What can be said about Cirque Du Soleil that hasn’t been said before? The latest production to hit our shores – Kooza is on in Brisbane until January 8 and is the full triple threat with death defying acrobatics, dazzling costuming and dreamlike staging.
Kooza is audacious – a sublime mix of Day of the Dead, Rio’s Mardi Gras, Baron Munchausen and a liberal dose of slapstick.
Kooza (first performed in 2007) is the ninth Cirque production to be staged in Australia. Kooza is from the Sanskrit word “koza,” which means “box,” or “treasure,” because this show begins as the ‘Trickster’ emerges from a box taking the ‘Innocent’ on an incredible journey.
The contemporary circus concept all began in the early 80’s near Quebec City when stilt-walkers, jugglers, dancers, musicians and fire-breathers joined together to form Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul. Two of those street performers Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix attracted Government funding and the rest as they say, is history.
The Stats:
Today Cirque has more than 4,000 employees including 1,300 artists from 50 nations, speaking 25 different languages. More than 160 million giddy spectators have seen a show in 400 cities in over 60 countries across six continents.
More than 6 million people in 47 cities have seen this production. With an international cast of 120 acrobats, musicians, magicians, singers, actors and artists Kooza requires 60 semi-trailers to transport the 2,600-seat Grand Chapiteau from city to city.
Kooza Highlights:
Yuri Shavro and Olga Tutynina elegantly perform a mind-boggling, acrobatic Adagio … on a unicycle. Their silent communication is nothing short of astonishing.
The Teeterboard where the acrobats are flung high into the air, landing perfectly … on stilts!
The Wheel of Death seems the most awe-inspiring of all, in a show filled with danger and moments that take your breath away. The giant pendulum suspends two ‘wheels’ where the performers leap and jump both inside and outside the wheel at heart-stopping speeds.
Former Brisbane girl and champion gymnast, the remarkable Lisa Skinner delivers a phenomenal performance on the Aerial Hoop.
TML luckily has seen other mind-blowing Cirque du Soleil shows: the cheeky and magical Saltimbanco and the peerless and melancholic Las Vegas mega –production, The Beatles LOVE. Kooza offers something completely different: Thrilling feats of daredevil acrobatics and mind-blowing skill all wrapped up in a explosive, colourful and extraordinary show. Like us you will sit there wondering at how truly amazing the physicality of humans can be.
Until January 8. 2017. Tickets for the Brisbane season of KOOZA are at https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/kooza
