THE BALLOON MAN

Cirque de Noel returns with Grand Rapids Symphony for acrobatics and Christmas music


Vitalli Buza joins Cirque de la Symphonie for an acrobatic act with a Cyr Wheel, a large metal ring, for "Cirque du Noel."
The company returns for its third holiday season with three shows featuring dancers, contortionists and strongmen, Tuesday Dec. 18 through Thursday Dec. 20, 2012, to open the Grand Rapids Symphony's 2012-13 SymphonicBoom Series.
from:  mlive.com
By Jeffrey Kaczmarczyk
December 16, 2012
GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Christmas is the season for Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker,” Handel’s “Messiah” and Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.
In Grand Rapids, it’s also the season for “Cirque de Noel.”
Grand Rapids Symphony welcomes Cirque de la Symphonie back to DeVos Performance Hall for aerial acts, juggling, magic and feats of strength all set to live music.
Last year, the troupe of cirque artists gave two performances of Cirque de Noel last year during its second Christmas visit to West Michigan.

 

Christine Van Loo, a Grand Rapids native, and Alexander Streltsov pair on silks for a romantic pas de deux in the air to Tchaikovsky's “Waltz of the Flowers."
“We’re very excited to be here again. It’s a great audience, and a great place to perform,” said Streltsov, a past gold medalist at the international Festival Mondial De Cirque De L'Avenir in Paris.
Music director David Lockington leads the Grand Rapids Symphony in seasonal music such as Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” and in perennially popular classical works including Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D minor, and Tchaikovsky’s “Danse de petits cyngnes” from “Swan Lake.”
European-style cirque acts, also known as "le nouveau cirque" or contemporary circus, differ from American circuses which typically feature animal acts and clowns and slapstick entertainment, often performed under a big top tent.
Cirque artists are athletes trained to perform in theatrical settings.
read more:
http://www.mlive.com/entertainment/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2012/12/cirque_de_noel_returns_with_gr.html