A wizened, hunchbacked ringmaster in a red cloak, with a crooked, painted-on smile. Androgynous creatures with mask-like features and plumed hats, strutting about the stage, who look more like awkward, flightless birds, than humans. Two clowns who behave like a pair of three-year old playmates, displaying mercurial emotions as they engage in nonsense dialogue. Fifty-five fantastically-adorned, athletic individuals from 17 different countries on this far-from-peaceful planet, performing daring feats in perfect synchronism and relying completely on their fellow humans, entrusting them with their very lives. Music that swirls right into the marrow of your soul and haunts your dreams for many nights after the performance…
When you experience Cirque du Soleil’s Alegria at Kansas City’s Sprint Center, you recapture the wordless wonder of early childhood. Although you may leave the theater after the show, the show never really quite leaves you.
The Cirque du Soleil website says that “Alegria is a mood, a state of mind.” And throughout the various acts, you’ll find that mood constantly shifting and changing, and your mind expanding with new possibilities, as well.
During my interview with Canadian performer Mark Beiler earlier this week, he stated, “I wanted to be part of something that was bigger than me,” when asked why he joined Cirque du Soleil.
Although housed in the cavernous Sprint Center, the staging of Alegria, with its startling imagery and dazzling special effects (if you thought winter was over in Kansas City, wait until you witness the indoor snowstorm!) seems big enough to swallow up even that enormous space. But it is the spirit of the troupe that is largest of all. The proverb “All people smile in the same language” comes to life, although extreme melancholy is conveyed onstage, too. Continuous waves of emotion embrace the members of the audience and make them active participants, not just observers.
Although you’ll find yourself reeling from some of the spectacular stunts—aerial acrobats who seem to fly effortlessly through the air, contortionists who twist and weave their bodies into impossible configurations, dancing fire jugglers who nearly come alight themselves—some of the more moving moments of the show are as delicate as poetry.
How to explain the mechanical flapping bird that soars upward, then bobs near the ceiling, or the strange dark figure on stilts which lurks in the shadows, like an omen of death? It doesn’t matter, because Cirque du Soleil productions do not demand explanations. But I defy you to leave the Sprint Center after the performance, and not be under the spell of Alegria.
THE FINE PRINT: The acclaimed touring production of Alegria will perform in Kansas City at the Sprint Center from May 12-16, 2010 for eight performances only. For more information, read the exclusive interview with cast member Mark Beiler. To buy tickets, go to www.cirquedusoleil.com/alegria or call 800-745-3000.
Comments
Alegria was the fourth Cirque show I have seen, and it was spectacular. Besides the tremendous athleticism and coordination of the performers, Cirque shows provide a wonderful visual feast for the eyes, with music that typically matches. The comedy breaks in this particular show are outstanding, although they require audience members to use their minds to understand.
This really makes me want to see the show.
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