{"id":9057,"date":"2013-12-01T09:42:44","date_gmt":"2013-12-01T17:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/?p=9057"},"modified":"2013-12-01T09:44:46","modified_gmt":"2013-12-01T17:44:46","slug":"cirque-du-soleils-amaluna-rocks-with-estrogen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forallevents.com\/reviews\/cirque-du-soleils-amaluna-rocks-with-estrogen\/","title":{"rendered":"Cirque du Soleil\u2019s \u2018Amaluna\u2019 rocks \u2014 with estrogen"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Woody’s [rating:3.5]<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Miranda (Iulia Mykhailova) discovers her sexuality and rubbery bones on and in \u201cAmaluna\u201d water bowl. Photo: Laurence Labat.<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
\u201cStorm,\u201d a segment of \u201cAmaluna,\u201d showcases Suren Bozyan and Karyna Konchakivska as God and Goddess of the Wind. Photo: Charles William Pelletier.<\/p>\n
\n
\n
\"\"<\/a><\/dt>\n
Clowns deliver laughs in an \u201cAmaluna\u201d childbirth scene. Photo: Laurence Labat.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

The more things change, the proverb screams, the more they stay the same.<\/p>\n

Except, maybe, when the change-maker is Cirque du Soleil.<\/p>\n

Then it\u2019s mostly different.<\/p>\n

In the case of the famed circus\u2019 latest creation, \u201cAmaluna,\u201d in which Tony Award-winning director Diane Paulus gender-bends Shakespeare\u2019s \u201cThe Tempest\u201d into a feminist panorama, I could swiftly hear the changes as well as see them.<\/p>\n

They shook me out of my comfort zone.I\u2019d grown contented over the years with the Cirque\u2019s signature new-agey, otherworldly stringed melodies. But now, behind AT&T Park in San Francisco, I needed to deal with rhythmic, drum-heavy world music with vibrating overtones of electrified rock chords that, well, rocked.<\/p>\n

High energy. Emotion-packed.<\/p>\n

And undoubtedly aimed at a new generation of circus-goers.<\/p>\n

But for white-haired types such as myself, the music sometimes came in three-stage waves: Loud, louder, too loud.<\/p>\n

The show, a women-power fable that blends coming-of-age and royal-romance themes, starts and ends with a dancing scarf that resembles a lithe, floating feminine body. Those moments bookend sundry acts from a 52-member multi-racial cast that, for the first time, is more than 70 percent female \u2014 and that even includes a 100 percent estrogen-laden band.Perhaps the most memorable segment is the 15 minutes that spotlight Lara Jacobs as a Balance Goddess.<\/p>\n

She creates an eerie but mystical skeleton-like mobile out of 13 palm leaf ribs, using her toes to grasp each delicate piece. Her increasingly labored breathing, seemingly broadcast via a body mic, adds tension to an otherwise quiet, almost meditative slo-mo sequence.<\/p>\n

Paulus inspires \u201cAmaluna,\u201d a fabricated word that fuses two that signify mother and moon, with a simple switch of letters, an \u201ca\u201d for an \u201co.\u201d She transforms the Bard\u2019s Prospero into a female shaman, Prospera (Julie McInes).<\/p>\n

And she shows her personal wizardry by turning a youthful Miranda (Iulia Mykhailova) into a romantic partner to Romeo (Evgeny Kurkin).<\/p>\n

The director then showcases Mykhailova\u2019s talent as a handstander and contortionist in and out of a bowl that weighs 5,500 pounds when filled with water \u2014 and Kurkin\u2019s athletic ability to plunge headfirst down a pole.<\/p>\n

Paulus utilizes, too, the superb juggling skills of Victor Kee, who portrays Cali, a half-lizard, half man who momentarily traps Romeo in the bowl.What else can be expected?Typical Cirque spectacles \u2014 imaginative and flashy costumes; dancing lights that complement dancing humans; a fast-moving assortment of Valkyries, Amazons and goddesses; and a pair of clowns who do an oblique, sometimes funny number on childbirth that even features an homage to \u201cBrahms Lullaby.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the music, by the way, is sung in French, not the invented languages for which the circus gained renown.<\/p>\n

Cirque du Soleil has produced 32 shows so far. I\u2019ve seen 10 or 11 of them, and \u201cAmaluna\u201d is neither the best nor the worst. Many of its components, however, lingered with me long after I left its big tent.<\/p>\n

So did the sensation of having had a melt-in-your-mind treat.And I recalled that if I weren\u2019t particularly impressed with any given component, the chunky woman seated next to me still kept blurting out in amazement, \u201cOh my God, oh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Quebec-based troupe employs a total of 1,300 artists from 50 countries. More than 100 million spectators have watched their animal-free performances in 300 cities, and a few thousand more will catch \u201cAmaluna\u201d in San Jose starting Jan. 22.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not required to have had any familiarity with Willie the Shakes to enjoy \u201cAmaluna,\u201d nor is it necessary to be female to appreciate that the show represents a\u00a0woman\u2019s prospective. The only requisite is to like colorful, animal-less circus extravaganzas.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are such stuff as dreams are made on,\u201d the Bard proclaimed in \u201cThe Tempest.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAmaluna,\u201d for me, is crammed with dreamy stuff.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmaluna\u201d plays in the big top behind AT&T Park in San Francisco through Jan. 12. Night performances, Tuesdays through Saturdays, 8 p.m.; matinees, Fridays and Saturdays, 4:30, and Sundays, 1 and 4:30. General tickets: $50 to $270. Information: (800) 450-1480 or www.cirquedusoleil.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0Woody’s [rating:3.5] The more things change, the proverb screams, the more they stay the same. Except, maybe, when the change-maker is Cirque du Soleil. Then it\u2019s mostly different. In the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":32,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-woody-weingarten"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"