Those of you who’ve met me know I am a champion for experiencing the premiere of a new Cirque du Soleil show amongst the hometown crowd. There’s absolutely no substitute for being in the stands of the Grand Chapiteau with a couple-thousand Québécois, clapping and stomping to the show’s beat, having a marvelous time celebrating the birth of a new show together. It’s a magical, enlightening sentiment you can’t get anywhere else – except in Cirque’s hometown.
Traveling to Montreal for premiere weekend has provided many indelible memories for me. My inaugural experience with this brand of euphoria came with witnessing Varekai’s birth in 2002. I knew from the moment I stepped foot on the cobblestoned streets of the venerable old port that this was how you celebrated Cirque du Soleil, and I wanted to be a part of it from then on. Therefore, I repeated the experienced with about a hundred other fans by co-organizing (and attending) CirqueCon 2005 for Corteo’s premiere, met friends here again for 2007’s Koozå, 2009’s OVO, 2010’s Totem (for CirqueCon 2010), and 2012’s premiere of Amaluna.
This year I joined “The Cirquesters”, a rag-tag band of passionate fans and friends that have stuck together in the wake of CirqueCon’s hiatus, the fan-gathering where most of us met. We aren’t your average fan of Cirque du Soleil, of course. Didn’t I say passionate? Being together again was good fun! And as a special treat, my wife chose to accompany me for the very first time, so she too got to experience the excitement of premiere. So, how did she like KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities?
She loved it – and so did I!
Allow us now to take you into the wondrous world of KURIOS – CABINET DES CURIOSITÉS using various Cirque Press Room materials and a bit of our own observations…
/// 11:06… THE CIRQUE MEETS STEAMPUNK
From the moment Cirque du Soleil began to tease KURIOS – CABINET DES CURIOSITÉS we could feel the new creation would be something different. Just how different we wouldn’t know until the Montreal Gazette commented that “things are getting curious and curiouser at the Cirque,” the morning Cirque du Soleil revealed the unusual moniker and scenic elements for its newest touring production. The unveiling only compounded the teasing “glimpses” we were offered via YouTube in the days leading up to and after that reveal. And through them we understood the show existed in a world heavily influenced by Steampunk, but little did we know just how much of an influence the genre would have on the show’s overall aesthetic. And that’s not a bad thing!
Steampunk is defined as a sub-genre of science fiction that typically features steam-powered machinery, especially in a setting inspired by industrialized Western civilization during the 19th century. Works in this genre are often set in an alternative history of the British Victorian era or American “Wild West”, in a post-apocalyptic future during which steam power has regained mainstream use, or in a fantasy world that similarly employs steam power.
Steampunk perhaps most recognizably features anachronistic technologies or retro-futuristic inventions as people in the 19th century might have envisioned them, and is likewise rooted in the era’s perspective on fashion, culture, architectural style, and art. Such technology may include fictional machines like those found in the printed works of H. G. Wells (“The Time Machine”, “War of the Worlds”, “The Island of Doctor Moreau”), Jules Verne (“Journey to the Center of the Earth”, “Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea”, and “Around the World in Eighty Days”), and Mary Shelley (“Frankenstein”), the modern authors Philip Pullman, Scott Westerfeld, Stephen Hunt and China Miéville, or filmed works of Fritz Lang (“Metropolis”).
Although many works now considered seminal to the genre were published in the 1960s and 1970s, the term steampunk originated in the late 1980s as a tongue in cheek variant of cyberpunk. It seems to have been coined by science fiction author K. W. Jeter, who was trying to find a general term for works by Tim Powers (The Anubis Gates, 1983); James Blaylock (Homunculus, 1986); and himself (Morlock Night, 1979, and Infernal Devices, 1987) — all of which took place in a 19th-century (usually Victorian) setting and imitated conventions of such actual Victorian speculative fiction as H. G. Wells’ The Time Machine.
Other examples of Steampunk contain alternative history-style presentations of such technology as lighter-than-air airships, analog computers, or such digital mechanical computers as Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine. Steampunk may also incorporate additional elements from the genres of fantasy, horror, historical fiction, alternate history, or other branches of speculative fiction, making it often a hybrid genre.
Michele Laprise, the show’s Writer and Director, chose this period and genre for inspiration because “it was a phenomenal time for humanity. People were travelling, they were dreaming of other worlds.” And their lives were changing too, he pointed out, through the use of electricity, distances were shrinking as rail travel expanded and became faster, and people were able to communicate with each other quickly through the invention of the telegraph. “People were enthusiastic and they had the feeling that everything was possible,” he said. “If people take that from our show, that everything in life, with your imagination, can become more interesting, can bring you close to another person, then I think we’ll have succeeded.”
All systems go! Let the journey begin!
/// 11:07… THE SITE, SET & STAGE
“Are you ready to visit the Valley of the Possible Impossibles? Where dreams are on standby, waiting to be ushered into the now? Abandoned dreams… collective dreams… mad, mad, mad utopian dreams? The unconscious into the conscious? Duality? Oneness?” – KURIOS Programme Book.
The journey begins the moment you step onto the cobblestone-lined pathways of the Jacques Cartier Pier in the Vieux Port of Montreal, where Cirque du Soleil has staked its creations since the dawn of its recorded time (except for 1999’s Dralion, which was set up on the lawn of their headquarters building in the City). Surrounded on all sides by either water or history the striped big top calls out to fans and friends alike. An archway with the show’s image a few paces in – a new feature this year – beckons us forward.
An interesting looking contraption between the two entrance doorways summons us in even further. It’s a bicycle-like contrivance upon second glance, with its mechanics firmly attached to a whirligig of some creation. Activating it with your own power sets the gears affixed into rotational motion, awarding the curios rider with a green clown nose courtesy of DES JARDINS, one of Cirque du Soleil’s principle sponsors, from a chute just to the rider’s left.
Further inside, a little spheroid item cordoned off just to the right of Door #2, catches our attention. From a distance it appears to be a representation of the porthole shown to us in one of the “Glimpse of KURIOS” videos the creators circulated across its social media platforms. Upon closer inspection, it was much, much more than that: it was a house – in miniature! Included in this miniature house is an armchair, a chandelier as well as other essentials of a Victorian home. Whose house is it I wonder? Why it’s Mini Lili, and she’s at home! (We’ll learn more about her, and the house, a little later on…)
Brought a little into the world of KURIOS then, it was time…
Entering the Grand Chapiteau is always a treat. It’s an oasis within the trappings of the real world in which we live, allowing ourselves to be instantly transported elsewhere, even if for a brief period of time. But when you step foot inside the big top of a new show for the first time, it’s nothing short of magical.
Parting through the canvas flaps and climbing the steps into the seating area for the first time, your heart begins to race… your breathing becomes shallow… thoughts begin to transform and expectations run rampant, which only serves to fuel your euphoria and heighten the excitement further. It becomes difficult not to imagine what wonders await you as you reach the crest of the stairwell, craning your neck forward to get just a glimpse of what lays beyond. And then, viola! You’re transported once again into another wondrous realm more fantastical than the last!
C’est manifique!
The set design of KURIOS puts the spectator in a well-defined place: the curio cabinet of a Seeker filled with unusual objects collected on his travels. Set in what could be called a retro-future, in this parallel reality it is the steam engine and not the internal combustion engine that reigns supreme, evoking the start of the industrialization era, but as if science and technology had evolved differently and progress had taken on a more human dimension. “It’s like Jules Verne meets [Nicola Tesla] in an alternate reality, out of time,” explains Set Designer Stéphane Roy.
Roy, now working on his sixth Cirque du Soleil show, mentioned in an interview with the Montreal Gazette that Fellini’s La Strada was an influence for his “copper-toned clockwork set, with its startling steam engine and quirky props.” The 1900 Paris Exhibition, which honored the achievements of the 19th century, was important, too, because “it was when everything was invented for new communication and transportation,” Roy said. “Trains, planes, electricity, telegrams. It was a moment in the history of mankind when communication just went bang, everything was exploding.”
Kurios differs from other Cirque du Soleil shows, he said, because “in this one you’re somewhere, you’re in a house, you’re in a room, in a space where things are happening.” This home is packed with curios. When the numbers appear, “it’s as if a jewel box is being opened,” he added.
The performance space is dominated by two structures, referred to as “cabinets”. One explores the topic of sound and the other the topic of electricity. Built by the Seeker using scraps and pieces collected over time, the two large towers also serve as “wave sensors” made from miscellaneous components such as gramophones, old typewriters, electrical bulbs and turbines. The two cabinets are attached to the main arch – another “wave sensor” – that dominates the stage. The opening at the center, at the back of the stage, evokes the mouth of a railroad tunnel through a mountain; it is mainly through this opening that artists move in and out of the spotlight and that equipment and props are taken on and off the stage. Above it sit the musicians.
For greater emphasis on the performance, every act in the show is presented on an independent structure – a module or a promontory – integrated into the set design. The stage itself was lowered 35 cm and a bank was installed all around its lip (the bank is a 60-cm-wide raised walkway on which two rails are installed for transporting various props). Presented on their separate, distinct structures, the acts in the show represent the curios that jump to life inside the Seeker’s workshop. “It’s not only a stage,” Roy said. “You’re inside somebody’s mind. It’s kind of crazy!”
Production manager Gabriel Pinkstone, another Cirque veteran, described Kurios as a complex show. “Michel is a director who enjoys a lot of detail, a lot of subtext,” she said. “We have a lot of elements that are mechanical because of the Steampunk inspiration. It’s complex dramaturgically as well because there are a lot of ideas that are difficult to express without words, like the idea of travelling to another reality.”
/// 11:08… COSTUMES & CHARACTERS
“What wonderfully strange collection of creatures! It is as if I have awakened in the middle of a dream. They speak a strange language. Some kind of code. Gibberish. Gobbledygook. Must investigate further…” — The Seeker
A fitting tribute to the power of the human imagination, the costumes of KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities are the result of a visual exploration of the beginnings of science, of the discoveries and inventions that led to the industrial revolution of the 19th Century – from the steam locomotive to electrical power to electromagnetic waves. They embody and celebrate the advancements of science, but in an imaginary, parallel world. While the visual references may seem self-evident, the show’s curious yet familiar characters and costumes transport the audience to a time suspended somewhere between past and future, in an alternate reality, as if science had evolved without the internal combustion engine and as if the golden age of the steam engine had continued on, uninterrupted.
The costumes of KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities are the result of unusual blends and odd associations: e.g. the attire of the Seeker’s Assistants (the Kurios) – oddball half-human, half-mechanical characters built from scraps and recycled parts by their ingenuous and ingenious creator. Costume Designer Philippe Guillotel explored unusual shapes that have affinities with the costumes of the Bauhaus or of Alfred Jarry’s Father Ubu to create startling and often amusing characters (a.k.a “The Visitors”).
- Mr. Microcosmos — The “bigger is better” ethos that drives the retro-futuristic aesthetic of the show is on the opposite side of the spectrum of the miniaturization that characterizes the electronic era. A case in point is the costume of the potbellied Mr. Microcosmos. “He’s like a mechanical Obelix [from the cartoon characters Asterix & Obelix], but instead of holding a tiny dog in his arms, he lugs around a small lady in his belly wherever he goes, and he’s hardly aware of it,” says Guillotel.
- Mr. Microcosmos carries Mini Lili, his intuitive counterpart, inside his costume using a sling not unlike a baby carrier. Antanina Satsura, the artist who plays Mini Lili, is one-meter tall and weighs 18 kg. She lives inside her host’s overcoat. Through the door in Mr. Microcosmos’ belly, we can see the furnished interior of Mini Lili’s quarters, which include an armchair, a chandelier as well as other essentials of a Victorian home.
- Nico the Accordion Man — He is called NICO, short of Nick ‘o Time, as he always appears confused or late and out of place. Is he a man, or an accordion? He’s curious, clumsy, but endearing. What’s the big picture here? Nico’s accordion costume allows him to bend way down or stand way up so he can be at eye level with absolutely everyone. His pants are folded like a piece of origami from an unwoven textile (like the material normally used in shoe lining) and are inspired by the darkrooms that were part of early cameras.
- Klara the telegraph of the invisible — She is called Klara, as in clear reception. She’s half-woman, half-antenna, and appears to have built-in radar – perhaps to receive messages from other worlds, life systems? A transmitter of the invisible. Her shoes make odd Morse code-like sounds… are these messages from the other side? Klara wears an antenna skirt made of hula-hoop-type rings. By swiveling round and pointing her apparatus in various directions, she can receive invisible electromagnetic waves. Her hoop skirt is inspired by Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and is shaped like early parabolic antennas. The print on her leotard evokes electrical circuits and connections.
/// 11:09… STORY & THEME
“I am the chairman of dreams! Take me to a new realm of the imagination. The cradle of a new civilization perhaps. So many years building it, so much time refining. I am ready now. I shall be an inter-stellar pioneeer. All systems go!” — The Seeker
There’s an existential question we’ve all asked ourselves at one time or another, for one reason or another – there must be something more, beyond all this; there can’t just be this, can there? But what if you could alter reality at will? In an alternate yet familiar past, in a place where wonders abound for those who trust their imagination, a Seeker (Le Chercheur) is convinced that there exists a hidden, invisible world – a place where the craziest ideas and the grandest dreams lay waiting, and in order to glimpse the marvels that lie just below the surface, he reckons we must first learn to close our eyes.
Very inquisitive about these possibilities – curious even – the Seeker builds towering gadgets and powerful gizmos, bringing to life automatons of all shapes, sizes and functions in order to fuel his lofty investigations. And after hours and hours and hours of labor, he’s come up with a few tantalizing answers to his questions: Yes! There is more to behold! In the narrative, as told by Laprise, Le Chercheur, a scientist, is on a quest. He creates a machine to travel into another dimension to find the place where the possible and the impossible meet. Only his plan backfires. “The reverse happens,” Laprise explains, “And we have people from the other dimension who come into his world and they transform his world into poetry.”
In his larger-than-life curio cabinet, a collection of otherworldly characters suddenly steps into his makeshift mechanical world. When the outlandish, benevolent characters turn his world upside down with a touch of poetry and humor in an attempt to ignite the Seeker’s imagination, his curios jump to life one by one before his very eyes. What if by engaging our imagination and opening our minds we could unlock the door to a world of wonders, a bridge to a new dimension, a magnetic portal to an invisible world? KURIOS immerses you in this mysterious and fascinating realm that disorients your senses and challenges your perceptions, leaving you to wonder: “Is it real, or just a figment of my imagination?” Step into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him! And suddenly, the visible becomes invisible, perspectives are transformed, and the world is literally turned upside down in a place that’s as beautiful as it is mysterious!
/// 11:10… EXPERIENCE (ACTS)
“What utter strangeness. Down is up. Up is down. Gravity ceases to exist. Antigravity. Antimatter. They hang from the ceiling as if it were nothing. As if they were giant bats. Everything I have ever scientifically understood has been turned on its head. What a sheer expandable delight!” –- The Seeker.
Having settled in our seats now, and taken in the elaborately-themed, yet simply-constructed set, we begin to notice the goings-on on the stage and surrounding space.
We find the two “cabinets” stationed stage-right and stage-left. To their immediate sides are two columns – the “wave sensors” (satellite dishes and other radar gathering machines) – which appear to have been built out of scraps. A time piece on the far wall, which just a moment ago read 11:07, now turns with a loud chime to 11:08. A number of Victrola-inspired gadgets surround the stage’s thrust, which the Seeker buzzes around testing, calibrating. On another contraption, a cross between a gramophone and typewriter, he punches in a code, and then turns the lever to send his communication. Satisfied his message sent and received, he continues to ready his conveyance – a specially built chair standing 3.5 meters tall – for the journey he is preparing to take. Meanwhile, his Kurios robots are running amok in the audience, passing out pillows and blankets, and putting baby crib mobiles atop other’s heads. The clock on the wall turns over another minute, now reading 11:09.
At 11:10, as the lights dim, you can sense the tension in the air – a shock of electric excitement permeates as any previous vociferations at the announcement the show is about to begin comes to a sharp end. Then a gentleman, using a rather interesting hybrid accordion-keyboarded contraption (with no less than three phonograph speakers attached to it), steps to the front of the stage, and through the manipulation of his contraption, announces the name of the spectacle… KURIOS – CABINET DES CURIOSITÉS!
PROLOGUE
The sound of a train whistle off in the distance pierces the darkness next, immediately followed by the powerful beam of a bright, white light – the train’s headlight! As music begins to play (a funky fusion of jazz and electro-swing), the train peeks over the hill, and in an opening reminiscent of La Nouba’s Festival of Characters, Alegría’s “Milonga” Opening, and Varekai’s Musician’s Walk, artists spill into the big top. These are “The Travelers” (a miniature train atop their heads); they are accompanied by the show’s musicians: Marc Sohier (Canada) – bandleader, bass, double bass; Michael Levin (USA) – cello, keyboards, Guitar; Paul Lazar (France) – Violins; Lidia Kaminska (Poland) – Accordion, Keyboard; Christopher “Kit” Chatham (USA) – Drums; Antoine Berthiaume (Canada) – Guitar; Christa Mercey (Canada) – Percussion), and Singer Eirini Tornesaki (Greece).
The train chugs through the big top – from one side to the other – on a journey we know not where… Or do we?
Just where we’ll have to wait and see!
Once the train disappears around a bend in the tracks, our attention is returned to the Seeker (Anton Valen, from Spain), who is busy in his workshop making final adjustments to his equipment – connecting the chair to the electric dynamos, calibrating his sensitive aural receivers, checking the wave sensors for analogous readings, and sending one last communication: -.- ..- .-. .. — … (K-U-R-I-O-S). Set, and ready to go, the Seeker hops into his chair. As the clock on the wall strikes 11:11, he flips the switch, sending his mechanical whirligigs into motion. But something unexpected happens… instead of transporting him to another world, it seems this other realm is about to come to him!
He hops out of his chair in shock, as the items in his workshop begin to spring into motion, taking on a life of their own. Twin manikins, which had up until then been standing off to the side lifeless, dance and flit about as if touched by madness. The Seeker’s robots begin to swirl and twirl in confusion while electricity sparks through the lab’s wave sensors, opening a portal high above them. Through this wormhole descends the portly Mr. Microcosmos (played by Karl L’Ecuyer, from Canada – previously a Cricket of OVO), Klara (Ekaterina Pirogovskaya, Russia – fans might remember her as “Violet” from IRIS) and Nico (played by Nico Baixas from Spain) – a.k.a. “The Visitors” – wearing intra-dimensional masks.
They remove their masks (discarding them into the belly of Mr. Microcosmos) and then turn their attention aft as Mr. Microcosmo’s belly and coat unfolds into a locomotive (the very same from earlier; its structure, which extends out over a distance of 19-meters, is all aluminum. The outer shell is made out of mostly vinyl canvas with fiberglass mosquito screen used for windows.), which pulls right into the Seeker’s Workshop, out of which emerges a swarm of travelers from the 19th Century…
CHARIVARI (“CHAOS SYNCHRO”)
Percussionist Christa Mercey, a graduate of the University of Toronto (in percussion performance), plays the role of Bella Donna (complete with a side-angled Victorian hat that makes it look as if she’s stepped out of “My Fair Lady”) in this group act that combines drumming (on various objects, like suitcases, chairs and tables) with juggling. She’s accompanied by Kit Chatam, the show’s drummer, and Gabriel Beaudoin, an accomplished juggler who spent nine years training for his craft, five at the École de Cirque de Québec in Quebec City, then four at the École Nationale de Cirque in Montreal.
Together with help of “The Travelers”, a mélange of movement nothing less than a feast for the senses takes place before us. Everything is in continuous motion as Christa walks over chairs placed in her path, suitcases and tables become beat-boxes for both she and Kit, and all the while Gabriel juggles an ever increasing number of clubs. And when he flies up into the air – still juggling his clubs – we realize there’s no stopping this train!
It really is synchronized chaos and it’s fantastic!
RUSSIAN CRADLE DUO
A giant leather chest is left behind as the Travelers bid us an enthusiastic adieu. It opens to reveal, encased in sumptuous Moroccan cushions, two characters that emerge from the box like Fabergé jewels, evoking a pair of wax dolls. (The cut of their costumes is inspired by early sportswear and vintage circus attire, and they seem almost out of place in this steampunky world until the doll context is understood. The materials, however, are quite modern and highly sophisticated – velour effects and imitation leather cuts in gold.) The dolls (Ukranian performers Roman and Lena Tereshchenko) then spring to life before our eyes to perform a rousing and dangerous Russian Cradle routine.
The cradle (also known as aerial cradle or casting cradle) is a an apparatus composed of one or two gantries equipped with platforms grounded at variable heights facing forward, upon which stands a carrier attached to the platform at the waist. The aerialist being propelled is referred to as a flyer, while the one doing the tossing and catching is referred to as a carrier (or catcher). The flyer usually starts and ends standing on the frame above the catcher. The flyer swings holding on to the catcher’s hands, performs releases at the top of the swing, and is re-caught in mid-air. In addition to the technical aspects of their performance, the Tereshchenko’s sprinkle a bit of lovers flair to the mix, making theirs a touching performance.
AERIAL BICYCLE
In a performance similar to Aerial Hoops (as seen in various Cirque du Soleil productions), the “Chandelier Lady” – Anne Weissbecker (France) – takes to the skies in her two-wheeled cycle to perform a wonderful routine of strength and movement.
INVISIBLE CIRCUS
KURIOS’s resident clown – David-Alexandre Després from Canada – takes the stage, literally, with a routine some have come to love to hate: the Invisible Circus. The routine itself is rather pedantic – four invisible artists take the stage to perform a high-wire with unicycle act, a trapeze routine, teeterboard jumping (Rita & Cheetah), a high-dive into a bowl of water (Giuseppe), and leaping through a hoop set afire (Felippe, the lion), but it is humorous enough, and sure to please the kids in the audience.
CONTORTION
A huge mechanical hand, weighing 340 kilograms and measuring 4.6-meters by 2.1-meters crawls upstage next. Operated by two artists using a pedal and gear mechanism, the all-fiberglass hand is an automaton built from various parts that look like wood, metal, marble and iron. Atop the structure four bendable ladies from, uhm, Russia (Ayagma Tsybenova, Lillia Zhambalova, Bayarma Zodboeva, Imin Tsydendambaeva), practice the extreme physical discipline known as Contortion. Clothed to appear as Eels, they fold and contort their bodies into various mind-bending poses. Appearing in their third Cirque du Soleil show – having first appeared in Banana Shpeel and later IRIS – these ladies perform a stimulating routine fans of these two previous shows will undoubtedly remember.
Consequently, in the Set Designer’s mind, the Seeker built the hand with rare objects collected on his travels: a wooden finger found in Sienna during the Renaissance, a nail picked up in a Greek temple, and so on. And the mechanical hand represents a paragon of the do-it-yourself ethos and evokes the richness and the materials from the era of the greatest scientific discoveries.
BALANCING ON CHAIRS
The metal hand is replaced with a dinner table, set with all the finery, replete with guests taking in a meal and conversation. Although what they are conversing about is unknown to us, it quickly becomes apparent that one of the dinner guests is boasting about his ability to catch the chandelier one of the magicians has set aloft by balancing the chairs around the dinner table. Fans of Cirque du Soleil will recognize this equilibrist as none other than Cuban-born Carlos Rokardy, formerly of La Nouba and Viva Elvis. His routine here is similar to his performance in both shows, building chairs ever higher to catch the floating chandelier. Only – look up – he’s not alone!
This number is referred to as the “upside-down dinner scene” for a reason, for above Rokardy, another dinner is taking place with another balancer stacking chairs – only in reverse! Counterweights were attached to parts of the costume worn by the artist hanging from the chandelier to create the impression that gravity has been reversed. These counterweights work like roly-poly toys – tilting dolls that have a weight inside the bottom and wobble back to an upright position when pushed. It’s a fantastic twist to what’s become a Cirque du Soleil staple performance.
ROLA BOLA
Rola Bola is one of this production’s centerpieces. “It’s the only act of rola bola aerial of its kind in the world,” said Michel Laprise in an interview with the Montreal Gazette. “When I was presented that act by Casting I said: ‘we do everything to get this guy.'” And so they did. The “guy” is James Eulises Gonzalez Correa, a native of Colombia who has performed all over the world. And his act is simply breathtaking.
Gonzalez personifies The Aviator (you can spot him throughout various scenes wearing a gold-lined, translucent aqua-colored overcoat, aviator goggles and appropriate leather head-gear. And in the opening of the show, flinging far-traveling paper airplanes into the crowd), man’s dream and ambition of achieving mechanical flight; he makes his approach upstage (quite literally) in a boxy winged aircraft of his own design. As he lands, he transforms his aircraft into a performance space where he first balances upon a bowling ball, then ever-increasing (and rotating) cylinders. And just when you think he couldn’t up the difficulty, he returns to the air, all the while balancing on his rolas… Invented in 1898 by Vasque, a Frenchman, the Rola Bola discipline consists of standing and balancing on an unstable assembly of boards supported by cylinders roughly 25 centimeters in diameter. The system is a lever similar to a see-saw that the performer stands on, usually with the left and right foot at opposite ends of the board. The performer must then stay balanced enough to keep the board’s edges from touching the stage and to keep from falling off the apparatus.
INTERMISSION
The Seeker joins us briefly once again, riding a rocket-fueled version of his chair into the higher elevations. Where he (and we) will end up next is for discovery after Intermission!
ACRO NET
Now up high above the ground, the Seeker (and by extension us) catch a glimpse of the mischievous behaviors that occur in the heavens of this retro-futuristic realm. On a sea of clouds, friendly rainbows cast fishing lines into a sea stocked with spirited fry. The “fish” creatures utilize specialized trampoline techniques, and double-bouncing skills to send members of their “school” sailing high. A play on the dynamics of a typical backyard trampoline, requiring two people-one person jumping, the other person(s) standing near the outer springs, ready to initiate the double bounce at the appropriate moment. At a certain point in the air (timing is crucial, but relative to the individuals taking part), the person standing off to the side stomps down near the landing area of the trampoline just as the jumper comes in. The initial stomp and landing results in more force being applied downward than the jumper is able to initiate on his/her own. When successful, the jumper will be propelled significantly higher than usual.
Exuberant, fun-filled leaps ensue, delighting the audience as these “fish” dance atop the cloud-waves. With a humorous nudge to modern technology, a few performers grab wakeboarding handles and leap into the air, appearing as if they are speeding through the surf behind a speedboat, flailing and kicking. Yet, as all fun beach days must, this winds down to an end, and the net begins to sag to the stage surface, and our new friends return to their other form as fish, flopping on dry land. Consequently, the costumes are an illusion to the way film director Georges Méliès imagined Martians; hence you’ll find a number of these performers – Victor Degtyarev (Russia), Arnaud Gaizergues (France), Nathan Dennis (Australia), Karl L’Ecuyer (Canada), Mathieu Hubener (France), Ryan Murray (USA) – with the scales as well as fin and fishtail grafts.
CLOWN ACT – ANIMAL MIME
While the Acro Net is being secured away by a handful of stage-hands (which are quite noticeable Cirque, fix that), our intrepid comedian/mime is working the stands looking for an unsuspecting audience member to be his date for the evening. Once selected, he ushers her to the front of the stage, dropping her at his “front door”, and waits inside on his two-seater couch for her to ring his doorbell. Once welcomed inside and seated on the couch, he becomes “smitten” and nervous as if he’s a young man on his first date. He fidgets helplessly, and then remembers dancing is the popular thing and goes to turn on his radio. It shocks him as he does so, sending him into a whirlwind of electronica-induced dance moves and Velociraptor impersonations (he really sells those Velociraptor stomps!) After a few moments the odd behavior wears off and he returns to her side on the couch, unawares anything is wrong. A moment or two passes and he then remembers that he has yet to offer her a beverage, so he rises once again to get one.
While he is “out of the room”, she is “visited” by his “pet bird” – played by him. While the bird is busy head bobbing, whistles and attempts to woo her, the “cat” catches the bird, turning it into nothing more than a handful of feathers. The cat then takes what he feels his is rightful place on the couch, preening and kneading – generally making the audience member slightly uncomfortable. What follows is a predictable, but hilarious, exhibit of cat behavior from ignoring its owner to using the litter box, but when he “coughs up a furball” the entire big top dissolves into sheer hysteria! The icing on the cake is a laser pointer’s light pointed at the chest of the already uncomfortable audience member with a cat ready to pounce! The routine ends when the cat, stretched out on the back of the couch, falls off the back, heralding the return of our now human mime with drinks in hand.
HAND PUPPETRY
The tempo slows following the energetic Acro Net performance with a scene denoted as “Hands Continent”. The mechanical hand seen earlier returns accompanied by a hot-air balloon reminiscent of The Cloud from Varekai. The hot-air balloon used in this scene is made of fabric and has a built-in blower system. The gondola is made of metal and tulle.
It serves as a projection screen 4.3-meters in diameter, which Nico the Accordion Man uses to show us his fantastic finger puppetry. Using his fingers as the puppets legs for walking, Nico takes us along a smaller-scale (literally and figuratively) journey of friendship and success. Our small puppet companion begins to travel, meeting a partner along the way. The two travel together, overcoming small obstacles, reminiscent of the first half of the show.
As the puppet show progresses, our “two-legged” protagonist portrays another type of journey, presumably held very close to the hearts of all Cirque du Soleil performers – a journey from humble beginnings within their respective specialist (in this case, dance), through trials, and resulting in a coveted role in a circus show. From then on, the puppet act extends into the audience via a small hot-air balloon carrying our protagonist. The camera, now hand-held, leads the balloon into the audience, where our puppet friend settles into a relaxing life in a beach setting – atop the (un?)fortunate head of a probably-balding audience member. Complete with beach towel, umbrella, and his long-traveled companion, arm-in-arm, our small character interacts with the audience in what very much resembles something you would expect from Blue Man Group- quirky, and successfully breaking the 4th wall in a way only a stage show can.
AERIAL STRAPS
In a performance that would have most definitely been The Atherton Twins’ had they stuck with the show, two brothers (Roman and Vitali Tomanov, from the US) perform an amazing new Aerial Straps routine in their stead. Consisting of two thin parallel straps several meters in length, along which the acrobat rolls and unrolls using the wrists and arms to execute rises, falls and acrobatics, all the while suspended. The aerial straps artists perform on a gigantic “drop of mercury” made entirely of fiberglass and covered in silver leaf.
This character, made of two conjoined twins, is named Jean-Claude (presumably, “Jean” and “Claude”), have been visible throughout the entire show so far, joined at the hips. Their gait is well-practiced, almost an optical illusion, as their legs swing in opposing, yet, synchronous patterns. They move fluidly about the stage, adept and elegant; however, during the aerial act, the two brothers part, sailing in opposing directions from each other, separate entities for the first time in their lives. They land, and stop to admire their legs, being able to see the other side of their bodies as never before. The act continues as a celebration of freedom, but soon evidence of unrest becomes apparent. A hint of competition or disagreement begins between the two brothers – perhaps they worked better as a team after all. More flying follows, fantastic acrobatic feats of strength and coordination, until both brothers land, side-by-side again, back on the mercury drop, their own small “Microcosmos”. Wrapping their arms around each other’s backs, they seem to choose to become conjoined again, returning to their state of teamwork and agreement.
BANQUINE
Last, but certainly not least, is one of Cirque du Soleil’s best acrobatic numbers in my opinion, the Banquine! For those unawares, Banquine is an acrobatic discipline normally executed at ground level by two carries who, using their arms, catapult a flyer to stand on the interlaced hands of the carriers, a position called banquette. The impetus allows the flyer to perform acrobatic leaps and return to the starting point, the ground, or the banquette of a second team of carriers. It seems simple enough but Cirque du Soleil has elevated this discipline into an art form, as seen in Quidam and Journey of Man; Banquine returned to the Cirque fold in ZED and Viva Elvis, and can currently be seen in ZARKANA at Aria in Las Vegas.
Fans of Cirque du Soleil will recognize the names of many of the performers here – Nikolay Astashkin (Russia), Andrii Bondarenko (Ukrane), Ekaterina Evdokimova (Russia), Roman Kenzhayev (Kazakhstan), Elena Kolesnikova (Russia), Sergey Kudryavstev (Russia), Anton Lyapunov (Ukrane), Andrey Nikitin (Russia), Serguei Okhai (Ukrane), Roman Polishchuk (Ukrane), Alexy Starodubtsev (Russia) and Igor Strizhanov (Russia) – as the team that performed in ZED and later Viva Elvis. And perhaps that is why the music and choreography accompanying this act has a somewhat Elvis-slant to it. In either case you can’t go wrong with Banquine no matter what form it’s presented in. It’s a wonderful way to end the show!
/// 11:12… ALL ABOARD!
We, Nicole and I, had a fantastic time in Montreal, even if the weather was a bit of a downer. It was great flying into New York and road-tripping with Doug and Mary Metzger, staying overnight at their little getaway in Lake Placid. And it was equally gratifying to see all our Cirque-y friends again once we rolled in to Montreal: Heather Smith & Jim Strain, Chris Gullick & Todd Krause, Gena Colton, Quiche Lorraine (as she likes to be known by), Mark Wyrick (who I met here in Montreal in 2002), Vince Kramer, and of course, Rodolfo Elizondo. As for the show, well, what can we say? We really liked it a lot!
We certainly had our doubts before arriving, and even as we entered the Big Top, but the moment we saw the set and stage many of those doubts were set aside, and were definitely squashed when KURIOS’ train pulled into station at the beginning of the show. Michel Laprise has certainly outdone himself; Guy Laliberté, and all of Cirque du Soleil even, should be proud. And being a home-grown director (the first who’s risen in the organization to direct), I’m sure it means even more to him that this show is the success it is, from all accounts. We’ll definitely be following KURIOS’s path in the future, hoping to catch another ride on that train again soon!
