Cirque du Soleil’s latest show visited Ottawa and Aline and I were fortunate enough to receive free tickets to go see it.
According to the brochure, Corteo, which means ‘cortege’ in Italian, combines the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a world of playfulness and spontaneity situated in a mysterious area between heaven and earth. This grand procession is a festive parade imagined by a clown. Juxtaposing the large with the small, the ridiculous with the tragic and the magic of perfection with the charm of imperfection, the show highlights the strength and fragility of the clown, as well as his wisdom and kindness, to illustrate the portion of humanity that is within each of us.
It was a magical two hours. Among the highlights:
- the hula hoop girl in the first half who spun eight hula hoops in the air from her arms and legs.
- the abs man rope gymnast with the ripped sixpack who did iron crosses like they were nothing in the second half. With his partner, it was strong, beautiful, romantic and mesmerizing to watch them swing through the air with such grace all the while knowing how hard it must be to hold yourself in those positions
- the gymnasts on the bars toward the end. Especially the two guys who swung on the same bar opposite each other
