CMU School of Drama


Thursday, January 11, 2018

Cirque du Soleil tops itself again — this time on ice

TribLIVE: Cirque du Soleil currently has 21 different productions either in residence — with seven in Las Vegas alone — or touring in theaters all over the world.

Its latest offering adds a new dimension to the Montreal, Canada-based artistic company's repertoire. “Crystal: A Breakthrough Ice Experience,” is its first acrobatic show that is performed entirely on ice.

4 comments:

Alexander Friedland said...

I am always amazed at how Cirque du Soleil seems to consistently be producing popular work. The other thing that interests about this Cirque du Soleil show, in particular, is how plot orientated they are. Now I haven’t seen any Cirque shows and don’t know if any other shows are plot driven like this one. From what I’ve heard about Cirque is that there is music but the performers aren’t usually singing so I wonder if this show does have pre-reordered singing to help convey this message of how “explore[ing] a new world of her imagination that leads her to find confidence, liberation, and empowerment…” Or is the show more artistically showing these themes? Lastly, Daniel Fortin the executive director says that Crystal: A Breakthrough Ice Experience is changing the entertainment field by bringing skating and acrobatics together. I wonder if other companies will try to also bring skating and acrobatics together and if Cirque by producing this shows is opening a whole new subfield to the entertainment industry?

Rachel Kolb said...

This is absolutely insane! Cirque was already dangerous before, but on ice….wow. I don’t think I could ever work on Cirque. There are so many safety precautions and that responsibility of the performers lives. I think it takes a special type of person to do Cirque du Soleil and I am just not one of them. And it also takes a special type of person to develop Cirque shows. I wonder how the person thought about the concept for this show like, “Ya, lets do a Cirque show, but lets up the anti and put it ON ICE. That’s a great idea!”. I bet it is a phenomenal show for that very reason, because the concept sets people off guard. I am also very curious about the training that the acrobats had to go through to prepare for this show and how they keep their body in good shape to continue doing the show for long periods of time, avoiding injury. The process to get this show approved would be something that would also be very interesting. I would assume that I am not the only person who questions this concept, so getting the funding for this show and passing it though the company to get the greenlight must have been interesting.

Sarah Connor said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sarah Connor said...

I just saw an ad for this show, and didn't actually know what it was until reading this article. I love the concept - obviously there have been musicals, dance routines, and full shows on ice before, so why not put Cirque on it? - but agree with Rachel that safety obviously is going to be a big concern with this show. Like they said in the article, the performers and technicians alike had to take into account not only the movement requirements of the skaters and acrobats and how they can be restricted by layers of clothing, but also how the low temperatures effect machinery and technology and the extreme hazard of falling on the ice itself from air maneuvers. Knowing Cirque, I'm sure they're keeping a very close eye on the safety of everyone involved, but I'm anxious to see how they manage if something happens, and what measures they have in place to keep people from getting hurt.