Trampoline, Hand Balancing and a Cirque du Soleil favorite:
Bungees.
MY THOUGHTS
Theme /// The theatrical tapestry behind Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS is
the plight of two young heroes – Buster and Scarlett – who find
themselves plunged into the joyful chaos of a film set; their
escapades transporting the spectator into a kaleidoscope of movement,
moods and images supported by Danny Elfman’s magnificent orchestral
score. Buster himself is a melancholy composer in search of true love
and somewhere between reality and make-believe; he spots the girl of
his dreams; Scarlet, a naïve actress who longs to become a movie star.
But will Buster and Scarlett find each other in the real world? Only
on the journey of IRIS can one find out (and **SPOILER**, yes they
do.) A number of acts in the show help support this cliché (but pure
celluloid) plotline, and though not as esoterical as ZED, Mystère, “O”
or Quidam, IRIS was quite fun and way more enjoyable than more recent
fare, Zarkana and MJ Immortal for example.
Score /// The score, crafted by venerable motion picture composer
Danny Elfman (“Beetlejuice”, 1989’s “Batman”, “Dick Tracy”, “Edward
Scissorhands”, “The Nightmare Before Christmas” and much, much more),
is a wonder to hear mixed live. The choice of the orchestral approach
reflects the fact that over 95 percent of film music since the 1930s
has been scored for full orchestras, and this imparts to the show a
sonic connection between circus and film via strings, brass, harps,
flutes, clarinets, bassoons and so on, as opposed to the sounds of a
jazz or rock ensemble. Cirque utilizes a blend of 100 orchestral
musicians to create the pre-recorded portions of the soundtrack (the
largest in Cirque du Soleil’s history) spread over both large and
small ensembles. This is then mixed with the show’s eight live in-
house musicians to create a wonderful aura of sound. But strangely
enough there are no singers! (And you don’t really miss them).
Lighting /// The lighting of more recent shows has been an issue for
me, explained away by the switch from normal gels to LED-style
lighting equipment. One of the gripes I’ve had with this change
(although I support the “greener” LED lighting, no pun intended) is
that LEDs, whether white or colored, are too discrete. At times
they’re not bright enough while at other times too bright and the
light projected feels cold, unforgiving and uninviting. In fact,
lighting was one of the interesting contrasts in 2008’s ZED: although
I loved the show dearly, the lighting left me with some difficulty
“warming up” to some of the show’s more emotional moments. In 2009’s
OVO and 2010’s TOTEM, this form of lighting became more of an issue to
me. And as for 2011’s ZARKANA, well, that’s a horse of a different
color. IRIS, thankfully, has solved (or at least masked) many of the
lighting issues I’ve seen lately by creating a much warmer ensemble.
And thankfully so.
Projections /// Much ado has been made about IRIS’ projections and the
technology behind them. Early in the show, real-time projections of
acrobats’ performances capture their movements as trails of still
images – in very much the same way that frames of film create the
persistence of vision effect that we see as motion pictures. The
intended result is a living decomposition of movement that takes on a
luminous life of its own as an ever-changing abstract kaleidoscope
above the action, but the observed result is a needless distraction
from the main event itself – the performers! This type of projection
is used during the Contortion and Hand-to-Hand acts to much dismay,
ruining (IMO) what should be the focus, the movement of the
performers’ bodies, not the photonic outlines behind them that trace
and then follow as they move about.
Costumes /// In a brilliant tribute to cinema, the costumes in IRIS
are the result of a visual exploration of a broad range of themes
connected with the invention of cinema: the taking of pictures and the
recording and transmitting of sound and light. The costumes Philippe
Guillotel designed let IRIS follow the major stages in the evolution
of color in film, from black and white and sepia, through Technicolor
and colorization to the deliberately saturated colors of films like
Dick Tracy. The symbiosis between the costumes and the technical
inventions of cinema is particularly striking in the half-human/half
machine ‘hybrid’ characters. One of these wears a skirt reminiscent of
the praxinoscope, one of the first animation devices. Based on the
stroboscopic effect, this costume illustrates the decomposition of
movement. The circular structure of the skirt reveals – through slots
as it rotates – two boxers in action. This is just one of the show’s
innovative, but hardly seen, characters. Others include: “camera men”,
whose costumes include a camera mounted on their head or chest; a
“sound man”, who wears a large carbon fiber cone; a “Screen Man”,
whose costume conceals a 135 sq ft. screen that comes out of his
stomach, and a character whose costume is inspired by the first sound
equipment used to detect the sound of bombs in war. The influence of
Dick Tracy is front and center in a number that pays tribute to
gangster movies. The artists who leap up and down the buildings from
trampolines in the stage floor are wearing bright red, yellow and blue
tartan suits. In the Aerial Ballet number the costumes of the bungee-
jumping “diamond women” are studded with nearly one million Swarovski
crystals. In the air, the artists themselves are not as visible as the
brilliance of the stones, which give their bodies a smooth and bright
look. The costumes worn by the Icarian Games “Kiriki” characters are
an evocation of costumes in the films of Georges Méliès (and they are
one of the costume ensembles that do not work, in my opinion; they
looked like little bug characters from OVO!). The hybrid Furniture
Characters are artists whose costumes make them look exactly like
pieces of living room furniture: two chairs, a lamp, a table and a
moose head on the wall. At one point, as part of a movie, they all
come to life and unfold in a matter of seconds.
Acts /// The acrobatic performances are, of course, the most important
aspect for this observer. I want to see the evolution of skill and
presentation that I’ve come to know and love about Cirque du Soleil,
as well as be wowed by how the entire package comes together. Each of
the acrobatic numbers presented in IRIS are on-par with what you’d
find in other Cirque du Soleil shows, whether they be on tour in the
Grand Chapiteau or Arena format or taking up residence in a specially
designed theater. But, as with Zarkana, I felt there was no real
advance in acrobatic skill here. Only what appeared to be a focus on
the show’s projection technology.
The show’s acrobatic pieces open on the Atherton Twins’ Aerial Straps
Duo number, beautifully performed with precision and grace; they yield
to the Contortion artists who do much better here than they did in
Banana Shpeel (they’re rescues from that ill-fated show – although I
rather preferred their costuming and lighting there). The show began
to break down artistically during the Hand-to-Hand number – two
porters launch their partners into the air to perform stunning feats
requiring absolute mastery and control while kaleidoscopic projections
above the acrobats (generated live by their every move) decompose
motion to add a poetic dimension to their number. But it didn’t. The
projections were tacky and when a black-clothed artist coming on stage
during one trick to spot it destroyed any illusion the artists
attempted to create. This disconcerting feeling continued through to
the next act, Filmstrip – a choreography that calls for high-speed
precision, performers advancing from one frame of film to the next to
create the illusion of continuous movement. And though the performers
create the illusion well, the visual went on a tad too long in my
opinion and broke down into a cacophony of chaos when it should have
just stopped. Thankfully the Icarian Games performers appeared next
and brought things together acrobatically – though I am not a fan of
the bug-like costumes they are forced to wear.
The second half of the show continued the cacophony of chaos I
mentioned earlier through an interesting number simply called “The
Movie Set”. “Controlled chaos reigns over a succession of highly
visual numbers and audacious plunges as a bold allusion to various
aspects of filmmaking,” the official description goes. The
choreography brings the circus disciplines of teeterboard, Spanish
web, Russian bars, aerial silk and floor gymnastics (which I was happy
to see, even if their inclusion was fleeting at best – the disciplines
would no sooner appear then disappear again!) and original
choreography. Although executing a number as chaotic as this deserves
some praise, the action was all over the place, which made it hard to
not only focus on the images at hand but appreciate the skills
involved. Trapeze & Brooms, thankfully, slowed things down (and it did
not disappoint). Here an artist on stage (Buster, or a performer who
is supposed to “be” Buster) manipulates his broom (quite a slick
maneuver actually) while above him, a trapeze artist – the embodiment
of his dream – performs.
Then a really creative segue segment, simply titled “Noir”, evokes the
black and white film era through the exploration of a building’s
tenants through their open windows. Using an inventive coordination
of screens and staging, bits of action poping into color for only a
moment before the light/camera moved on to another window, it was
truly a highlight. But then chaos reigned again in “The Rooftop”
where, in a tribute to gangster movies and to the work of stunt
actors, trampolinists deliver a number packed with thrills on the
roofs of buildings, multiplying their astounding leaps, flips and
glides in a non-stop action movie atmosphere. Cool maneuvers and nice
trampoline moves, but the constant movement was a wee bit distracting
(and it went on a little too long). Hand Balancing and Bungees round
out the show. Although it was nice to see Olga Pikhienko perform on
the hand balancing canes again (having previously seen her perform in
Quidam and Varekai), there was little change in her performance (and
her role here, to share a kiss with the hero, is also seemingly copied
from Varekai); and the Bungee performers do take flight… so long as
you’re in the right seat (otherwise viewing might be limited!)
CONCLUSIONS
Despite all the nit-picking I have with the presentation of the show I
had a great time as an audience member. Cirque du Soleil’s IRIS is
standing on much firmer ground artistically than Zarkana. Everything
feels just about right. With some tightening of those longer-running
segments, fleshing out the emotion in the story of two star-crossed
lovers, and losing some of the gimmicky projection work, IRIS will be
a Cirque du Soleil powerhouse. It should prove interesting to see this
show again in the future after its fixation period has ended and the
performers have had some time to mature into their roles. All the
elements are there.
Lights! Camera! Cirque!
P.S. CirqueCon didn’t end following the performance – there was one
little surprise left to spring upon our members: a post-show meet and
greet with the Atherton twins, who graciously took time to not only
answer some of our pressing questions about their work, but also pose
for a few photos. Thanks guys!
