CIRQUE DU SOLEIL'S 'VAREKAI' PAYS TRIBUTE TO 'NOMADIC SOUL'
Author: Cynthia McMullen Times-Dispatch Staff Writer
(Contact Cynthia McMullen at (804) 649-6361 or cmcmullen@timesdispatch.com)
The utter immensity and brilliant color of Cirque du Soleil's multiple blue-and-yellow striped
tents are impressive. But for sheer shock and awe, get a load of what's inside.
Twenty years into its franchise, Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun) has become a household name.
The nontraditional circus - no animals, just people, extremely flexible people - now has nine shows
running in North America, Europe and Japan.
A 10th show, "KA," will open in November at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"Varekai," which premiered in 2002, now is making its Washington debut. But first, a little
background. The facts, like the tents, are impressive:
*The site: The Cirque's Grand Chapiteau (big circus tent), where the show is held, is 66 feet high
and can accommodate more than 2,600 people. Its four masts are 80 feet tall. Raising it requires 80
people.
*The show: Cirque du Soleil employs 2,700 people, more than 600 of whom are performers and artists.
More than 40 nationalities are represented. The average age is 34.
*The audience: About 42 million spectators have seen a Cirque show since it was founded in 1984.
An estimated additional 40 million will see one of its shows on TV this year.
*The tour: "Varekai" travels from city to city - Dallas is next - with 55 trucks and more than
1,000 tons of equipment.
What can one say, other than "Wow!", about the performance? It's a one-ring circus that appears to
be several. In a matter of seconds, performers spring from the stage to the stars and back - perhaps
to a hole in the floor.
"Performers" might be too simple a word for people who cheat gravity, defy the odds, push the
artistic envelope and do things with their bodies that bodies just shouldn't be able to do.
"Varekai" ("wherever" in the Romany language of the Gypsies) is writer-director Dominic Champagne's
way of paying tribute to "the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition."
Don't worry if you can't follow the story; the play's the thing. And play, the cast does: twirling,
flying, rising, falling, twisting, turning, contorting, throwing .*.*. you get the idea.
Energy was never so palpable.
The acts, each more breathtaking than the last, include an aerial hoop, aerial straps, swings,
triple trapeze, body skating and Georgian dance.
The names alone give you some idea of the superior athletic skill and grace required, not to
mention the danger factor.
It's hard not to wonder how incredibly it would hurt if your partner's feet missed your wrists by
a centimeter. Or what would happen if you got a cramp or, heaven forbid, your hands started sweating.
But don't even think it; sit back and enjoy.
One of the more unusual acts is "Solo on Crutches," wherein Dergin Tokmak uses what look like
custom-made (bright blue!) forearm crutches as an extra pair of legs, propelling himself about the
stage with abandon.
Violaine Corradi's world-music score - eclectic doesn't begin to describe it - is befitting if
overwhelming (as in, leave the hearing aids at home).
One of the funniest bits in which music plays a larger role has Cirque clown Jordi Deambulants in
a baby-blue*'70s-type tux, chasing a spotlight to the tune of "If You Go Away" ... in French, of
course ("Ne Me Quitte Pas").
Eiko Ishioka's costumes are spectacular, the colors amazing, the fabrics glowing, the fit
perfection. The set, by Stephane Roy, is just plain cool with its Tinker Toy catwalk and more than
300 treelike structures - think of a bamboo forest - that slightly sway as Cirquesters crawl up them
like lovely, lithe lizards.
Copyright 2004 Richmond Newspapers, Inc.
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