Varekai |
t A Potomac Stages pick for uniqueness, grace and
beauty
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Cirque du Soliel has become legendary for the blend of non-animal elements of
circus, fantastical costuming, visual spectacle, new-wave music and a trademark
precision in all things which makes their traveling shows a welcome event in the
Potomac Region. Their latest has set up tent in the parking lot of Robert F.
Kennedy Stadium at the Anacostia end of East Capitol Street. Wonders have
happened under that tent in the past, and again wonders take place there. The
cirque experience is a sensuous, physical thing combining the excitement of an
event, the all-encompassing high-volume sound of the show, the color and drama
of the lighting, a setting that straddles the boundaries between theater and
circus and, of course, the performance of feats that are hard to believe real
people can do all choreographed to a fare-thee-well.
Storyline: One doesn't expect a storyline from a circus, and
while this edition claims to tell the "story" of an Icarus character
who, having flown too close to the sun, falls to earth in a some
sort of fantastical rain forest on top of a volcanic mountain, the
narrative structure is never allowed to get in the way of the
presentation of one crowd-pleasing act after another.
While clowns divert the impatient in the
audience as latecomers fill up the 2,600 seats in the tent, a
collection of Andrew Watson's creatures in Eiko Ishioka's
imaginative costumes begin to populate the single-ring stage before
and among set designer Stéphane Ray's forest of tall poles. The
costumes are not limited to fabrics draped on bodies. No, the medium
of latex molds creates body shapes and cavities of the most
whimsical nature in a neon-influenced palette of blues, greens and
oranges. From the sky drops Anton Chelnokov ("Icarus") in a
slow-motion descent. He's soon back up in the sky, however, twisting
and suspending in the web of a net in a display of gymnastic grace.
His discovery of the inhabitants of this fantastical place gives
context to the ensuing two and a half hours of visual wonders
ranging from twirling dirvish Georgian dancers to a contortionist
balancing on canes, a gymnast who makes arm-crutches seem like
parallel bars for his routine, jugglers, clowns and
tumblers.
Some acts work very well as stand-alone
specialties with a combination of crowd-pleasing gypsy traveling
circus and vaudeville flavored pizzaz such as the triple trapeze
featuring four women forming combinations in mid-air. Others
build to climaxes strong enough to almost erase memories of slow
starts such as the "Water Meteors," a trio that twirl lengthy ropes
with water buckets at each end, and a juggler who drops all together
too many objects before he gets the crowd excited over a finale of
flipped straw hats. Those with a passion for bursts of energy may
remember the flying bodies of the "Russian Swings" but those with a
preference for pure grace will long remember the brothers Atherton
who fly out over the audience's heads from straps.
All of this is accomplished to the
accompaniment of a percussion and woodwind symphony of new-age
sounds played by a pit band of seven with two close-miked vocalists
on stage in the roles of "The Muse" (Isabelle Corradi) and "The
Patriarch" (Craig Jennings) in an immersion in sound similar to the
visual all-encompassing effect of the world of circue. Bright as the
sound and sights are, perhaps the greatest effects come with
darkness - especially that moment in the second half when all is
dark except a seeming-thousand fireflies in phosphorescent green
that fill the space not only over the stage but over the audience as
well. Or the time in semi-darkness when a giant transparent balloon
lit from within gracefully floats over stage and audience
reminiscent of a light-emitting jellyfish in clear waters. Spectacle
- its all about spectacle.
Written and directed by Dominic
Champagne. Music composed by Violaine Corradi. Choreographed by
Michael Montanaro and Bill Shannon. Clown acts designed by Cal
McCrystal. Arial acts designed by André Simard.
Design: Andrew Watson (creations)
Stéphane Roy (set) Eiko Ishioka (costumes) Jacque Paquin (rigging)
Francis Laporte (projections) Nathalie Gagné (makeup) Nol Van Genuchten (lights) Francois
Bergeron (sound) Rick Diamond (photography). Cast: Octavio Alegria,
Andrew Atherton, Kevin Atherton, Anton Chelnokov, Isabelle Corradi,
Jordi Deambulants, Joanna Holden, Craig Jennings, Sergiy
Marchenko, Irina Naumenko, Dergin Tokmak, Gordon
White.
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