Cirque Du Soleil Alegria
November 24, 2009 • written by Rankin Dam
Upon entering the stage area of the Bi-Lo Center, my first thought was one of perplexity. I had seen Cirque Du Soleil once before, and the stage before me couldn’t possibly be large enough to sustain all of the high flying acrobatics that I had seen in the previous performance. The stage itself looked more appropriate for a Michael Flatly performance, Michael Flatly being the world’s fastest tap dancer. Reminiscent of a forested cathedral, a large, flat, diamond-shaped stage melded into a sloping hill. Drums, chimes, and other assorted instruments rested at the crest of this inverted slope. A wooden, domed skeleton hung above this expanse of soon-to-be gymnastics floor. Green lights filled the stage with intangible grass as the backdrop was lit with a false azure sky. As I said, it was a stage the “Lord of the Dance” would be proud to tap away on.
My apprehension at the thought of being disappointed grew with the start of the show, the ‘curtain up’ if you will. The show started with clowns. While it may be French, it is still a circus nonetheless. Normally, I find clowns to be annoying and idiotic, but these clowns were actually quite entertaining.
Then the real show began. Characters in costumes of white dashed about the stage with a strong gait to match their powerful arms and shoulders. A woman in a white dress swirled upon the stage and began to sing in a sweet, French voice that reminds one of golden honey. Two women in azure clothing, bearing deep blue feathered wings, swept upon the stage after the woman in white. As of yet there has been nothing to prove that this is anything more than a colorful ballet
As these doubts chase themselves around my gray matter, the twin nymphs of azure are raised to the swings above the stage. At first, I thought I was about to witness a standard trapeze act. That was out of the question, as the adjacent swings were facing the audience instead of each other. My doubts lifted as they started to swing. The twins swung until they were practically touching the scaffolding. As the chillingly sweet, French melody resounded throughout the Bi-Lo Center, the azure senioritas released the swings and spun in the air. They landed only to continue swinging, acting as though nothing spectacular had just happened.
As they worked up momentum, I noticed that all eyes in the audience were paying rapt attention to the twins. The next dazzling stunt involved another twist, but it also involved a forward pitch. Many people were so entranced that they gasped as the blue birds seemed to fall from their perches, only to grab the ropes with their legs. Being positioned right in front of the stage, there were many instances in which I forgot about the safety ropes attached to the twins. I would cringe each time they pitched upside down to hang beneath the swings before flipping back up to a casual sitting position.
This first incredible acrobatic feat was soon followed by other colorful achievements of strength and agility. Each performance, from strong-men to fire-dancers to contortionists, was colorful and awe-inspiring. Years ago, the Ringling Brothers brought the “Greatest Show on Earth” to the Bi-Lo Center. It was an American circus that spanned the entire Bi-Lo Center’s center. Circue Du Soleil Alegria used only about a fourth of the Bi-Lo Center, and gave a performance that flipped circles around the Ringling Brothers.
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