Saltimbanco
Cirque
du Soleil
Under
the Grand Chapiteau under the Marquam Bridge. (800) 678-5440.
8 pm Tuesdays-Fridays, 4 and 8 pm Saturdays, 1 and 5 pm
Sundays. Closes June 11. $27.35-$150.
"Saltimbanco"
is an arcane Italian word for street performers.
Saltimbanco
has toured since 1992.
"The circus is
the best place in the world."
--Constantine
Stanislavsky
The corporate behemoth known as Ringling Brothers, Barnum
and Bailey--a name that, even to my childhood ears, sounded
like that of a law firm--once ruined the circus for me.
The so-called Greatest Show on Earth was, in reality, three
rings of distraction encased in the Memorial Coliseum.
It was a show that perfectly represented its culture. It
was big, loud and confused, and it came complete with the
spastic clowns of nursery nightmares, as well as the more
polite forms of animal torture. But by the time I witnessed
this empty spectacle in the early '70s, there were movements
in the land to return the corrupted American circus back
to its roots, which meant returning to Europe to relearn
lost skills and to reclaim a poetic vision.
The circuses of the continent were still dedicated to individual
artistry rather than spectacle, especially in the Soviet
Union, where Lenin once insisted that the circus be considered
one of the state's greatest arts. The dictator's demand
would help furnish future American circuses with brilliant
performers.
The founder of Cirque du Soleil, Guy Laliberte, left his
native Quebec in the '70s for Europe, where he immersed
himself in the world of buskers. The year Laliberte spent
among Europe's mimes, jugglers and stilt walkers would forever
inform his future enterprise, the Cirque, and would serve
as the guiding spirit for its touring show, Saltimbanco.
Under the Cirque's tarpaulin dome, the Grand Chapiteau,
one finds what Laliberte found on his travels--the long-lost
circus of skill and daring, where performers transcend the
physical limitations of the human body and where individual
talents create an arresting ensemble style that is part
commedia dell'arte and part dream.
Cirque du Soleil has much that distinguishes it from other
troupes. Each of its productions is a story, though the
narrative is joyfully non-linear. Also, the music for each
show is actually composed first, making Cirque much like
the ballet, which must interpret music in movement. Acrobats
and musicians also serve as the clowns.
The Cirque plays on a modest oval stage, which helps concentrate
the audience's focus on the individual acts. Among these
is the Adagio, in which a Ukrainian family of contortionists,
the Vintilovs, effortlessly twists into abstract forms.
There is the astonishing juggling of Maria Choodu, the Double
Wire act of Chen Wei (who hops from one high wire to the
next on a unicycle) and the Gutszmit brothers from Poland,
who perform impressive feats of strength. Then there is
the ensemble work: the balletic Chinese Poles; the death-defying
clown leaps from the Russian Swing.
The day of the brash big top with its seltzer bottles,
elephant chains and attention deficit to detail has at last
been replaced with something more intimate and human. Saltimbanco
is a celebration of the human spirit, with all its color,
grotesqueness and sublimity.
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Willamette Week | originally
published April 26,
2000
|
