Cirque du Soleil has dazzled audiences all over the world with both their resident and touring shows. However, until now, New York City has only ever housed Cirque's touring shows. That is about to change with the opening of Zarkana June 9th at the Radio City Music Hall.
Zarkana is Cirque du Soleil's first ever resident show in the Big Apple and the show has received a great amount of praise from critics. This reporter was blown away by a preview performance of the show. The only way I can really describe Zarkana is with one word "Big."
Zarkana was written and directed by Francois Girard specifically for the grand Radio City Music Hall stage. The various spectacles in the show were designed to take up every inch of the massive stage. In fact, the rehearsals were so expansive that the company did not have enough space to have them at their headquarters in Quebec! As a result, Zarkana is, in Girard's words, "Cirque du Soleil on steroids."
Two of the performances in the show that were truly mesmerizing were the sand painting and the banquine. The sand painter created a number of beautiful images on her canvas of sand, which was projected onto a screen on stage. The artist was able to flow seamlessly from one image to the next, creating each new breathtaking artwork right on top of the previous one. It was much like calligraphy the way she effortlessly created beautiful images from nothing.
The banquine act was a group acrobatic act that very much resembled a cheerleading competition piece. Although, if these were actually cheerleaders for Cirque du Soleil, their team would always win. The combination was flawless and included a number of jaw-dropping acrobatic balancing skills, including a 4-up (four people stacked on each other's shoulders). This feat would not be possible without the seemingly infinite vertical area the Radio City Music Hall provides.
Performances of Zarkana will begin June 9th, with their official premiere on June 29th. This limited engagement will continue through October 8th, 2011. For tickets and more information, head to the official Zarkana website or the Radio City Music Hall website.
Radio City Music Hall
1260 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
800-745-3000
*Note: This article is part of Eric Eliacin's "Circus Arts in New York" series.
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