Sitting under the Big Top watching Cirque Du Soleil’s latest show LUZIA I had a flashback. I was five and at the circus in Maitland, NSW, where there was a monkey wearing a fez riding a Shetland pony around and around the circus ring. There were a couple of tired elephants and a not very convincing strong man in a leopard skin leotard. The smell of sawdust pervaded the air.
The flashback was fleeting as then I was back in the tent and ready. A plane could be heard overhead (well, the Big Top is set up at Eagle Farm next to the Royal Queensland Gold Club), which is fine by me. I’m a plane tragic and enjoy being in the flight path, albeit temporarily, in a huge tent watching the world’s greatest circus.
And there’s just enough old-school circus atmosphere in Cirque Du Soleil’s new show to keep me – and it seemed everyone else – happy.
I had my popcorn, the music started up, the clown (Eric Koller) had warmed us up and then Helena Merten burst onto the stage running and seemingly flying at the same time with giant butterfly wings followed by an impressive and mammoth galloping horse.
It was quite a spectacular way to start and nice that Merten, one of the stars of the show, is a Gold Coast girl who is home to star in this incredible production. There’s another Queenslander in the show too – Nelson Smyles, who is an incredible Hoop Diver.
Written and directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca, LUZIA invites us to experience an imaginary Mexico, like in a “waking dream”, where light (luz in Spanish) quenches the spirit and rain (lluvia) soothes the soul.
In a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, LUZIA takes audiences on a surrealistic journey through a vibrant world filled with wonders, playfulness and striking artistry. Smoothly passing from an old movie set to the ocean, to a smoky dance hall or an arid desert, LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity.
LUZIA enchants by incorporating rain into acrobatic and artistic scenes – a first for a Cirque du Soleil touring production. The rain is a surprise and is used quite beautifully. How they manage to get beautiful patterning into the sheets of water pouring onto the stage is a mystery … as it should be.
With extraordinary acrobatic performances, LUZIA brings traditional and contemporary circus disciplines to a whole new level. Cyr wheel artists perform the unprecedented feat of rolling and spinning under the rain, while an aerialist suspended from a trapeze flies and twirls through pouring showers. Hoop diving is taken onto gigantic treadmills, expanding exponentially the speed and number of daring leaps executed.
Jaw-dropping highlights include a male contortionist skilfully twisting his body in the world’s most unimaginable positions (folks, don’t try this at home), a powerful aerial straps specialist defying the laws of gravity at the centre of a cenote (natural sinkhole), a juggler tossing seven pins at breakneck speed and two football freestylers deftly mixing street dance with mind-blowing ball manipulation.
There’s a lot going on in this show, which is propelled by great music including some brass – and you have to have a bit of brass in Mexican music, right? Remember Herb Alpert?
The musicians are smoking hot led by bandleader Sebastien Laurendeau, who plays bass and is also a percussionist. Clown Eric Koller is brilliantly funny and the scene featuring him scuba diving in mid-air is hilarious. You need an MC like him. There are so many clever touches including three animated human Cacti. Well, it is Mexico.
There were moments when I had to close my eyes and hold my breath, as a good circus should probably make you do that. Some of the stunts are positively death defying. One of my favourites was the swing-to-swing scene featuring an ensemble of incredible acrobats and with another star turn from our own Helena Merten. This was all done to some pretty hot jazz.
Cirque Du Soleil is the mother of all circus shows and now an incredible global phenomenon. LUZIA has been going since 2016 and is Cirque Du Soleil’s 38th production since 1984. More than 4.5 million people have now seen this show, which is spectacular and features 1000 costume pieces and some extraordinary visual effects.
Get InReview in your inbox – free each Saturday. Local arts and culture – covered.
Thanks for signing up to the InReview newsletter.
But the show is not overwhelmed by technology – it relies mostly on real people and it is warm and funny and delivers on its promises.
Hell, I had fun despite the fact there was no fez-wearing monkey riding a Shetland pony. Maybe one day.
Cirque Du Soleil LUZIA: A Waking Dream of Mexico continues under the Big Top on Curtin Ave E, behind Royal Queensland Golf Club, Eagle Farm, until November 10. There is plenty of carparking on site but exercise patience when exiting after the show.
Support local arts journalism
Your support will help us continue the important work of InReview in publishing free professional journalism that celebrates, interrogates and amplifies arts and culture in South Australia.
Donate Here
