Kurios

Like Disney, Cirque du Soleil has developed a brand as leaders in their field of modern circus: trapeze, contortion, acrobatics and aerial feats, all surrounded by humour (often eccentric) and live music. It’s been a winning formula for forty shows since Montreal street performers Guy Laliberte and Gilles Ste-Croix created their first show in 1984.

Kurios follows the company pattern by taking a certain theme and building specialty acts into it. But where Kurios is different is that it has a steampunk aesthetic which allows the designers of set and costumes to vividly work wonders with its mix of Victoriana and Industrial Revolution inventions. And with its acts including Mini Lili (Rima Hadchiti), one of the ten smallest people in the world, a marvelous invisible circus, and “Siamese Twins” who are aerially separated, we were back in the era of P.T. Barnum, who would have willingly stamped his approval. The dinner might have been the same but it was the accoutrements that delighted.

After a stunning opening in which a steam train spewed the characters onto the stage, the Russian Cradle (Olena Tereshchenko/Roman Tereshchenko), a spectacular trapeze act, brought forth the first oohs and ahhs. More came when James Eylises Gonzalez did his incredible Rola Bola balancing act, and the Acro Net, a gigantic trampoline where the performers bounced and did somersaults in the upper echelons of the Big Top.

The synchronization was breathtaking and the physical feats of acrobatics jaw-dropping. The Upside Down World was a hugely inventive chair act which saw a dinner party guest climbing on chair-after-chair to reach a chandelier, whilst at the same time the same act is unfolding from above but upside down.

Nico Baixas’ hand puppetry was poetic and masterly when it was filmed in real-time and shown blown-up on a hot-air balloon, while Chih-Min Tuan dexterously manipulated an astonishing yo-yo watch routine that was simple but wondrous.

Sophie Guay, wearing a gramophone horn on her head, was a haunting and appealing chanteuse, whilst the musicians, seamlessly integrated into the action, musically had great fun with a score that swam somewhere between rock and European gypsy, with a Russian soul - perfect for the milieu.

Kurios is Cirque du Soleil at its best – acrobatic and aerial performers of Olympian standard, fantastic costumes and sets, all mixed with some quirky comedic mime. It’s truly delightful entertainment.

Peter Pinne