Not Your Brother’s Circus: Cirque du Soleil Prepares for Return to New York
June 3, 2011 By JASON ZINOMAN, NEW YORK TIMES' ARTS BEAT SECTION
Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis” show in Las Vegas is one of 16 shows the company is performing in the United States.
The first time I saw Cirque du Soleil was in Washington in the early 1990s and it was like no circus I had ever seen. There were no lumbering animals or clown cars. These performers were whimsical, the mood oddly dreamlike and, in between the death-defying acrobatics, there were moments of minor-key theatrical grace.I loved it.
The next time I saw a Cirque show was over a decade later, in Las Vegas. The company had become a global brand and the production, “O,” reflected that. It was grand spectacle marked less by an individual style than several coups de theatre. In particular, I recall the frightening and beautiful image of a diver leaping down several stories into what seemed to be a shallow puddle but was actually a pool much deeper.
Once I started catching up on Cirque productions, I noticed that they were full of such bold gestures: the daredevils in “Kooza” leaping on top of the Wheel of Death, a spinning apparatus from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” and the giant puppets and impossibly bendy contortionists in front a snowy landscape in “Wintuk” at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The performers still had a gentle artistry, but now married that with athletic power.
I began reporting on Cirque du Soleil in an attempt to understand the company’s evolution into one of the most overlooked success stories in popular culture today. In this article online, which will appear in print in Arts & Leisure on Sunday, I explore the company’s history and the outsized ambition and drive of its owner, Guy Laliberté. With rare access to report on Cirque’s unique artistic process, I will write next week about its latest show, “Zarkana,” which will play in three cities, including New York, where the show will open at Radio City Music Hall on June 9.
What Cirque du Soleil shows have you seen? And what awe-inspiring feats or dynamic routines have stuck with you? What show has been your favorite?
Cirque du Soleil’s “Viva Elvis” show in Las Vegas is one of 16 shows the company is performing in the United States.
The first time I saw Cirque du Soleil was in Washington in the early 1990s and it was like no circus I had ever seen. There were no lumbering animals or clown cars. These performers were whimsical, the mood oddly dreamlike and, in between the death-defying acrobatics, there were moments of minor-key theatrical grace.I loved it.
The next time I saw a Cirque show was over a decade later, in Las Vegas. The company had become a global brand and the production, “O,” reflected that. It was grand spectacle marked less by an individual style than several coups de theatre. In particular, I recall the frightening and beautiful image of a diver leaping down several stories into what seemed to be a shallow puddle but was actually a pool much deeper.
Once I started catching up on Cirque productions, I noticed that they were full of such bold gestures: the daredevils in “Kooza” leaping on top of the Wheel of Death, a spinning apparatus from “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” and the giant puppets and impossibly bendy contortionists in front a snowy landscape in “Wintuk” at the Theater at Madison Square Garden. The performers still had a gentle artistry, but now married that with athletic power.
I began reporting on Cirque du Soleil in an attempt to understand the company’s evolution into one of the most overlooked success stories in popular culture today. In this article online, which will appear in print in Arts & Leisure on Sunday, I explore the company’s history and the outsized ambition and drive of its owner, Guy Laliberté. With rare access to report on Cirque’s unique artistic process, I will write next week about its latest show, “Zarkana,” which will play in three cities, including New York, where the show will open at Radio City Music Hall on June 9.
What Cirque du Soleil shows have you seen? And what awe-inspiring feats or dynamic routines have stuck with you? What show has been your favorite?
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