Flying High at Le Cirque
June 20th, 2006 by Ingrid
I was a gymnast. Probably the tallest gymnast in the history of the universe at 5’11”, but a gymnast nonetheless. I apparently don’t have it out of my system yet either considering I do a cartwheel on every curb I come in contact with, want to walk on my hands down the hallway in my office one day soon, and get excited over Cirque du Soleil.
Corteo, to be exact—the ultra-athletic circus’s new show that I saw on Randall’s Island this week. Sure, the pretzels cost five dollars and the gift-shop fare is over-priced and gaudy. But there are acrobats! High-flying trampoliners! Performers dangling from bejeweled chandeliers! Contortionists contorting! Jugglers! Tightrope walkers! It’s all very dramatic and slightly off-kilter in a kooky, European-story-book kind of way, but I had a great time and practically danced out of the place by intermission. (I asked my friend if he would throw me into the air for a fantastic flip—unfortunately, he had a bad shoulder.)
During the second act, as I sat in my second-row seat eating an ice-cream bar, I wondered what life is really like under the blue-and-yellow big top. Probably not all spangles and glitter. The cast members, who come from all over the world and are truly incredible, obviously work very hard, train like Olympians, and travel nonstop. I’m sure there’s no shortage of injuries and bang-ups. And no doubt a juggler has slept with an acrobat who was secretly seeing a tightrope walker and all hell broke loose. But it’s most likely a life more magical than, say, the pro-bowling circuit. And I’m pretty sure there wasn’t a single person in the audience who didn’t think at least once that it’d be cool to ditch the day job and join the circus—I mean, le cirque.
June 20th, 2006 at 6:54 pm
I’ve never seen them live, but I was definitely awed by the couple TV shows I’ve seen of their performances. I’ve also read some stuff about plans for a theater dedicated just to them (in what is right now a huge empty lot and soon to be a highrise) on 42nd St. about a block from where I live. Not sure if they ever got the city to approve that plan though (since the building doesn’t even have a foundation yet).