Chicago Tribune: At one point in Tuesday night's "Odysseo" — the tented equestrian extravaganza that variously imports the essence of the steppe of Kazakhstan and the damp of the Naeroyfjord of Norway to that picturesque piece of asphalt formally known as the Soldier Field South Lot — one of the more independent four-legged stars of this traveling French Canadian enterprise decided to cantor off toward an unscheduled exit.
2 comments:
I think there is something very powerful about having live animals in a production. We are so used to seeing humans perform that bringing another animal out onstage is almost a magical moment. I find watching horses particularly fascinating. Perhaps it is their connections with so many legends and myths that have carved a unique place in our collective imagination for them, or perhaps because they are really just strikingly beautiful creatures, but seeing a horse in flesh always makes me pause for a moment longer. And this is coming from someone who grew up riding horses and worked at an equestrian therapy center throughout high school. I went to a circus once when I was younger and the part that is really stuck in my memory is not the trapeze artists or the charismatic ringmaster, but the horse riders who swung themselves all around the bodies of their galloping horses performing fantastic tricks. Humans have a unique relationship with horses both in reality and in our imaginations and it sounds like this production uses that to its full potential.
“Odysseo” seems to be a show where media plays a very important role in the production. From the video in the article the media design seems to be what brings the audience into the performance itself and helps to set the destination and location of each piece. From a logistical standpoint the ability to map the media properly would seem to be very difficult with the presence of live animals on stage throughout the performance. I would love to know what the story is that they are trying to tell and how the horses play into it. My interest is peaked from this article and the video. The article describes the show as something akin to a carnival, however from watching the video it seems like so much more than that, with anything from a scene set by a waterfall to a dance on a giant turning merry-go-round. Whatever this show is I would love to be able to experience it.
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