Cirque show glides high into the clouds

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This article was published 24/06/2015 (3798 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hours before performers hit the stage for Cirque du soleil’s first show of Varekai in Winnipeg, they were busy practising their routines in an empty MTS Centre.

Dozens of golden tubes (later learned to be tree trunks or other forest matter) surrounded the Russian swing artists as they rehearsed some of their moves on two large swings pointed toward a taller podium in the middle of the stage. Performers clad in red, shiny boots found their place on the swings, and with a few quick shifts of body weight, they were off, propelling themselves forward and back until enough momentum had gathered for the first jump of the afternoon.

The jumper flew through the air and landed on the grasped hands of two of his fellow performers waiting on the podium. He stuck the landing, not wavering once to catch his balance. “One more time — just like that” he says, hopping down to the ground and flinging himself on an already-moving swing with remarkable ease. He leapt again and again with equal perfection.

Watching the Russian swing artists work in plain clothes, without any of the costumes or theatrics of a Cirque performance as a distraction, was a reminder all of the Cirque performers are top-calibre athletes. They have zero body fat. They have muscles protruding from every part of their body. They are disciplined and practiced sportsmen (and women) who just happen to be part of a touring theatrical act.

Varekai’s story is a continuation of the myth of Icarus, who created wings for himself which caught fire as he flew too close to the sun. As Icarus tumbles to the ground, the world of Varekai begins.

The story itself is pretty simple in concept: How can one get one’s metaphorical wings back once one has fallen to the ground?

His wings now gone and his legs limp, the opening of the show features Icarus being hoisted into the sky wrapped in a net by his new forest friends who found him after his fall. Before long, a stunning aerobatic performance starts — Icarus winding and unwinding himself from the net, soaring through the air as his wrap is fashioned into wings. In his all-white clothing, he looked absolutely angelic.

The flight imagery was consistent throughout the show, with many acrobatic performances showcasing some kind of winged movement or costume. Particularly interesting was Raphael Botelho Nepomuceno’s solo performed entirely on a set of crutches. Of course, everything in Cirque is open to interpretation, but the way he glided around the stage with such ease despite his injuries seemed to offer a kind of optimism to Icarus — who was on the stage watching — that he, too, can overcome his obstacles and learn to fly again.

As you would expect with a Cirque show, each individual act was spectacular. Between tumblers flipping in exact synchronization to the trapeze artist holding onto her bar with only the back of her head, there were countless breathtaking moments to appreciate. However, much of the time, apart from the obvious references to flight, the narrative was cloudy at best.

To be fair, most people don’t go to a Cirque show expecting a fully developed plot they can follow like a novel; they go to a Cirque show to be impressed and Varekai accomplishes that without a doubt. After all, where else are you going to see a woman in green, spongey headpiece (with matching unitard) twirl a baton with her neck?

erin.lebar@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @Nirerabel