When, a quarter of a century ago, the Circus of the Sun visited Madrid for the first time, almost no one associated the words beauty, poetry, tenderness with the circus show… Qualities that ‘Alegría’ was sewn into, the first date of the Canadian company with the Spanish public, with whom it began an idyll ever since. unwavering.
The Cirque du Soleil has recovered that emblematic show, with which it began its takeoff and with which it set the standards. bases of the new circus art; an art that combines theater and circus, that dresses in fantasy the dazzling and amazing acrobatic numbers, contortionists, trapeze flights… Even the humor, so often naïve, of clowns.
These form the backbone of the new version of ‘Alegría’, subtitled ‘In a new light‘, who after visiting Malaga, Alicante and Seville has just landed in Madrid. ‘Joy’, it must be said first, offers the viewer an imaginative and exuberant waterfall of images, sensations, emotions. It is a show in which all the technological, artistic, human elements… merge to achieve a unity
Those who have seen other works by Circo del Sol will find few surprises in this ‘Alegría’, but they will admire its dreamy and baroque costumes, its enveloping music – when the first bars of the song ‘Alegría’ sound the audience joins the performers -, its astonishing circus acts, its humor between tender and childish – it is amazing how such simple gags can generate so much fun, although the profusion of clown scenes is a drag, and it is the only drawback that you can put it, the balance of the show–, its scenic and technical precision…
The result is a spectacle of captivating beauty. It is threaded by a very slight plot thread, which is the main connection with the original ‘Alegría’. In a kingdom that has lost its King, the court jester, Mr. Fleurclumsily tries to take the throne, while a growing desire for change emerges on the street to challenge the ‘status quo’ and bring joy to the world.
Two clowns, crazy and absurd (they are played by two Spaniards, Pablo Gomis and Pablo Bermejo), along with Fleur, are the characters who link the circus acts with a story of friendship full of tenderness and candidness, and star in one of the most striking and emblematic moments of ‘Alegría’; the blizzard, which was created by the Russian clown Slava Polunin.
Acrobatic bars, Cyr wheel (a large ring in which the performer is integrated), synchronized trapeze, fire knives, aerial silks, hula hoop, ‘power track’ (frantic jumps on intertwined trampolines), balance on hands and contortionism are, next to the dazzling final number of trapezoid volantand –without a doubt, the most spectacular moment of the show, with flights and exercises that take your breath away and cause spontaneous sighs in the audience–, the different acts that make up ‘Alegría’. It is not known whether he admires more the precision and technical perfection with which they are executed or the accuracy with which everything is fitted together.
Circus art owes a lot, without a doubt, to the Cirque du Soleil (or Cirque du Soleilas its creators like it to be said), which has completely transformed it, which gave it a theatrical nature and a new scenic impulse. ‘Alegría’ was fundamental for this, and this new version is a great opportunity to rediscover this fascinating and hypnotic art.
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