Cirque du Soleil gives human evolution new life
Out of the foggy darkness, a single light illuminates a shining, silver ball of a creature dropping down from the top of the Grand Chapiteau. Amidst the sounds of nature, a curled figure elegantly descends from the scaffolding onto the stage. Upon reaching the ground, movement erupts all around the shimmering being, marking the beginning of life.
This opening scene depicts one of Cirque du Soleil’s newest shows, TOTEM. The show debuted April of 2010 in Montreal, and embarked thereafter on a world tour. As part of its tour, TOTEM will be playing under the Grand Chapiteau at AT&T Park until December 18. However, if you miss the show in San Francisco, TOTEM will play during the month of March in San Jose, after touring London.
Over the course of its two-and-a-half hour running time, TOTEM takes the audience on a tour of human evolution. This journey begins with man’s earliest beginnings as an amphibian and ends with cosmonauts trying to escape the confines of earth’s gravity. TOTEM includes 12 acts, all of which are uniquely spectacular. In between these awe-inspiring acts, there are short comedic skits performed by clowns and other actors. These often-brief skits serve as a welcome and hilarious break for audience members who may be trying to regain their breath after watching some of the more terrifying acts.
Five women ride unicycles, flipping metal bowls with their feet. CirqueduSoleil.com
Out of the 12 acts performed throughout TOTEM, six can be easily classified as death-defying. One of these acts includes five women riding around on ten-foot tall unicycles flipping metal bowls onto each other’s heads with their feet. Sometimes they even kick the bowls blindly over their shoulders onto the heads of their moving counterparts.
In another act, jumpers launch themselves up in the air off of Russian Bars no more than four inches wide. After flying stories up in the air, the synchronized jumpers come back down to land on the same four-inch landing strip. Then, some of the veteran jumpers transfer bars after doing flips 30 feet up in the air.
Although not all the acts have a major risk for injury, they are just as fantastic as the ones that do. Two women that appear out of the center of the earth twirl and juggle spinning pieces of fabric with their hands and feet, showing the creation of minerals.
A hoop dancer performs on stage. CirqueduSoleil.com
Two times during the show’s duration, the audience witnesses a Native American (called Amerindian) perform an enchanting dance with five hoops. He starts with no hoops and as the music picks up in tempo, he gracefully kicks up the other hoops with his feet. He spins the hoops in impressive patterns before manipulating them to form different animals. At the end of his second appearance, he effortlessly makes a globe out of the five hoops and holds them high above his head.
Along with the breathtaking whirling, swinging, and flipping prevalent throughout the show, TOTEM puts emphasis on humanity’s intimate connection with nature. This motif is portrayed numerous times, one of which is when an inconsiderate tourist has his camera crushed as a punishment for his careless and irresponsible littering.
Under the guidance of director Robert Lepage, the skits and acts all seem to blend together even when there are differences in the themes. The transitions between the acts allow them to merge into one another, even though they are supposed to take place in separate parts of the globe.
No show like TOTEM would be complete without a smooth collaboration of costumes, atmosphere, and music. The elaborate and sometimes wild costumes were designed by Kym Barrett. Before designing the costumes for TOTEM, Barrett had success as the costume designer for all three Matrix movies, as well as the version of Romeo and Juliet that starred Leonardo DiCaprio.
The show’s atmosphere is perfect for its theme. The crickets, and other sounds that one may expect to hear on a “Rainforest at Night” CD set the mood for a mysterious and captivating exploration of the world and human history. The fog and tall grass that line the back of the stage further the sensation of adventure.
The type of music differs greatly for every act, but never seems to be out of place. The music crescendos help jolt the audience when something extraordinary happens, without distracting the audience from the performance.
TOTEM’s intertwining of dramatic physical feats and artistic expression make for a truly special show. Not only do the performers captivate their audience, they also spread a message of peace and gratitude from beginning to end. In the show’s closing scene, the crystal man who descended to earth in the beginning disappears into the lagoon at the back of the stage leaving the audience content to be human.