Cirque du So...scary
I wouldn't say I necessarily grew up going to the circus, but somehow in that tangled mess of memory I recall purchasing tickets at Ted's Barber Shop (mom, dad, is that right?) and going to see the Ringling circus when it came to town. Lions and Tigers and . . . who really remembers? Since then, it seems the circus has become a scary thing to me--reminds me of carnies or little people or overexuberant patriotism or Branson, Missouri. The Cirque du Soleil has a certain creative sophistication to it that is lacking at your run-of-the-mill Barnum and Bailey's, but it's still something I've never been interested in. It began in Quebec twenty-five years ago and has become an international extravaganza. [Would it be appropriate to mention Mormons yet again?] Once a year they open their training facilities to the public, and so I, upon certain persuasion from my roommate, went along for the ride. Susanne had promised to bring her ESL students, so I found myself cracking ridiculous jokes for the sake of high school students from Venezuela, France, Germany, Japan, and Mexico.
It's a big production, this circus business. It's also captivating, and terrifying, and weird, and a whole bundle of things. The "clowns," all in incredibly detailed costumes (some of which take over 300 hours to create), ran about, weaving between Japanese tourists and German tourists and we-tourists. Some of the designs have a nouveau grunge feel to them, and I felt like I'd landed in a Hot Topic where all the brooding kiddies had come to buy the latest in skull jewelery. Most of them walk around silently [very threatening]; the ones that choose to giggle or squeal seem to forfeit a bit of their mystique. But, look at this:
Meet the fabric climber. She strategically and gracefully wraps herself in two long strips of cloth suspended from the ceiling. Through a series of maneuvers, she tumbles and flips and
sends knots of fabric (falling like so much paint) down toward the specators. Jaded Jordan, cynic at heart, finds herself amazed. As I write this, I like to imagine how unsophisticated I would look, wrapping fabric around my legs and doing flips. And I also like to imagine how much fun I would have doing it.
[Hi J-friend.]
posted by jordan at 9:38 PM
5 Comments:
hey jordo i dig your pictures. furthermore, good work on the formatting. take that, internet!
I have a big butt. A big ol' bootie. Catholique de caca. I don't believe in the President. He is a total freaksho.
Al Qaida. Al Qa-wa-ca-caca. Racist. Democrats: Party of FDR and Tuman: el fiesta de cut and run. Don't listen to them. They are full of it. OsAma is dead. Circus. You are a circus. I remember when hte circus closed 'cause the elephants had typhoid. King James V died of typhoid. Lieberman or Ned Lamont? Jordan, make your choice.
What the ...
I'm not sure if I would like to see the Cirque du Soleil. To be quite frank I have no memory of ever seeing a circus. However, my family did go see one not to long ago.
The whole fabric wrapping thing... that just makes me think of tossing and turning from a terrible nights sleep and waking in the midst of tangled sheets that you must navigate your way out of. So why do that to yourself of purpose?
circus' are lame-o. but the cirque de soleil maybe a little bit more brillaint than your average circus. one time i went to a circus and i was sad because the bear was really too too skinny. but also, i liked the movie, big fish, and that was a magical circus. and also, i really like jimmy stewart, but you didn't talk about him in this blog, so i don't know why i thought of him. and also, have you ever seen mr. smith goes to washington? that was a brilliant. a fillibuster? what a great idea! dang. i don't think i would've thought of that. nope. probs not.
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