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Underground > Film, TV & Theatre >

Cirque Du Soliel

18:03 / 28.12.03

Please tell me somebody else saw this tonight.

I was sitting idly, on my unicycle, when my dad turned it on. Dont know how much I missed, but it started with the 3 chinese diablo girls- the oldest one was 11. They made me feel so pathetic; they were amazing.

And the ariel silks are so beautiful.
And the trapeze with the double somies in between catches.
And tumbles landing on people standing on other people's shoulders.
And and and and and....

This is not very well articulated, but it was just sooo fucking amazing. In January, when I was in london, we were going to go and see it, but it was £70 a seat, which was what each of us had for the next 4 days, and to get home with. But i should have gone anyway.

I cant believe Dale Winton performed with them before I have, though. They've got this vacancy, which I fill the requirements for, bar double-somies. But I will get them. Oh yes.

00:18 / 29.12.03

i saw their traveling show Dralion last year. it was fucking amazing. next on my agenda is the new Vegas show.

you should totally go for it. experience of a fucking lifetime.

Morlock - groupie for hire

11:47 / 29.12.03

Very. Fucking. Fabulous.

First circus ever where the clowns are actually funny, for one. I've managed to catch the last 3 travelling shows, and almost not minded the extortionate ticket prices.

You know you can buy some of the shows on DVD/video, yes?

22:15 / 29.12.03

OOoh, I didnt know that.
Yes, clowns were vaguely amusing, though quite scarily made-up. Costumes were great- Kegboy lived with one of the costume makers for it. He said I should come and play the caterpillar, but it was a contorsion thang. Ermm.... not happening.

Why dont they show more frabulous stuff on tv? I mean, how can anyone think that football is more interesting than that, I'll never know.

21:49 / 12.01.04

They are infact, fucking fabulous. I had front row for Quidam when they came to town, and it blew me away. There's just so much going on, its enough to overwhelm the senses. The DVDs are nothing compared to the live show, believe me.

Going to see Zoomanidy and O when we go to Vega$ in February, andI can't wait for that. From what I heard, O is a water show (we've got tickets in the "wet seats" heh), and Zoomanidy is being billed as erotic. Considering how generally turned on I was by Quidam (Hmm... hard bodied gymnists doing fabulous feats of physical skill), that should be most interesting.

Its Hong Kong opera, by the way, just in case anyone thought this sort of thing was anything original. Its not, just they're the only big company doing this kind of show in the West.

16:35 / 15.03.04

Its Hong Kong opera, by the way, just in case anyone thought this sort of thing was anything original. Its not, just they're the only big company doing this kind of show in the West.

that's not entirely accurate. it's reductive to say that Cirque du Soleil is basically just Hong Kong Opera knock-off for Westerners. Cirque also has strong roots in European one-ring circus and travelling theatre traditions, like the commedia dell'arte. as far as i know, in the early years, it was originally conceived of as a sort of revival of those European traditions, a sort of reaction to the American circus traditions of Barnum and Ringling Bros. and the like and an attempt to bring the circus back to its roots in European travelling theatre. it wasn't until later that they started incorporating other influences. i think that, right now, it would be more accurate to say that the current incarnation of Cirque is more of a Euro-Chinese fusion kind of thing than to say it's simply Hong Kong opera.

anyway, i just saw Mystere in Vegas the other night, and i'm still buzzing, so i thought i'd revive this thread. it's only the second performance of theirs that i've seen, though i'm probably going to see the current American touring show (Varekai) in a few weeks.

22:07 / 15.03.04

Just saw O in Vegas a bit ago myself. And O My God. That was again, fucking fabulous. The stage is a big pool, with scuba guys hidden underwater and hidden swimways so aquatic characters can appear and disappear at will beneath. They also have a grate they can raise to just beneath the surface, so suddenly someone seems to run across the surface of the water. Gimicks aside, the general coreography and play to the audience was the best I've yet seen. And I got pulled up on stage by one of the clowns at one point, which rocked all on its own.

Saw Zoomanidy, too. Very different sort of show, comical sex thing. But I mean, its Cirque Du Soliel doing a sex show. It was hot beyond words. I'll just leave you with this image: naked contortionist girls in a giant champaign glass filled with water. Simply delightful. Why, oh why, could that not have been the show I got to go on stage for?

04:11 / 27.12.04

Hmmm. I'm starting to see a slightly more evil side to Cirque du Soleil these days. We had a lecture about it all in school, which tore me in half.

It's a spectacular show, but it's ruthless business. You go to work there, and you will leave naked. They employ you, pay you well, but they buy your act, and you cant perform it again. And if your act has been so central to making your living for a long time, turning round and changing the entire thing is kind of a big deal.
Anyway, while this is going on and everyone is going "oohh no, that's awful," there's still the little commercial-monkey inside me going, that's a fucking good piece of business.

Perhaps I'm just bitter, cause they also told us they have scouts at the Olympics etc, who sweep up as many world-class gymnasts as they can, and slot them into shows like pieces of a jigsaw. A piece that I'll never be.

But anyway, we get to go to the dress rehearsal of Dralion for free next month, so will I give a fuck about the politics of the company? Will I buggery.

15:38 / 29.12.04

well here at Kungfumagazine (where I work) Cirque Du Soliel got ahold of our 10 year anniversary DVD which featured a plethoria of amazing martial artists. Acrobatic WUSHU champs as well as people breaking bricks with their heads and pulling a truck with their penis.

They contacted us in hopes of auditioning some of these martial artists. Eventually an audition was arranged in Las Vegas where a handful of these martial artists where eventually hired. Some of them where fresh out of Highschool and had no "act" to speak of, while others where seasoned champions litterally just off the plane from China. They've since relocated to Las Vegas and are a part of Cirque's new production KA which draws heavily from Chinese Opera and folklore. My Boss got to attend a preview of the show and was thoroughly impressed... particularly with their set design, something that doesn't seem to translate in their traveling shows. I've seen Dralion live, some years back and loved it. I hope to be able to afford one of their Las Vegas shows someday (or better yet get some comps via the work place).

00:08 / 24.12.06

I find it bizarre that I started this thread 3 years ago, and how my world and opinions have changed so drastically since.

I've now seen them twice- Alegria and Dralion. Both times, I've found it dull and soulless. Of course it remains that the skills are incredible, but I found the shows themselves dull and thoughtlessly constructed. There is nothing behind the individual performances- which is particularly depressing considering on both occasions, I've been on the press-night. And you can tell how many times they've done it, and that for the most part, it is not their own work.

I would still like to see O, and Zumanity (for the acrobalance act). But this year, I won't be seeing them, and I'm not terribly sad about it really.

Did anyone see Cirque Surreal recently. It was a Cirque rip-off, basically- Dralion rip-off to be more precise. Oh look- we're multicultural, and this man is carrying a globe. Some of it was quite fun, but some of it very terrible. There was a guy who actually had his own act, who was wearing some god-awfully offensive "tribal" costume, and just kind of... uh.... danced around? Not that it was dancing. Bizarre- I have no idea why they didn't just make it a shorter show.

Seperately,[rot] I'm not sure it actually has circus in it (possibly a rope piece, because I know someone in it who does rope), Faust is supposedly amazing. [/rot]

Still not actually riding that unicycle yet. 3 years. 3 years.