NYTimes.com: "DOES a circus seem more dangerous when one of the performers confesses that he’s clumsy? “When I’m not focused, stuff happens,” said Mason Ames, the performer in question, in an interview between shows at the Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Hollywood. “I bump into people.”Unlike the mega-productions of Cirque du Soleil, which employ dozens of godlike athletes hiding behind costumes, “Traces” asks its seven performers to reveal something of their real selves.
Monday, February 14, 2011
7 Fingers Circus Performers Share Feelings in ‘Traces’
NYTimes.com: "DOES a circus seem more dangerous when one of the performers confesses that he’s clumsy? “When I’m not focused, stuff happens,” said Mason Ames, the performer in question, in an interview between shows at the Ricardo Montalbán Theater in Hollywood. “I bump into people.”Unlike the mega-productions of Cirque du Soleil, which employ dozens of godlike athletes hiding behind costumes, “Traces” asks its seven performers to reveal something of their real selves.
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8 comments:
Part Chorus Line, part Fuerza Bruta, and in all regards the opposite of Cirque du Soleil. What's nice about this production is how the company embraces the low-key nature of the show - from the everyday props (even an old cushioned chair, from the looks of it), to hanging-out and joking in between acts, the audience feels an intimate connection with the performers, like they've been invited to a private rehearsal with the cast. I'd be really interested to see how they mix the poignancy of the stories with the high-energy acrobatics of the acts - the two seem like pure opposites.
Love to see the evolution of an ancient form of theater. Cirque was born from street performers and evolved into the show it as an alternative to the Big American Circus. Cirque has now become the biggest show into town with a very serious attitude towards entertainment. I think why we love the circus so much is because it is so fun and playful. Interesting to see a new form of circus where the act doesn't stop on stage.
Anything that breaks down what is elevated above us "normal folk" I applaud. "Hey, circus people are people, too!" What I think fascinates me the most is how unpolished it all sounds. Circus, to me, has always had this inescapable, "TA-DA!" feeling to it and that seems to be EXACTLY what 7 Fingers is trying to break away from. What they do isn't easy and the hardest part of any bravado is admitting that it's difficult.
I think its really cool that 7 Fingers said that they want to show how hard it is to do these kinds of acrobatic tricks. They are right that traditional circus and in fact a lot of physical performance art is to focused on everything being so perfect that it doesn't feel real. In some grand shows like Cirque du Soleil that can be exciting, but it also distances the audience. Today it seems people still want spectacle but at the same time they want realism. The backstage nitty gritty. I love that 7 fingers is trying to fuse those 2 worlds and take the best of both. Spectacular tricks but with the intimacy of the everyday. I agree with Matt that cirque at its origins was street performers and only over time did it become so elaborate and removed from the everyday people. What 7 fingers is trying to do in some ways can be seen as a return or a tribute to the history of cirque.
This sounds like it would be a very interesting show to see, it seems that more and more every day that circus influences are finding their way into the performing arts in many different shows. It seems cool how this one latches onto human experience and would probably explore the human condition while maintaining circus lake magic. Cirque is awesome. 7 Fingers sounds cool, I can't wait to see what other circus theatre will or has popped up.
7 Fingers are about the coolest performers that I have ever seen. Their first show was an amazing mesh of making fun of traditional circus and really surprising the audience. They are truly unique. In another one of their shows they had a video camera outside of the theater and then a screen inside so you could watch the people coming in. But every once in a while someone would run out and make faces at the camera or flip the camera off or something of that nature. They really try to inspire the audience and make them aware of what they are seeing. 7 Fingers technically is amazing. The Chinese poll that they talk about is quite literally the coolest circus act I have ever seen. Basically someone performs on a pole holding themselves completely horizontal. It is spectacular, and takes an immense amount of strength. If you ever get a chance to see 7 fingers I would not hesitate to do so. It is amazing.
The idea of what 7 fingers is trying to do is great. However, they talk about the perfection of Cirque and other circus performances like nothing ever goes wrong and that is just not true. I have seen things in Cirque shows be missed and the redone... till they get it right. Cirque still shows the talent it takes to do those performances.
I also like that something that started as a street performance has exploded to an international sensation has now birthed something smaller back to the roots of cirque. It makes the art come full circle.
I liked the idea of emotion entering the performance, so it's not just one trick after another. But when i'm going to see performers accomplish the dangerous stunts they perform in the circus, I need it to look completely effortless and almost fake, if it starts to look too "real" I'll just spend the entire show with my eyes closed hoping not to see someone fall. I'd like to see emotion added into the show as in a little plot. Or I once saw a performance where they pulled audience members up and did some improve with them and at the end there was a proposal. I don't know if the proposal is fake and its something they do in every show, but i liked that that was in there. I don't want to see A Chorus Line realism of people hoping to finally their trick down because I won't be able to watch in case they don't. A circus is not the place for grit or mess, its a place for perfection.
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