kooza | An electrifying reunion

Cirque du Soleil has chosen Kooza, a show drawn from his repertoire, to celebrate his reunion with the Montreal public. It’s hard to pout at the choice made by the emblematic Quebec circus: with its high-caliber acrobatic performances and its very successful clown numbers, Kooza turns out to be a very entertaining spectacle, which nails us to our seats at times.

Stephanie Morin
The Press

Inspired by the traditional circus (but always prepared with Cirque du Soleil sauce), Kooza puts on high speed acrobatic numbers with a high degree of difficulty: contortion, straps, Cyr wheel, wire… Everything is there, punctuated by music that combines rock, funk, jazz and Middle Eastern tones.

Here, poetry and lyricism occupy a lesser part in the dramatic writing than for other Cirque du Soleil productions. And the staging is not the most elaborate either. We find ourselves more in front of a somewhat disjointed series of numbers, but what numbers! With Koozawe are in the pure and perfectly mastered performance, in the circus festival where the laughter of the public mixes with its murmurs of incredulity in front of the executed prowess.

Because it must be said, some numbers send shivers down your spine, in particular the one which brings together three tightrope walkers performing part of their performance in the heights of the marquee, without safety rope or net.

Even once the net is set, their performance remains breathtaking. Wednesday evening, the crowd gave them a heartfelt ovation.

The wheel of death act remains the scariest, however; disaster could strike at any time. When the two acrobats finally descended from this infernal machine on which they multiplied the jumps in weightlessness, the public was delirious. The drum solo that accompanied this performance added to the ambiance. These acrobats have been acclaimed as real rock stars!

Carried away by the crowd

As if the acrobatic performances weren’t enough, the acrobats’ frequent shouts of victory galvanize the crowd throughout the show. Impossible to resist the contagious energy of these artists who achieve the impossible… On Wednesday, the cries burst out, the applause was fed. There is no doubt that the public strongly testified to their joy at reuniting with Cirque du Soleil after a three-year absence in the Old Port.

The group numbers are also among those that delighted the public the most: the jumping board number alone has 19 acrobats, or half of the cast. Director David Shiner also imagined a dance number that seems straight out of Tim Burton’s head, with spinning skeletons and swarms of rats invading the stage.

The clowns are also very important in the carnival atmosphere of the show. Led by François-Guillaume Leblanc, who embodies a completely crazy king, the clownish trio offers very physical numbers, never far from slapstick.

In the midst of acrobats and clowns, we find Innocent, a melancholic and moving character. We see him spreading his wings and gaining confidence as the numbers multiply, encouraged in this by the Trickster, a charismatic character a bit wizard, a bit illusionist, ejected as if by magic from a kooza (a gift box in Sanskrit ).

In short, despite its advanced age (the show was inaugurated in 2007), the charm of Kooza continues to operate. Certainly, this production could be dusted off here and there, especially in terms of costumes, which are rather disparate, but lovers of millimeter prowess will see nothing but fire. The Cirque du Soleil has been shaken by several turbulences in recent years: we can only wish that the future will be as joyful as this show presented all summer under the blue and white marquee of the Old Port.

Until August 14