CIRQUE- (NEIL GOLDBERG’S)

7-5-06 Jami Asselin:

I have been to several circuses as a child and have taken my children to see a few that have come to town. However I dare to say they can not hold a candle to the Cirque experience. We were entertained before the show even started. When you enter the auditorium you immediately feel the presence of the jungle. Everywhere you look on the stage you see an element of the jungle. Then you catch something out of the corner of your eye moving across the stage but it stops by the time your eyes rest on it. Was it real or were my eyes playing tricks on me? Hmmm. Black lighting and splashes of neon. Fairy tale animals that only the most off the wall imagination could conger up -appear. BIG fluffy bright flowers… abstract noises…. It’s like you leave behind the world as you know it and have entered a world of creative disbelief .

There were still elements of a traditional circuses like- the trapeze artists, feats of strength and balance, contortionists, but each was done with extraordinary flair. The costumes were amazing in design and color . In all, 100 original costumes were worn.

One element of the French Circus is the live music performed through out the show. So from the beginning to the end you hear and see a woman with a massive amount of colorful feathers on her head narrating through song, but with very little words- mostly lilting, melodic sounds. At first I found it distracting until I sat back and really “heard” what she was saying with out a word.

The trapeze artists used swings and ropes and long pieces of fabric hanging from the ceiling to fly out over the audience. They would intertwine their bodies around each other and whatever apparatus they used . We sat close to the front and literally laid our heads back on our seat and watched them fly right over us – you could feel the air from their bodies as they flew by you. There were feats of balance and strength. One of the last performances amazed me.

Two men come out with the sole purpose of showing the power and inner strength of the human body so most of their bodies are exposed and painted in gold dust. They lift each other, twist around, and hold stances using incredible inner core strength and do it all in slow motion. You feel like you have seen a work of art in motion. The whole show is like an animated painted canvas.

Branson has become somewhat diversified in the field of entertainment because of shows like this one.

Be sure to keep www.bransoncritic.org just a click away so you can catch my next show review, and don't be shy, I’d love to hear from you whether you have a show review request, an opinion of my pasts reviews, or just want to say ‘hey’. It is all welcome.

Contact me at bjasselin@yahoo.com
Jami Rader Asselin, Branson Critic Senior Music Editor

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