The Wheel of Death at Kooza. Photograph via Circue du Soleil.
Problems at work? Spare a thought for Kooza’s brilliant and brave circus artists. Everyday, they risk their lives. Brisbane’s Lisa Skinner, a former Olympian, was absolutely stunning on Saturday night as she delivered an array of sensationally daring yet elegant ‘dancerley’ routines on an aerial hoop. But, during a matinee, the very next day, she fell and was rushed to hospital.
Shaking a fist at gravity, Columbians Jimmy Ibarra and Ronald Solis spin inside giant wheels suspended over the stage in a ‘death’ machine. The duo somersault and execute impossibly split-timed moves, sometimes standing on the outside of the contraptions’ twirling wheels. After leaping into the air, they land, their feet scrambling to regain balance as the machine circles at a blurry, eye-watering speed.
Imagine a phenomenally skilled Yuri Shavro, a unicyclist wheeling elegantly across the stage with Olga Tutynina in his arms and at times rotating her above his head. And, there’s the stilt wearer propelled from a see saw who somersaults into the stratosphere sticks ahoy before landing upright with a beaming smile.
We’ve all seen circuses of one kind or another but never with the artists fulfilling such astonishingly sensational feats and let’s face it highly dangerous manoeuvres – there was no safety net for Skinner’s aerial routines – with all the ease of doing something insignificant like sipping a cup of tea or taking the dog for a walk. On the subject of which, beware if you have front row seats, because there’s a certain hound that sniffs the stage’s edge and, well, suffice to say you’ve been warned. Anyhow, congratulations to all of the above and the female contortionists who bend, stretch, twist and point their limbs in directions body parts were never designed to go.
Kooza is spectacular, the tricks so thrilling and heart-in-the-mouth it’s hard to come back to earth in between the dazzling acts. Clowns, Ghislain Ramage, Miguel Berlanga and Michael Garner, fill these gaps as best they can, engage in soppy prattle and drag hapless audience members on stage. There’s a storyline: a young boy, clearly downcast and at a bit of a loss, is transported to another world, think ‘Close Encounters of The Third Kind’ and is bedazzled yet enriched by the amazing talents he discovers. As a narrative ‘hook’ it’s flimsy, but, this scarcely matters because like Cirque du Soleil’s admirable band, singers and clowns and a raft of vivid eye-popping costumes everything is upstaged by the acrobats.
Kooza is a brain cleanser. A memorable, sparkling experience guaranteed to whisk you away to a carefree realm, but be mindful these gifted entertainers risk their lives to do it.
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
Kooza
Cirque du Soleil
Skygate Brisbane
24 November 2016 – 8 January 2017
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