THE BALLOON MAN

A circus that you see — and hear
from: QCTIMES.CO
By Bill Wundram
March 16, 2013
SARASOTA, Fla. — Long live the beautiful lady on the flying trapeze in the big arena and the magic of a Sunday afternoon in a world upside down — a circus performed with a 150-voice chorale and a symphony orchestra.

There is no sawdust on the floor and no pink lemonade for Cirque des Voix. Missing is a circus band blaring “Barnum & Bailey’s Favorite.” Instead, a semi-circle of violins and cellos and French horns plays the music of “1492: Conquest of Paradise” for a hand-balancing act.

This is taking the circus to a new level. A packed crowd of 1,000 cheers and gives the performance a standing ovation. Some paid as much as $45 for their seats.

HERE IS AN EXCITING, enchanting show. It is bringing the soul of “The Greatest Show on Earth” to a remarkable level of class. Performers like this can only be assembled in a circus city like Sarasota; nowhere else is there such a gathering of talent.

It would be difficult to assemble the circus-minded Sarasota Key Chorale at the i wireless Center in Moline to sing John Williams’ “Themes From ‘The Lost World’” while four members of the Flying Wallendas are walking a thin cable and risking their necks high above the audience heads.

There are moments when you are so thrilled by a lovely aerialist’s cloud swing that you cannot pay attention to the combined symphony and chorale music, “Dark Night of the Soul.”

All through this performance I keep thinking how — in its circusy way — it reminds me of the Holiday Pops at the i wireless — the choir, the symphony, the performers, the color, the adoring crowd. Steve Jobman, the Quad-City “Pops” director, should fly down to Sarasota next holiday season when Cirque des Voix is to be performed with a Christmas theme.
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