Saturday night was circus night.
If you have been reading this page during the last year, you know how much I enjoy The Big Top. Enough to have been lured into two Mexican circuses during the last year.
My exposure to Mexican circuses was less than stellar. Minimal talent. But still fun.
On Saturday night, minimal talent was not the issue. It was Cirque du Soleil night.
Kooza. The company's latest road production.
March of last year, I told you about my last trip to Cirque du Soleil -- turkey and trapezes. That show was everything I expected it to be -- pure magic.
During my year in Mexico, I missed certain cultural events. Cirque du Soleil was not one. Or it need not have been. I could have attended a performance in Guadalajara in the winter. I didn't.
Even with my broken ankle, I was not going to miss a Cirque du Soleil fix. But a fix it was not.
If everything is ruined by repetition, it is just as true that great producers sometimes create mediocre productions.
Mediocre may not be the best word. Disappointing would be better.
When I walk out of most Cirque du Soleil shows, I feel as if I am departing an enchanted land. On Saturday, I felt as if I had just seen a nice acrobatic and dance recital. It was all very well performed. But it was not magic.
And Thomasa is a good lesson for me to remember when I return to Mexico. Magic is where you find it.
My daughter and I both felt the same way. I usually leave a Cirque show and think that it was the best road show ever. But not so Kooza.
ReplyDeleteWell, for crying out loud, just listen to yourself. You went to a show called Kooza. What did you expect? Think about it.
ReplyDeleteWould you eat it? "Oh, wow, great, Kooza again for dinner."
Would you want it on your shoe? "Oh, great, I've got a Kooza on the sole of my sole. I wondered what I was smelling."
Would you want a pulmonary production of it? "Excuse, I've got to leave the table. I've just coughed up a Kooza."
Names, I fear, do mean something. From where I'm typing, "Kooza" lacks aesthetic possibility.
But what do I know. I'm from Walla Walla.
ANM
Oh I am so sad at your experience - I too enjoy the magic and spectacle that has been each Cirque performance I have seen. How tragic for the Cirque enterprise - and for those of us that so look forward to their performances.
ReplyDeleteDebi
I've found that after seeing some of the most stunning Cirque shows, that I have to reconfigure my expectation for the traveling shows that are more of the traditional acts (as tradition goes for CDS, anyway).
ReplyDeleteMs. Lavachickie,
ReplyDeleteYour having to "reconfigure ... expectation" after experiencing "stunning ... shows" is precisely why the old philosopher Epicurus warned us all not to make a habit of eating peacock tongues. Entirely too stunning a diet.
Instead, he recommend cheese, stale bread and water.
Which is why I entertain myself with the annual Shriner's parade -- older men in fezs and little cars, zig-zagging Main Street like
doped clowns.
ANM
Jackie -- It was nice, but a bit too spare.
ReplyDeleteAnm -- If you think that was a warning, what would you do with Draglion?
Debi -- One disappointment is not too bad.
Lavachickie -- I suspect the whole concept was the problem with this show -- not simply that it was a road show. The spectacle was mundane.
ANM -- Your Tulanery is showing.