Kurios (Cirque du Soleil)
| Kurios | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Company | Cirque du Soleil |
| Genre | Contemporary circus |
| Show type | Touring show |
| Date of premiere | April 24, 2014 (Montreal) |
| Creative team | |
| Director | Michel Laprise |
| Director of creation | Chantal Tremblay |
| Set designer | Stéphane Roy |
| Composers | Raphaël Beau, Bob & Bill (Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard) |
| Costume designer | Philippe Guillotel |
| Lighting designer | Martin Labrecque |
| Choreographers |
Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Yaman Okur |
| Acrobatic choreographers |
Andrea Ziegler Ben Potvin Susan Gaudreau |
| Sound designer |
Jacques Boucher Jean-Michel Caron |
| Makeup designer | Eleni Uranis |
| Acrobatic performance designers |
Rob Bollinger Germain Guillemot Boris Verkhovsky |
| Rigging designer | Danny Zen |
| Production manager | Gabriel Pinkstone |
| Chief production officer and executive producer | Charles Joron |
| Creative guide | Jean-François Bouchard |
| Other information | |
| Preceded by | Michael Jackson: One (2013) |
| Succeeded by | Joyà (2014) |
| Official website | |
Kurios[1] is a Cirque du Soleil touring production which premiered on April 24, 2014 in Montreal, Canada under the full title of Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities. Created and directed by Michel Laprise,[2] it looks at a late-19th century world inventor who invents a machine that defies the laws of time, space, and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him with steampunk elements featuring characters from another dimension that interact with him and a tribute to the power of the human imagination.[3]
Characters
- The Seeker: a scientist, is on a quest in which he creates a machine to travel into another dimension to find the place where the possible and the impossible meet.
- Nico the Accordion Man: Nico’s accordion costume allows him to bend way down or stand way up so he can be at eye level with absolutely everyone.
- Mr. Microcosmos: An authority figure, Mr. Microcosmos is the leader of the group. This serious chap is the embodiment of technological progress.
- Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible: Klara can receive alpha waves by turning on her heels and pointing her hoop skirt in various directions.
- Mini Lili: She represents Mr. Microcosmos’ unconscious mind, his intuitive self, his fragile and poetic side.
- The Kurios: The Seeker surrounds himself with a brigade of assistants including the Winch Kurios and Suction Cup Kurios.
Acts
Kurios features numerous innovative acts ranging from Aerial Bike to upside down Handbalancing on Chairs.
- Chaos Synchro 1900 (Juggling/Drums): A juggler, percussionists, and dancers perform a fusion of acrobatics, eccentrics, acrobats.
- Russian Cradle Duo: A catcher flings his partner in the air where she performs more and more intricate somersaults.
- Aerial Bike: A woman rides a bike which takes off into the air and performs several trapeze-like tricks.
- Contortion: The four wriggling artists execute a series of pyramids and figures using the Mechanical Hand as a platform.
- Upside Down World (Handbalancing on Chairs): An upside-down performance and a right-side up performance featuring two acrobats who handbalance on a series of chairs.
- Rola Bola: An Aviator balances on tubes on a platform suspended in mid-air.
- The Invisible Circus: "You've never seen anything like this...and you never will!"
- Acro Net: Artists jump into the air using a wide net. They are caught and flipped in the air.
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- Comic Act: A man brings a woman from the audience and invites her onstage into his world.
- Aerial Straps Duo: “Siamese twins” hanging in the air from straps are separated when they fly above the stage in a series of acrobatic figures, sometimes as a pair, sometimes solo.
- Yo-Yo: 1A and AP World Champion and former Duncan World Tour member Tomonari “Black” Ishiguro performs an act with Yo-Yos.
- Hands Puppetry: The performers present a story of a person who hip-hops, swims, and later falls in love, using their hands as puppets dressed up in miniature shoes and hats.
- Banquine: A group of artists perform spectacular sequences of synchronized acrobatics and human pyramids.
Acts in rotation
- Hand Balancing on Canes: A man hand-stands on canes, featuring his flexibility and strength.
Music
The score was created by Raphaël Beau in collaboration with Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard (known as Bob and Bill), fusing jazz with electro swing.
The soundtrack was released on December 9, 2014. A CD launch called "Kurios about Music" happened at the December 10, 2014 show, which included an off-stage performance by the Kurios band, as well as an after-show party.
Track titles
- 11h11 (Opening)
- Steampunk Telegram (Aerial Bike)
- Bella Donna Twist (Chaos Synchro 1900)
- Gravity Levitas (Russian Cradle)
- Monde inversé (Upside Down World)
- Hypnotique (Contortion)
- Departure (Hand Puppetry/Transition into Rola Bola)
- Fearsome Flight (Rola Bola)
- Clouds (Acro Net)
- Créature de siam (Aerial Straps Duo)
- Wat U No Wen (Banquine)
- You Must be Joking (Finale)
Vocalists
- Eirini Tornesaki - April 24, 2014 to Present
Critical reception
The Toronto Star praised the show and critic Richard Ouzounian said "Kurios is Cirque du Soleil's strongest act in years."[4] The Gazette also declared Kurios a success, saying "Kurios is a classic. It runs like clockwork and could tick on forever."[5] The Globe and Mail described the show as a "Kinetic, whimsical and astounding new production from Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil."[6]
Upon the show's debut in San Francisco the San Francisco Chronicle called Kurios "the best Cirque du Soleil show in a long time."[7] The San Jose Mercury News wrote "For its 30th anniversary, Cirque du Soleil has concocted a dark and mysterious world that eschews the brightly colored eye candy for which the French Canadian juggernaut has become famous."[8]
Liz Jones wrote about Kurios for the Daily Mail and asked Russian mime artist Ekaterina Pirogovskaya, who performs in Kurios as Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible, if she gets nervous before the show. Pirogovskaya responded "If I feel nervous, then the audience will feel nervous. Perhaps, sometimes, when we have famous people in the audience, like Justin Timberlake. We help each other, learn from each other. Before joining Cirque, I didn’t speak English. We teach each other languages. Every new city is, “Hello, hello!”"[9]
Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune wrote "Well, the Cirque has come roaring back with a dazzling, hyper-detailed, potent, quixotic and generally fantastic show that reveals this extraordinary artistic company's singular capacity for exploration and metamorphosis. It is not to be missed on any account. Even the music, sung by the Greek vocalist Eirini Tornesaki, is beguiling."[10]
Tour
Kurios, like all of Cirque du Soleil's touring shows, premiered in Montréal in April 2014. It has been touring North America since.
As of May 2016, Kurios has toured to the following regions:
- North American Tour - [2014 - Present]
The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
EU Europe NA North America SA South and Central America AP Asia/Pacific OC Oceania AF Africa
2014 schedule
- NA Montréal, QC - From 24 Apr to 13 Jul 2014
- NA Québec City, QC - From 24 Jul to 17 Aug 2014
- NA Toronto, ON - From 28 Aug to 26 Oct 2014
- NA San Francisco, CA - From 14 Nov 2014 to 18 Jan 2015
2015 schedule
- NA Seattle, WA - From 29 Jan to 22 Mar 2015
- NA Calgary, AB - From 9 Apr to 24 May 2015
- NA Denver, CO - From 11 Jun to 26 Jul 2015
- NA Chicago, IL - From 6 Aug to 30 Sep 2015
- NA Costa Mesa, CA - From 15 Oct to 29 Nov 2015
- NA Los Angeles, CA - From 10 Dec 2015 to 7 Feb 2016
2016 schedule
- NA Atlanta, GA - From 3 Mar to 8 May 2016
- NA Boston, MA - From 26 May to 10 Jul 2016
- NA Washington, DC - From 21 Jul to 18 Sep 2016
- NA New York, NY - From 30 Sep to 27 Nov 2016
- NA Miami, FL - From 9 Dec 2016 to 29 Jan 2017
2017 schedule
- NA Dallas, TX - From 21 Feb to 26 Mar 2017
- NA Houston, TX - From 6 Apr to 30 Apr 2017
- NA Winnipeg, MB - (Coming Soon)
- NA Portland, OR - From 28 Aug to 8 Oct 2017
- NA Vancouver, BC - From 19 Oct to 31 Dec 2017
References
- ↑ "Kurios - Press Materials". Kurios. Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
- ↑ Donnelly, Pat (April 18, 2014). "Cirque du Soleil piques our curiosity with Kurios". The Gazette.
- ↑ "Kurios - About". Kurios. Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
- ↑ Ouzounian, Richard (May 2, 2014). "Kurios is Cirque du Soleil's strongest act in years: review". Toronto Star.
- ↑ Donnelly, Pat (May 2, 2014). "Review: Cirque du Soleil's Kurios reveals a world of wonder". The Gazette.
- ↑ Wheeler, Brad (September 1, 2014). "Cirque du Soleil's Kurios: Send your sense of wonder into overdrive". The Globe and Mail.
- ↑ Hurwitt, Robert (November 15, 2014). "Theater review: 'Kurios': Best Cirque du Soleil show in a long time". San Francisco Chronicle.
- ↑ D'Souza, Karen (November 15, 2014). "Review: Cirque du Soleil's new 'Kurios' unveils a wild, darker world". San Jose Mercury.
- ↑ Jones, Liz (13 December 2014). "Behind the scenes at the Cirque du Soleil: We bend over backwards to thrill!". Daily Mail.
- ↑ Jones, Chris (August 7, 2015). "With 'Kurios,' Cirque is back with 4-star dazzle". Chicago Tribune.
External links
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