Members of Le Cirque du Soleil perform in a preview of Totem, the latest production of the Montreal-based circus, Thursday April 8, 2010 in Montreal.
Totem
- Cirque du Soleil
- Directed and written by Robert Lepage
- At the Quays of the Old Port
- In Montreal on Wednesday
Watching a Cirque du Soleil show is always an otherworldly experience. The performances just seem so strange, standing in defiance of gravity, probability and most logic. Then there's the Cirque's Warholian mash-up, collapsing the finest performance-art skills and kitschy circus routine, high and low art, into one.
The Cirque's latest collaboration with Quebec City-based writer-director Robert Lepage is no exception. In Totem, a troupe of astonishingly talented Cirque performers take us through a series of very loosely connected sketches, all of them zany, some more memorable than others. As expected with Cirque shows, there's a New Agey concept that's supposed to tie everything together: The press kit transmits the message in what could perhaps best be described as Cirquespeak: "Somewhere between science and legend, Totem explores the ties that bind Man to other species, his dreams and his infinite potential."
Whatever. Esoteric thematic aspirations aside, Cirque does what it does best with Totem - it delivers the goods. The first act is so strong it threatens to peak too soon. The troupe leaps from one sketch to the next. There's plenty of trapeze action, with players seeming to float effortlessly through the air, a homoerotic swimsuit competition in which two buff boys show off their muscles for the audience, and a gonzo unicycle act in which riders toss metal bowls onto each other's heads. It's as crazy as it sounds.
Lepage has chosen to alternate between sketches that feature the iconography of exotic cultures - for which he seems to have great reverence - with others that feature western cultures personified by clowns. It's hard to tell if there's some underlying point; as much fun as Cirque shows are, their use of ethnic and native stereotypes are occasionally a bit cringe-worthy. We are meant to stand in wonder as two people who appear to be aboriginal roller-blade on a box, one carrying the other on his head, to a musical score performed by what sounds like the Buddhist Tabernacle Choir. (When watching Avatar, I wondered if James Cameron's rendition of the noble savage hadn't been inspired by a Cirque show.)
While the second act had highlights, including a dizzyingly romantic high-wire act in which a man and woman fall in love on the trapeze, there were also some points that lagged. Given the outstanding strengths of act one, the evening felt a tad top-heavy.
But these are minor quibbles. For the most part, Totem shows us the essence of Cirque's success: its outstandingly talented performers. Their frantic, gravity-defying antics leave you enthralled, and in touch with your inner valley girl. Simply put, they're, like, totally awesome.
Cirque du Soleil's Totem runs until July 11 in Montreal. It moves to Quebec City (July 22-August 29) and then to Amsterdam beginning Oct. 7.
Special to The Globe and Mail