Four AM, Cirque on the Mind

I found the most beautiful thing. http://www.bu.edu/today/node/7818

It'd be even greater if Hagrid didn't show up in the last fifteen seconds and ruin it all.

I'm an insomniac. Perhaps that word is a little extreme. There's too much expectation behind it.
I'm a jiggery sleeper. I don't sleep much. My 4 am is your 12 am.
Lately I've tried watching movies I've seen over and over to lull me to sleep.

Last nights attempt was Quidam.

Supersex androgynous spandex
hanging from hoops and red silk curtains
swinging around to formulaic music
we end on jazz hands

Cirque loves the over abundance of roles onstage. Quidam for example:

Little girl and parents. - The main watcher of the performance or the central focus the performance is geared to in the show, is a child figure. Perhaps to reintroduce us to the innocence of childhood, or to give us permission to view the performance like children; with a naked eye. Permission to believe what we're seeing and be dazzled.

Quidam - omnious figure that jump starts the entire illusion. In Alegria, it is the Ring Leader, Saltimbanco its the fat stomached pajama man.

Zombie parents - showing the departure from our world into the illusion

Little girl ushers (three people that guide her through the show as companions)

Comic relief clown and croonies

and the part that I find most interesting: two or three characters that sit on stage as audience. So we the audience watch an audience watching a little girl watching a performance.
metametatheatrical?
Cirque loves plugging in audience characters. Also found in Alegria and Saltimbanco.

Another recurring role is the singer who acts as a deux ex machina esque character who sits on high in the background melting one act into another. When I saw Quidam as a wee one, she was a white princess character (oddly not present in the video version...) in Alegria, its two women, Saltimbanco, is one woman in a siick coat-cape.

Also, the role of the band is not just an auditory aid. Even they are outfitted in elaborate costumes and makeup, sometimes trotting across the stage with drums and other hand held instruments. Nothing is allowed to stay in the background permanently. Everyone must be present.

Quidam is darker themed than Alegria. Perhaps mature would be a better description.
You have the girl draped in red curtains knotted and bound, the chorus of women with nooses and blue gauze bags on their heads and the orgy like white people making human sculptures.
The closing song does say 'quidam le soiree l'amour.' It's necessary to show all shades of l'amour.
The lighting is grey and blue washes with hits of colour, whereas Alegira and Saltimbanco are more saturated.

The sad thing about Cirque which is also a great thing, is that it has become world renowned. I would love to time travel back when I was born and see Cirque in its infancy. Now that they have millions of dollars, they can do whatever they want in terms of lighting, special effects and daring new acts. I think it could draw away from the performance itself.
This is something that was discussed in one of my theatre classes. Sure we see amazing things, but wouldn't it be greater to see what they could make of nothing?
That's the sort of spectacle that I love. While Quidam and the sheer beauty of its performance will always have a place in my heart, I will always be drawn to those who make something from nothing.