Published: September 11, 2008 10:49 am            

STAGE REVIEW: 'Saltimbanco' combines strength, beauty

They may look a bit goofy in their rainbow tights, but you don’t want to mess with any of the performers from “Saltimbanco.”

The touring Cirque du Soleil production — in town through Sunday — features some of the more amazing feats of strength and athleticism you’re likely to see in your lifetime.

If the artists pouncing from pole to pole some 50 feet above the stage don’t impress you, perhaps the petite trapeze girls who dangle off each other’s feet while swinging from an even greater height will. If that’s not enough, maybe the two strongmen will do it for you when they lift each other by their necks or support themselves with the feet, legs spread out to form a diamond in the air.

If you prefer more beauteous art, there’s the bungee artists, four vaulters who perform all sorts of aerial maneuvers while bouncing in all directions — horizontal and vertical — across the stage.

These are just some of the acts you’ll see in “Saltimbanco.” The show dazzles on its own, but it does have a plotline of sorts — it “explores the urban experience in all its myriad forms: the people who live there, their idiosyncrasies and likenesses, families and groups, the hustle and bustle of the street and the towering heights of skyscrapers,” according to the official write-up provided to media members at Wednesday’s premiere.

I don’t think I can translate that into meaningful English, but it doesn’t much matter. Taken on a more basic level, “Saltimbanco” is just a good time.

Well, most if it anyway. The clown’s performance in act one drags on terribly with a pantomime routine that quickly gets dull, as he starts with playing catch with audience members and ends up nearly drowning in a bathroom stall (don’t ask how the transition was made).

Act one in general was a bit dull, as other performances include a juggler and percussionist, but the physical feats performed in act two more than make up for it. The clown redeems himself, as well, as he pulls an unsuspecting audience member on stage and gets him to (poorly) mimic situations such as leaping through the jungle or engaging on an Old West shootout.

Even when not as visually stunning as the rest of the acts, every “Saltimbanco” performer has clearly mastered their skill. A guy who pedals a bicycle that’s only on one wheel while standing on it backward, after all, has to possess unimaginable muscle strength and balance just to get that trick started.

Beneath all the pomp and circumstance, that’s what you’ll find in “Saltimbanco” — human will conquering what’s supposedly impossible. Wednesday’s audience was a bit lacking — they closed down the second section at HSBC Arena, ushering those ticket-holders to fill in the empty floor seats — but anyone who didn’t go missed a good time, and hopefully the people of Western New York will catch the show while they can.

GRADE: B+



IF YOU GO

• WHAT: Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Saltimbanco”

• WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 11-12, 3:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13, and 1 and 5 p.m. Sept. 14

• WHERE: HSBC Arena, One Seymour Knox III Plaza, Buffalo

• MORE INFORMATION: Visit cirquedusoleil.com or hsbcarena.com

        

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