CIRQUE ÉLOIZE iD
DIRECTOR: JEANNOT PAINCHARD
CAST: IGNACIO ADARVE (Trampowall) JAMES EDDIE CRANE (Trampowall) NICOLAS FORTIN (Juggling, Trampowall) JON LARRUCEA (In-Line Skating), NADIA LUMLEY (Urban Dances, Cyr Wheel), JUSTINE MÉTHÉ-CROZAT (Hand to Hand, Aerial Hoop), BAPTISTE MONTASSIER (Urban Dances), CONOR NEALL (Chinese Pole), FORTY NGUYEN (Urban Dances) THIBAUT PHILIPPE (Trial Bike), JÉRÉMY ST-JEAN (Hand to Hand), JOHAN PRYTZ (Straps), EMI VAUTHEY (Contortion, Aerial Silks), RAÚL VEIGA DOMINGOS (Hand Balancing, Trampowall), KONE THONG VONGPRASEUTH (Urban Dances)
VENUE: Teatro at Montecasino
UNTIL: September 14, Tuesday to Saturday at 8; Saturday at 3pm and Sunday at 2 and 6pm
RATING: ****
It is the youthfulness, the high energy, the street smarts that flips this show into such a fun event.
It spotlights the hip-hop generation and their street moves and sounds and creates a high velocity show that takes all the standard tricks and turns them on their head.
From breakdance to something called b-boying and b-girling, blading, biking to balancing and bending the body in mindboggling ways, the look is further ramped to hot the Teatro roof with a magnificent set that is constantly transformed with spectacular lighting.
It’s bold and brazen with music that pumps as the volume is turned high to keep everyone hopping on the beat. The innovation is exciting as everyone on stage has multiple skills on display.
At no time is someone not stretched, mentally and physically, to the limit, whether with lighting that kept introducing different dimensions or novel tweaks to traditional acts like juggling while sticking to something as mundane as a tennis ball.
They’re using their heads to appeal to their peers and in the same space, attracting audiences for the sheer spectacle of their striking showmanship.
Among all the dazzle, there are two standout acts: the super supple contortionist slithering up and down two swathes of fabric from ceiling to floor in brilliantly balletic fashion; as well as a one of a kind video trampowall. It takes the wild and the young in you and throws you in the air to go along on this delightfully bumpy ride. The building blocks are jumping as fast and furiously as the jumpers who keep skyrocketing the stakes as they go in and out of openings that open up and close down seemingly at will. It’s a great way to leapfrog a show into the stratosphere.
Someone had the smarts to take what the kids are doing on city streets and put it together on stage harnessing an exuberance that hits at the hearts of the young and appeals to those of us who want our wild child to keep running.
If you want escapism at its best, this is it.