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Fall Arts 2008 / Nothing gets Honolulu buzzing like a visit from a premier stage company. We went wild for the Lion King and practically broke the bank for Rent (just ask the box-office manager at any local theater.) And if this town can get religion over the Lord of the Dance, then look out, because after 14 long years, Cirque du Soleil’s acclaimed Saltimbanco is finally coming to Hawai’i.
Even those who spent the past decade-and-a-half under (or on) a rock are by now acquainted with Cirque du Soleil–the troupe’s signature ethereal blend of art and athleticism has informed diverse elements of popular culture since the early 1990s and inspired countless smaller productions around the world. Less well known is the source of founder Guy Laliberte’s inspiration for the troupe itself, and for its name.
Mei Jeanne Wagner, who is handling the Saltimbanco appearance for Laird Christianson Advertising, says it happened right here in the Islands. “[Performers] are extremely excited about coming here, because this is where the idea of Cirque du Soleil was born,” she said this week. “Guy Laliberte was sitting on the beach in Hawai’i, watching the sun set and was overwhelmed. Laliberte was a street performer in Montreal in 1984, but he had dreams of a new form of performance and was putting together his company. Sitting on that beach, according to Wagner, Laliberte thought “This is what it should be. It should be this beautiful, this inspiring.” Wagner says Saltimbanco’s visit is a sort of homecoming. “In a way, this is their birthplace. It’s definitely the birthplace of their name.”
So why the long wait? Wagner says it was a logistical issue related to Saltimbanco’s previous staging in an enormous permanent tent raised in a large outdoor area. “It just wasn’t feasible before,” she says. “The show needed to be reconfigured before it was possible to come here.” Wagner says she’s hopeful that if the reconfigured show succeeds in Honolulu–it was reconfigured in 2007 to allow performances inside existing buildings–there may be more Cirque visits to come.
Saltimbanco itself is a celebration of urban life, by turns both romp and rumination through the streets of an imaginary city. As the performers careen through crooked neighborhoods and colorful alleyways, the audience is immersed in a visual and musical feast of transcendental proportions. Saltimbanco’s physical size alone tends to overwhelm–in terms of sheer scale, there is nothing in the arts quite like it.
Cirque du Soleil: Saltimbanco
Thu 10/30–Sun 11/16; Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays, 7:30pm; Fridays & Saturdays, 3:30 & 7:30pm; Sundays, 1 & 5pm, $40–$95 general; $32–$76 keiki 12 and under, Blaisdell Arena, [cirquedusoleil.com]
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