After 23 years of bringing circus arts to the world, the Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil continues to be worth the buzz and ticket price. The Toronto show of Kooza displays the troupe’s trademark acrobatics and clowning, but also creates a beautiful language of movement.
Digital Journal — I’m holding my breath as acrobats fling themselves in and out of a 725-kilogram Wheel of Death. Picture two connected hamster wheels, spinning at such incredible speeds and heights it would make stunt-doubles cringe. The performers don’t seem to worry about such things — they defy gravity and jump through the air, landing perfectly on the spinning wheels like their feet were born to land this stunt. I let out a gasp, relieved and excited at the same time. I look around and see similar reactions. This is Cirque du Soleil, where impressive human feats turbo-charges the blood of spectators. We might be witnessing a carefully rehearsed production, but the thrill is powerful nonetheless.
Watching Cirque du Soleil’s North American touring show in Toronto, Kooza, I’m left in awe with how the 23-year-old touring company is still able to instill in us a mixture of joy, fear, and inspiration. Although Cirque shows pop up as often as Black Eyed Peas concerts, there’s no mistaking the unique sensation of absorbing each delectable sequence after another.
At Kooza, extreme physical talent pours into every segment: a tightly-toned man balances on top of a 23-foot tower of chairs, even standing on one hand to the delighted applause of the packed tent; three contortionists bend their bodies at painful angles, and one performer even breakdances on her belly as her feet tap circles around her body; trapeze artists scurry across a high-wire, leaping over each other and riding a bike across the razor-thin line; and a juggler starts simply enough, bouncing balls off his chin while tossing eight other balls in the air, but he soon elicits swooning “ooohs!” when he starts juggling pins with his hands and feet.
It’s not enough to just catalogue Cirque du Soleil acts to offer a glimpse into the genius behind this company, still going strong after 20 productions headlined around the world. Evident in Kooza is the thread that seems to hold together every Cirque show — a loose story of someone entering a fantasy world of magic and adventure. Like most Cirque shows, Kooza doesn’t take itself too seriously, throwing in comedic clown acts and audience-volunteer buffoonery. It makes kids laugh, it wows adults and it transports everyone far from their routine doldrums.
“Chinese Chairs” is an act in Cirque du Soleil’s travelling show Kooza. – Photo by Olivier Samson Arcand, costume by Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
And by “everyone,” I mean everyone. More than 70 million people have witnessed a Cirque show since it began in 1984. In 2007, Quebec-based Cirque du Soleil will present 15 different shows around the world. As a business, the company employs more than 3,800 people and has elevated into a $600-million-a-year behemoth. Ringley Bros, it is not.
So what’s the big deal? Why charge minimum $45 a ticket? As storied as Cirque’s past is — read about it here in Digital Journal‘s past in-depth coverage of the company pushing to change the future of entertainment — what makes each show so compelling are the new flavours offered to anticipating audiences. The directors don’t want carbon copies of their shows dotting the planet. For instance, last year Cirque debuted Love in Las Vegas, their homage to the Beatles, complete with circus acts set to tracks like “I am the Walrus” and “Here Comes the Sun.” Always stretching its imagination, Cirque du Soleil owner Guy Laliberté also brought to Vegas the show O, set entirely in a 1.5 million-gallon pool. And the risqué show Zumanity has titillated audiences since 2003 by exploring sexuality and eroticism, showing enough bare chests and cleavage to label it “adults only.”
“Contortion” is an act in Cirque du Soleil’s travelling show Kooza. – Photo by Olivier Samson Arcand, costume by Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
Beyond the unique characteristics of touring and residents shows, there’s a less obvious appeal never highlighted in press releases: the language of movement. Whether it’s a high-wire act 25 feet in the air or a classic unicycle number, Cirque performers add an identifiable grace to how they move on stage. It’s well-timed with the live music and never jarring; in fact, how the performers move on and off the stage can sometimes be as hypnotic as their actual act. There’s a controlled symmetry to each performer’s step, a trait that may not honed through rehearsals but instilled through mental preparation.
Lurking behind every Cirque shows are themes of child-like wonder and empowerment, but it’s best to take this troupe at face value. After all, Cirque knows how to entertain and it rarely lags in momentum during a three-hour show. And when it does, the playful clowns and tricksters entertain the senses enough to allow us to catch our breath between death-defying feats. There’s a mesmerizing flow to every Cirque act that hasn’t faltered in its two decades of live performance.
Last year, Laliberté said in a statement: “At Cirque du Soleil, we believe that young people’s greatest resource is their ability to invent, create and conceive.”
The Cirque ringleader may have been talking about funding an auditorium for a youth charity organization, but he also summarized each performance’s intention. Whether intentional or not, Cirque du Soleil shuttles an adult back to simpler times of childhood imagination, where anything was possible. Watching a juggler is not just a passive experience; the inspired adult will begin to think of ways to mimic such a feat at home (I tried with tennis balls and sadly failed). Somehow, Cirque becomes both entertainment and the germ of ideas. It wouldn’t be inappropriate for business leaders to bring staff to Cirque shows to help foster creativity and flexibility within the corporate structure.
“Trapeze” is an act in Cirque du Soleil’s travelling show Kooza. – Photo by Olivier Samson Arcand, costume by Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt
And what kind of passion has Cirque instilled in fans? The more obsessive circus lovers have committed themselves to following every tremor of action done by the troupe, evidenced in a two websites devote to all things Cirque du Soleil — the Cirque Tribune and Fascination!, the unofficial Cirque newsletter. It’s understandable why fans would commit themselves to this nomadic tribe of performers, because after experiencing one show of dazzling circus arts, I’m overwhelmed by how easy the artists make their acts look. It’s not surprising that some people want to delve further into the genesis and soul behind each Cirque act.
When I leave the Kooza show, I self-analyze what emotions tumble through my veins: joy and vigour, mixed with a handful of hope. Why hope? Because Cirque du Soleil proves that a performance stalwart can continue to inspire wonder in its 20th show. Within three hours, it can turn men into boys, children into instant smiles and twinkling eyes. Any doubts I had about Cirque just repeating the same themes and acts dissolve into a haze of imagination. I’m hopeful for Cirque’s future, but also hopeful for how it moves people to think differently about their lives. At least there’s one show I can count on to grace me with an urge I haven’t felt since I was a child — to run away with the circus.
