Cirque
On Friday we saw a new Cirque du Soleil show, Kooza, here in Chicago. It was pretty amazing, but let me just tell you, the ability to touch your head to your bottom is a fast recipe for having arthritis by the age of 25, in my opinion. Wow.
I think that part of the reason Cirque has really thrived is that it has so many elements of what originally made circuses so capitvating to audiences. The performers make really difficult things look easy, but you're also always aware of the fact that they are often in very real danger. Sure, a lot of it is controlled, and maybe there's some staged falls to get your adrenaline going. But even a safety wire doesn't make you that much safer. The audience holds its breath with hoping, and cheers more wildly the more danger it perceives for the performers.
When the guy in the stilts came out to do a back flip, I wanted not to watch. That and other times I felt too worried for their safety to really enjoy myself. Other times it just looked like so much fun. There are so many varieties of flying involved in a circus.
The audience favorite was near the end of the show. A comparatively small man, with very toned arms came out. Everyone started whispering, "Look, he's a life guard." He was wearing a white robe and was followed by a chair up on a platform that looked like one you'd see on the beach. There were more chairs (of the regular height) following him. He took off his robe and stood in basically a loin cloth. He was a strong man, holding his own body weight on his arms with no wobbling, shaking, or apparent difficulty. He did sweat a lot though. When he reached the first chair, he reached down for more. He began stacking and climbing the chairs, stopping every so often to show us more scary and impressive balancing acts. I have no idea how many chairs he finally stacked, maybe 8 or 10. The whole tent was so quiet and tense. There was no magic or surprise, the suspense was present in every move he made.
I think that part of the reason Cirque has really thrived is that it has so many elements of what originally made circuses so capitvating to audiences. The performers make really difficult things look easy, but you're also always aware of the fact that they are often in very real danger. Sure, a lot of it is controlled, and maybe there's some staged falls to get your adrenaline going. But even a safety wire doesn't make you that much safer. The audience holds its breath with hoping, and cheers more wildly the more danger it perceives for the performers.
When the guy in the stilts came out to do a back flip, I wanted not to watch. That and other times I felt too worried for their safety to really enjoy myself. Other times it just looked like so much fun. There are so many varieties of flying involved in a circus.
The audience favorite was near the end of the show. A comparatively small man, with very toned arms came out. Everyone started whispering, "Look, he's a life guard." He was wearing a white robe and was followed by a chair up on a platform that looked like one you'd see on the beach. There were more chairs (of the regular height) following him. He took off his robe and stood in basically a loin cloth. He was a strong man, holding his own body weight on his arms with no wobbling, shaking, or apparent difficulty. He did sweat a lot though. When he reached the first chair, he reached down for more. He began stacking and climbing the chairs, stopping every so often to show us more scary and impressive balancing acts. I have no idea how many chairs he finally stacked, maybe 8 or 10. The whole tent was so quiet and tense. There was no magic or surprise, the suspense was present in every move he made.
posted by cep at
7:44 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home