Warning: This Circus Suitable For All Ages
Going to the circus was exciting as a five-year-old. But as an adult, shouldn’t it seem cheesy? Not with Saltimbanco, just one of the many shows put on by Cirque du Soleil. Las Vegas is home to O, Mystere, Ka, Love, and Zumanity. La Nouba resides in the Walt Disney World Resort. The biggest difference: there are no animals in this circus, just people. Funky clowns that double as acrobats are the main feature.
Cirque du Soleil started about 20 years ago in Canada, and Saltimbanco was one of the first shows to travel around the world. It debuted in Montreal in 1992, and after many stops and starts, it was completely made over for the 2007 tour.
Saltimbanco comes from the French word saltimbanque, which means traveling performer. This name fits perfectly because the show involves a variety of street performers, such as acrobats, musicians, and of course, clowns (among many others).
The clowns in Saltimbanco are not Bozo. These are hip, French clowns. Instead of frizzy rainbow wigs, red noses, and big floppy shoes, the clowns wear quirky, tight fitting costumes in magenta, electric blue, yellow, and lime green. The costumes have to be tight because these clowns need to perform amazing stunts on the Russian Swing (a giant swing that is used to propel the performers off where they do flips and land on a thick mat). They have elaborate face paint, with a basic white face and exaggerated features. Everything is over the top so even people in the nosebleed seats can see the expressions on their faces.
While they’re not being clowns, some of the performers are trapeze artists, bungee performers (instead of using a trapeze swing, they use lots of big, extremely stretchy bungee cords), or acrobats on the Chinese Poles. This was the first acrobatic performance of the evening. About 24 people in unitards in the colors of choice (magenta, blue, yellow, and lime green) climbed up the poles, jumped from one to another, and hung on with one arm in a diagonal formation.
During all the stunts and performances, musicians dressed identical to the clowns are playing the original soundtrack on their very own stage. And, just like everything else in this not-so-circus circus, the music isn’t organs and calliopes, but electric guitars, synthesizers, and saxophones.
For one long weekend in September, the circus came to Syracuse. Not an elephant-riding, tiger-taming circus, but a brightly colored spandex-wearing, clowns-as-acrobats circus that is Saltimbanco.
