Rusalka

Rusalka is an interesting exploration of mermaids throughout the world, their history and impact on modern day folklore. The different incarnations of mermaids are interspersed with circus acts using the theme, glitter and scales of mermaids.

The actual story of Rusalka is the last of the stories. It is the tale of a young woman who had died in or near a river and would return as an undead. She was not invariably evil, and could die in peace if her death was avenged.

Her main purpose, however, was to lure young men into the depths of the river where she would entangle their feet with her long hair and pull them under. She would instantly become very slippery and the victim would be unable to cling to her and rise to the surface. She would on some occasions, tickle them to death, as she laughed.

Rusalka was also made into an opera with music written by Antonin Dvorak.

Cirque Nocturne is a company of promising young artists with a background in circus skills, music and dance. The performance features aerialists, a hula hooper, fire spinner, piano accordionist, belly dancer and burlesque dancer.

While some of the items were well rehearsed and the lighting and smoke effects were extremely effective, I feel the production as a whole needed more rehearsal. There were a number of mistakes from some of the performers and uncomfortable silences on stage between narration and the items.

Some of the items were a tad too long, resulting in the audience not knowing when to applaud. I presume this was because the music backing track was unable to be cut without destroying the integrity of the song or the performance.

The narrator’s stories were interesting and certainly gave us an insight into mermaids that is outside the commercial interpretation of The Littlest Mermaid,howevershe was often hampered from giving her best performance by being breathless after an aerial act. Recording the stories and adding multimedia pictures of mermaids across countries and history would have taken the pressure from the performer.

I was impressed by the lighting and smoke effects that evoked the underwater world that we often assume is the world of the mermaid. I also enjoyed the skills of the fire spinner (especially in the close confines of the Star Theatres) whose performance drew gasps from the audience as the fire seemed perilously close to her body while always being in total control.

The aerialist working with the ‘silks’ made her performance seem effortless. As an audience member I always wait for the spin and drop in this type of act but realise that this was not possible in the limited space available.

The belly dancer earned well deserved applause for her item. Featuring an elaborate feathered headdress, she embodied what a mermaid would look like if she had legs.

Once it has been ‘run in’ and tightened up technically and performance-wise,Rusalka has all the elements of a very entertaining evening.

Barry Hill