Saltimbanco

Entertaining. Colorful. Whimsical. That's what Cirque du Soleil's Saltimbanco was. Basically a much more lavish circus minus the animals. The flamboyant and overly charismatic characters overtook the stage with such dedication to the part they played, delighting the audience and personally, kind of freaking me out to be honest. I think the faceless masks a.k.a. vers masques, reminded me of some off-the-wall dreams and haunting movies that made me not want to make too much eye contact when one would stare right at me. Oh yeah, I sat at the second to the front row. So pretty close. I have to give props to the costume designers for a hint of the circus look but with a twist of eccentricity. A multi-colored afro, a red nose, and over sized floppy loafers just wouldn't do justice to the story that was being told by the these extremely gifted performers. I guess I call it a story because even though there were various acts throughout the show, the ringmaster, the sleeper, and the child-like "street clowns" were always present. Saltimbanco is the oldest of all the Cirque du Soleil's shows. The vibrant colors, whimsicality, pulled you into their dreamlike world, giving me a happy but kind of uneasy feeling. Once again, the faceless masks. The mime, Russian twins on swings, boleadoras, and artistic bicyclist were my favorite acts. Oh, and not to mention the two, and may I add, HOT gymnasts. The two men could balance themselves on one another defying gravity and using every muscle of their being to do things I didn't even think were possible. Kind of like super heroes, minus the fighting crime.
But what brought me back to reality during the show was the girl who had attempted 3 times to swing up in the air and land on a man's shoulders who may I add, was balancing on a 10 foot pole, but didn't. The audience's reassuring and "it's ok" clap didn't make up for it. Her face that was full of smiles previous, had now looked like someone told her her dog had died. And if it did, my condolences. During the rest of the show, the LIFE had completely drained from her painted face.
And another interruption was my mother in a loud whisper, "it's Joe the plumber". Referring to a bald "man's man" that was pulled up on stage by the most talented mime I have seen. He really got into the part on stage and made the audience roar with laughter, putting a smile on my face the entire time. There's a special place in my heart for tough guys who act like little kids.
And so goes my Friday night. Saltimbanco in Italian "to jump on a bench", was a sight to see. Merci you kooky french acrobats for a fantastic show!