Spring Break
Cirque Dreams
By: Kaitlyn Drinkwater
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: Opinion
A lab report, three homework assignments and a four-page paper; the semester has barely begun and I am already planning my exit. Conveniently, Cirque Dreams is coming to College Station. Running away with the circus is an attractive option, being the traditional method of escaping one's circumstances. Historically the holdout of thieves, outcasts and general lowlifes, the circus forms a perfect new home for a college student looking to shirk responsibilities like there's no tomorrow.
However, Cirque Dreams is not content with being a sideshow or freakshow. They are trying to get away from that image. The classless, crude amusements such as sword swallowing, lion taming and cramming lots of people into cars don't take a high level of intelligence to appreciate for their inherent coolness. Cirque reinvents some traditional acts and performs them to perfection, while inserting underlying layers of meaning.
So what do you get when you take the circus and subtract the animals and the ring? A man in a top hat and tails for no particular reason, but in the capable hands (and biceps and calves and abs) of thousands of Cirque performers worldwide. In other words, a masterpiece. Cirque's spectacular physical feats and use of traditional clown acts to tell stories speak for themselves. The show is unique and fun to watch. I would happily pay the ticket, sit in my seat, enjoy the show and go home happy if that were all there was. But no, oh no. That is not enough for Cirque.
Cirque attempts to bring circus entertainment to a higher level, not only in their abilities, but also in their message; and that is where things go awry. Cirque's creators hope the audience's appreciation of the show surpasses, "Oooooh, muscular man flying through the air," and is more along the lines of, "My God, I have wasted my life. I must feed orphans and save the polar bears, at once!"
The subtext of the shows teases at themes like fear, identity, strength, frailty and the nature of humanity, their Web site says. For someone, somewhere, that probably works. Maybe it changes their life and they actually do go off and do good things. For me, it's all a little too heavy for a day at the circus. There are enough messages in life without an innocent childhood diversion making pretenses of having one.
When Cirque keeps the message at a subtle level and lets the magic that is the circus take center stage, it is pure delight. I don't mind if there is a message as long as I have the option to let it go winging over my head and enjoy the show. When the shows, albeit rarely, become bogged down in communicating intangible concepts of emotion through what amounts to interpretive dance, the show becomes forced, even boring.
Deep moral lessons aside, the show is a hit. I would happily run away with Cirque if they would take me, but I have Bugs Bunny muscles that sag out the back of my arm when I flex and I would make an awfully dry-humored clown. I might at least be good for firing out of a cannon, but that doesn't fly in this circus.
However, Cirque Dreams is not content with being a sideshow or freakshow. They are trying to get away from that image. The classless, crude amusements such as sword swallowing, lion taming and cramming lots of people into cars don't take a high level of intelligence to appreciate for their inherent coolness. Cirque reinvents some traditional acts and performs them to perfection, while inserting underlying layers of meaning.
So what do you get when you take the circus and subtract the animals and the ring? A man in a top hat and tails for no particular reason, but in the capable hands (and biceps and calves and abs) of thousands of Cirque performers worldwide. In other words, a masterpiece. Cirque's spectacular physical feats and use of traditional clown acts to tell stories speak for themselves. The show is unique and fun to watch. I would happily pay the ticket, sit in my seat, enjoy the show and go home happy if that were all there was. But no, oh no. That is not enough for Cirque.
Cirque attempts to bring circus entertainment to a higher level, not only in their abilities, but also in their message; and that is where things go awry. Cirque's creators hope the audience's appreciation of the show surpasses, "Oooooh, muscular man flying through the air," and is more along the lines of, "My God, I have wasted my life. I must feed orphans and save the polar bears, at once!"
The subtext of the shows teases at themes like fear, identity, strength, frailty and the nature of humanity, their Web site says. For someone, somewhere, that probably works. Maybe it changes their life and they actually do go off and do good things. For me, it's all a little too heavy for a day at the circus. There are enough messages in life without an innocent childhood diversion making pretenses of having one.
When Cirque keeps the message at a subtle level and lets the magic that is the circus take center stage, it is pure delight. I don't mind if there is a message as long as I have the option to let it go winging over my head and enjoy the show. When the shows, albeit rarely, become bogged down in communicating intangible concepts of emotion through what amounts to interpretive dance, the show becomes forced, even boring.
Deep moral lessons aside, the show is a hit. I would happily run away with Cirque if they would take me, but I have Bugs Bunny muscles that sag out the back of my arm when I flex and I would make an awfully dry-humored clown. I might at least be good for firing out of a cannon, but that doesn't fly in this circus.
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