Circa: Agility and Precision = A Thrilling Show
In Aimée Petrin’s latest blog entry, she began her post with the following quote from Ray Bradbury: “Living at risk is jumping off the cliff and building your wings on the way down.” After watching Thursday night’s performance by CiRCA, you might wonder if this was the very idea that the show itself had been based upon.
As the show began, one of the troupe’s two female performers hurled herself to the ground as though she fell from the aforementioned cliff and landed in the center of the stage in a bright white spotlight. As she contorted in ways you couldn’t believe were possible, the rest of the incredibly flexible and visibly strong members of the troupe who collectively seemed to be working up the ability to grow wings and begin to fly joined her. While the performers bounced, jumped, swung, and were flung about the stage it felt as though they were about to break free from the laws of physics and actually begin to do so.
There were moments that you could actually hear had taken the audience’s breath away. Together we collectively gasped in awe of the acts of sheer athleticism, pure physicality, endless trust, and true daring on display. The precision and care that the performers took was exhilarating to behold.
The songs that CiRCA combined with their incredible acts such as Sia’s cover of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”, Cake’s cover of “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” and Icelandic band Sigur Rós’s “Popplagið” amongst others, communicated the emotion and mood of each artistic scene.
As shows like Cirque du Soleil tour the world with large tents, huge revolving stages and dazzling costumes, it was great to see a show that, despite it’s simplicity, could be considered comparable to this paragon of modern circus acts. To have a show of this magnitude come to our community is truly special. I have been fortunate enough to see three different Cirque du Soleil shows, but what makes CiRCA unique and amazing is that it uses the same amount of imagination and precision, but it tells the story with just the human body, great lighting, and music.
