an allegorical & acrobatic journey

an allegorical & acrobatic journey

Baron, one the characters who live in the city and portray the hustle and bustle of the street.

ASTOUNDED. Stupified. Amazed.  Happy.

That's how you'll feel when watching "Saltimbanco," one of Cirque Du Soleil's traveling shows. It'll make you feel like a kid again. It'll remind you of when you wanted to run away and join the circus.

"Saltimbanco," playing at the Germain Arena in Estero through July 12, is a circus like no other. It's based on Canadian street performers and European acts, and there are no lions, tigers, elephants or animals at all.

In their place: gravity-defying humans, gymnasts who'd perform circles around Olympians, and strongmen who, on a bad day, could probably balance an elephant without breaking a sweat.

"Our roots are in the traditional circus acts, and we have a deep association and respect for the traditional circus," says Senior Artistic Direc- tor Richard Dagenais, with his French-tinged accent. "And we also come from a group of buskers, street performers.

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"We let our creativity go wherever it didn't go before. We dared to challenge the tradition of circus and what has been done in the past, and bring something new in how we present the circus discipline."

Cirque Du Soleil (which means "Circus of the Sun" in French) also introduces new elements, such as bungee acts.

"We opened up or broke down the borders of traditional circus."

Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier created Cirque Du Soleil in Canada in 1984, and are considered the pioneers of mixing theater with acrobatics, traditional circus traditions with street performance. Twenty-five years later, Cirque Du Soleil is a name known around the world; this year it has 19 shows, some traveling, some based in Vegas, all with different themes, with 1,000 performers representing 50 different languages.

Leap, bound, jump

"Saltimbanco," created in 1992 by Franco Dragone, is Cirque's longestrunning show. It used to be a big-top act, but was restaged for arenas.

"We traveled with a big tent all over the place, city to city," Mr. Dagenais says. "We were our own little village that went from place to place. Three years ago we switched from the big top the arena… we got much leaner."

They did that in order to play smaller cities.

"Before, with the big tent, we would stay for a month and a half," he says. "Now we can be somewhere for a week or two."

They travel with a dozen trailers.

"That's light for us," Mr. Dagenais says.

It takes them 8 ½ hours to set up, and 2 ½ to tear down.

"Saltimbanco" comes from the Italian word "salto," which means leap, bound, jump, spring or hop, and the Italian phrase "saltare in banco," which means "to jump on a bench." (In French, the word "saltimbanque" means acrobat, performer, entertainer.)

The show includes acrobats, jugglers, clowns, balancing acts and trapeze acts.

"Saltimbanco" isn't a narrative show, like a play, or a movie or opera, Mr. Dagenais says. "It's much more evocative, more poetic, with images."

Urbanization, and the things it evokes, is the theme of the show. The Chinese pole act, for example, suggests skyscrapers.

"You don't see a skyscraper, you see a high structure," he says. The idea is to see how so many different minds and interests meet and have encounters within the confines of a city. "How do (individuals and society) grow with all the encounters we have on a daily basis?"

Ms. Dagenais describes "Saltimbanco" has having three families of characters: eating, sleeping, surviving.

"We see the characters on the Chinese poles, they're like worms or lizards," he says. "Some performers come back as masked worms. They become a group of bureaucrats, all together looking for the need of structure, rules. That's how they function. They look for authority. There's not much individuality."

Then the Barock are like punk rockers. "They are magical individuals, artistic, flamboyant, looking for fun. Each one is very different. It shows the growth that can happen when we try to explore." The road less traveled

Cirque Du Soleil is known for its innovation and creative shows. In Las Vegas there's "O," an underwater show; "Zumanity," an adult show; and "Beatles: LOVE," performed to the music of the Beatles remixed by George Martin and his son Giles Martin.

"We let our inspiration take us where it was going," Mr. Dagenais says. "We said there's no limit here. Our philosophy is: Go for it! … Don't worry about what has been done before. Don't worry about what people say can or cannot be done.

"Saltimbanco" is on stage at Germain Arena July 8 through 12.

"It's been a real adventure. We take the road less traveled when it comes to performing arts. We make wonderful discoveries. Sometimes we surprise ourselves. It's a good road to take."

Mr. Dagenais, formerly a dancer with the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, joined Cirque Du Soleil eight years ago.

"It was a real learning experience and discovery for me," he says about his first experience with the circus. "It was interesting and humbling to see the deep respect that Cirque has to traditional circus acts and to the audience.

"What I learned as a dancer, I'm able to bring to what I do here. A lot of our shows have choreography, physical activity, physical movement, physical comedy."

Sometimes, he says, he sits in the audience. But he doesn't watch the show. He looks at the audience.

"I watch the kids, the adults, how they react," he says. "It teaches me about the show, what works, what doesn't, if we change a little section, or if there's a new act, a new figure in the act.

"'Saltimbanco' really is a living entity," he says. "Through the years, new people come in, bring a little bit of themselves to the show. My job is to make sure it is done within the boundaries of 'Saltimbanco.'"

Cirque Du Soleil, which has created 25 shows in 25 years, has a mission "to bring a moment of joy," he says.

As artistic director, he says, he knows that everyone is doing a good job when the people leave with a smile. "They come and be a kid again. It's a wonderful environment for that, to see a wideeyed, amazing look on the faces (of) the adults, too.

"As adults, we're exposed to so many things, so much stress on our shoulders. Let that go, be a kid again for two hours. That's a rare moment. That's what we try to do.

"When people leave our show with a light heart, we know that what we did was great."

If you go

>>Cirque Du Soleil presents "Saltimbanco" >>When: July 8-12 >>Where: Germain Arena, 11000 Everblades Parkway, Estero

 >>Cost: $35-$90 for adults, $28-$72 for children 12 and younger

>>Information: Call 334-3309 or go to www. cirquedusoleil.com