Cirque Just Fascinates...

Saturday, April 28th, Claude and I went to Rupp Arena in Lexington, Kentucky. We had tickets to watch Cirque du Soliel's show "Corteo". 

Corteo is a Italian word meaning meaning 'cortege' or 'procession'. This is a contemporary circus show about a clown who watches his own funeral taking place in a carnival-like atmosphere. This allows for the outlandish costuming that Cirque du Soliel is known for and for all the over-the-top circus-like performances by the cast. They continually challenge your perspective.  

We entered Rupp Arena and found our seats. The first thing I noticed was a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. This is not typical of Rupp Arena at all.

Next we noticed the stage. I appeared we were at one end of the arena and there would only be minimal seating. This didn't seem quite right for all the expense of putting on a full Cirque du Soliel show. Then we looked at the stage very carefully.

There was an elaborate curtain with artwork on it. It was sheer though. On either side of the stage were places for the musicians to create the music. As we looked at the sheer curtain while the cast was beginning to make their appearance on and around the stage and wander through the audience, I told Claude I thought there were people on the other side of the stage. It appeared (and we finally realized) the stage was across the center of Rupp Arena with entrances on either end for the performers to enter and exit. So, in reality, on the other side of the stage was an audience as large as ours and we would each watch the show from one side of the stage with the performers in the middle. How cool is that?

This picture shows how Corteo began with the man in the bed dead and things happening to prepare for his burial. We watched that first part through the sheer curtain as they set the story line up for us.

One things that struck my fancy was the beds that were really trampolines. Lots of fun performing done on these two beds. Again, how cool is that?

Another bit that really enthralled me was the little lady with the huge balloon over her. She was sitting in a harness and the man who had died was talking to her on stage at first. Then he gently pushed her and she floated out to the audience. He encouraged the audience to push on her feet and send her further into the audience. All the time she is laughing and having a great time floating through the air. She came way up into our side of the stage first, then was passed back to the actual stage when the man guided her to the other side of the stage so she could float around over there with the other half of the audience. He joked that one performance he sent her out and it took an hour to get the people to send her back. This part was just delightful.  

It always amazes me how they distract you by focusing your attention on something while they are changing the staging for the next big act. They did this to set up for the high flying trapeze artists. Netting was set up all across the stage and the platforms for the performers to work from were set up. When they opened the sheer curtains, voila! there they were. Grateful to see the netting. Earlier this year a seasoned Cirque performer fell to his death trying a new routine. Really didn't want to see that happen. Then they did another performance so you didn't notice them take down all this set up. 

There were all the usual types of performances, some tweeked a bit to pique your curiosity and keep your interest. This one really was amazing. This man started with a shorter ladder. He climbed to the top while it was free-standing and balanced it beneath him while he stood on his hands at the top. Then he progressed to a ladder that was taller. The ladder in this picture is the final one he used. It was at minimum 2-stories tall and maybe 3-stories tall. He is at the top and completely balancing that ladder and himself. The angel is suspended in the air from the ceiling and moved toward him with a trapeze. When he finished his routine, she swung the trapeze to him, he grabbed and let go of the ladder, then men at the bottom of the ladder caught it and removed the ladder from the stage. Amazing!  

I include this picture to show the complete use of all levels of the staging area. There were lots of trapeze, ropes, beds, bicycles, angels, etc. that performed hanging from what must have been wires under the top of the facade on the stage area. These items were able to move from one side of the stage to the other and there had to be multiple ones of them because the bed had four corners to be held up. Performers used the middle area between the ceiling and the floor for all kinds of performances and of course the floor of the stage was also used. In this picture you can see all three areas being used at once. There is no way to see everything happening at once.  

This was an excellent performance. Claude and I have seen several Cirque shows from Las Vegas to Kentucky as well as on the television at home. They are always a delight and we would highly recommend them to anyone of any age.