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Imagination gone wild: Cirque du Soleil unveils arena show 'Quidam'
Kelsey Kruzich/Staff Photo: Cirque Du Soleil's Quidam started off by taking the main character, a young girl named Zoe, to a dream world.
By Elizabeth Knighten, eknighten@starlocalnews.com
Not many stories begin with a headless figure that hands a young girl a hat, opening her mind to the wonders of imagination. But on Wednesday at Dr Pepper Arena, audiences watched as such a tale unfolded during the opening performance of Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam."
The word "quidam," translates to the "anonymous passerby," which is what the high energy show's premise is set on, Georgia Stephenson, assistant artistic director for the show said.
Stephenson said the show, which has now been formatted into an arena performance, is 15-years-old and one of the original shows from Cirque du Soleil.
"It's through her imagination, through her reality that we go into this new world where we see these acts and meet these characters," Stephenson said.
Quidam contains over 50 performers from about 19 countries, Stephenson said. The show features acts that use a mix of acrobatic mediums such as ropes, as seen in the Spanish Webs performance, long curtains of silk fabric that are used in the Aerial Contortion and the Ariel Hoops act which displays two female performers tumbling and flying through the air on large hoops.
"We've got quite a range of apparatus and disciplines that you'll see on stage," Stephenson said. "We've got four Chinese artists from Beijing and they do something called the 'Diablo' also known as the Chinese yoyo, and they've taken it just to a new level and it's one of the most dynamic parts of the show."
Stephenson said the "Diabolos" have studied their yoyo technique for over a decade.
"It's one of those numbers that the kids really like," Stephenson said. "Then you have the other end of the spectrum where you've got the ropes act ... you've got artists, many of them are actually Brazilian, ... but they will come out on this huge structure -- they will just kind of arrive from no where ... and they are right at the top of the structure and they do these really cool cascades down the ropes, and they do a high velocity foot spin and hand spin."
One performer who entertains the audience throughout the entire show and serves as the ringmaster, John, is Denton native, Mark Ward.
"I can break the fourth wall ... and reach out and touch the people," Ward said. "I'm the link to what's happening on stage for the public. The character himself is a man but he's actually more of a kid trapped inside of a man's body."
Ward, who has been with Cirque du Soleil since 1993, said he has been a performer since he was 11- years-old and has experience in gymnastics, tennis, musical theatre and classical ballet, which he danced professionally for 8 years.
"My first show was called 'Mystere,' which was the first permanent show for the company in Las Vegas," Ward said.
While he was performing in 'Mystere,' Ward said, he had plans to go to another show with the company, but he said the original character of John was leaving the show, and he was contacted through the company to play the role.
"I've been here now, a little over 13 years," Ward said.
Kirill Tyurganov, a Russian native, in his first year with the show, is a performer in the Banquine act, which includes 14 other performers.
"It's a very good, very strong acrobatic act," Tyurganov said. "It's the final act of the show."
Tyurganov also added that he has grown up performing acrobatic acts.
"Acrobatics is actually my life. My mom was a coach, by brother was in sports acrobatics ... so I started to do sports acrobatics from when I was 6, but I've spent all of my time in the gym ever since I was 3," Tyurganov said. "Acrobatics is a very big part of my life; I couldn't imagine me doing something else."
During the show, when the Quidam leaves his hat behind with Zoe, she places it on her head the and world flies away and the entire cast of performers, who are covered except for their eyes in white suits, appear before the audience.
"At that point the whole cast enters the stage and they're all dressed the same, anonymously," Stephenson said. "It's supposed to kind of harken to a busy train station where people are passing each other and you're not really paying attention to who is around you ... it's just people doing their own thing."
At the end of the performance, the full cast reenters the stage wearing their white suits and reveals their true identity.
"You kind of put it together that we're not anonymous," Stephenson said. "There are interesting individuals all around us who can do amazing things."
The show will perform through Sunday, for more info, go to www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/welcome.asp.
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