Mexico isn’t just about US trade wars and Puerto Vallarta. Mexico is a world of worlds: the jungles of the Yucatan, the Sonoran desert, the Pacific and Atlantic coasts, all replete with abundant wildlife that migrates to and through from hummingbirds to monarchs. Cirque de Soleil’s latest show Luzia lets audiences spend time in different imagined regions with a cast of talented performers. The show has Cirque’s signature stamp of inclusivity by bringing both its main character, Fool Koller, as a proxy for the audience into this universe of welcoming, colourful, awe-inspiring hybrids. Nods are of course made to familiar icons of Mexico like the masked Lucha Libre wresters, the Day of the Dead, Mexican cinema of the 1920s, and Frida Kahlo.
Luzia begins as Fool Koller parachutes in aerially, and then shifting to his umbrella, Mary Poppins style. He lands only to find a giant key — more for starting a music box than a door. A few twists open up a portal into the Cirque world. A massive racing horse puppet and a woman dressed in flowing fabric patterned like a monarch butterfly race on a rotating treadmill, setting off a series of circus acts.
Cirque’s performers are jaw dropping in their stunts, but little touches allow them to go beyond their performance. Each emobodies different characters — they strut, flirt, play coy, celebrate their successes. In particular, the character of the fast juggling act with its seven silver pins was extremely likeable. The contortionist, Aleksei Goloborodko, gives a more creepy, but no less hypnotizing performance, living up to the python-like patterns that decorated his pants. Group acts were just as personal, whether watching the red feathered hummingbirds tumble through hoops, the jubilant Russian swing group that seem to suspend in flight, or the sensual peacock like costumes that spin and leap during the masts and poles act.
Throughout the show, water figures prominently. A rain curtain hangs over the central stage, allowing water to fall at different points or even in different patterns including flowers and animals. In the cyr wheel act that is suggestive of three girls playing in a garden, the rain falls down, soaking them. During another act, a pool opens up under a solo aerialist who drops in and out of the water. A puppet jaguar licks from the pond while he dangles above, soaked. Even Fool Koller has a clowning act between where he attempts to fill his water bottle while splats of water tease him with their inaccessability.
The costumes are stunning, as to be expected. The singer was mesmerizing in her magical dress that changed colors from white to red as the roses blossomed. Even more subsidiary characters like the cactus clowns, the fish-headed hybrids, the roach, and the armadillo are charming and distinct. Catching these characters requires shifting one’s attention away from the main act, usually, and that is hard to do. My favourite recurring “characters” were the monarch butterfly and the two puppets — the horse and the jaguar.
All in all, Cirque continues to elevate circus performance to its highest levels. Every detail is given careful attention to highlight creativity and beauty. The experience is like a journey to another world, which is what I suppose Cirque is meant to do.
Luzia is at the Old Port until August 24. Details can be found HERE.
