To Aug 24. Wed-Thu, 7:30 pm, Fri-Sat 3:30 pm & 7:30pm, Sun 1pm & 5pm. $40-$90 ($32-$72 for kids). Air Canada Centre, 40 Bay. 416-870-8000.
www.cirquedusoleil.com.
Saltimbanco, Cirque du Soleil's latest show in Toronto, is a re-envisioning and reorganizing of an earlier work from 1992. An explosion of physical technique set against a psychedelic, Technicolor backdrop, the performance incorporates the usual costumes and lively band, which, true to form, plays an internationally influenced score. Rife with juggling, leaping and swinging, and interspersed with comedic adventures and audience participation, this artform still finds its power in how much it is shaped by the dictates of physics and gravity.
Indeed, most acts achieved a deserved round of applause for the suspense and spectacle they provided on opening night; however, only a few stood out for both the means and meaning behind them. The childish but clever clowning of Amo Gulinello and the silent feats of strength slowly but steadily executed by Gabor Czivisz and Andrey Zhadan had stories all their own, registering as somehow more human than the seemingly superhuman triumphs executed alongside them.
There are reasons, then, why Cirque du Soleil is not called Theatre du Soleil. Beyond the obvious, narrative is often missing from the experience. Substituting it for a dozen loose, thematically linked scenarios does nothing to diminish the muscular magic Cirque creates so well, but it also adds nothing to the theatricality — even though it is towards the theatre that the company seems to want to be heading.