Sunday, August 14, 2011

FROM SCOTLAND--

Circolombia gives circus tricks a great gritty spin for Edinburgh show

Fringe review: Exuberant young Colombian troupe Circolombia inject some modern-day vitality into their performance with Intimo Urban.


By Michael MacLennan

14 August 2011

Over from South America for the Fringe, Circolombia introduce a healthy dose of youthful energy to this year’s line-up at the Assembly Hall.
Any sort of modern-day update of circus entertainment which is imbued it with streetwise suss is bound to bear comparisons with the spellbinding productions of Cirque du Soleil.
Circolombia can’t compete budget-wise (at the moment), but thankfully they instead play to their strengths, providing something that’s rough and ready, gritty, and abundant with an energy that barely dissipates across the entire hour of Intimo Urban.
Prime to the show’s success is the superb soundtrack, a mélange of South American sounds brought firmly up to date with swelling electronics and pumping hip hop beats, vital enough that purchasing a CD for a miserly £6 after the show seemed a complete no-brainer.
The performers themselves are highly impressive, a sextet of muscled males variously being flung onto the shoulders of their peers while somehow retaining balance and remaining upstanding. (A visit to the gym felt well overdue once the lights had gone up.)
Also on offer was hula hoop and rope-skipping tricks, a bit of trapeze, some expert balancing on a man’s head (which you may see in the video above), dancing and even a man singing/rapping while dragging his torso around the stage in a barrel. (A bit like a tin-can human/slug hybrid.) There was a couple of small slip-ups, but nothing to take away too much from the overall effect.
Intimo Urban is a great audio and visual spectacle, and taking place at midday is a fun and emboldening way to start off your day, as long as you can then square yourself with how sloth-like you’ll feel when indulging yourself in the spirit of the Fringe during the rest of your day, afternoon and evening.FROM: http://entertainment.stv.tv/the-x-factor/news/266081-circolombia-gives-circus-tricks-a-great-gritty-spin-for-edinburgh-show/

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