Totem

There are no elephants, tigers or performing dogs in Canada’s Cirque du Soleil, and no red-nosed, slapstick clowns, either. That kind of circus has gone forever. Totem is the latest, top-end example of modern circusing: highly theatrical gymnastics.

The ‘specialty acts’ that once allowed time for the clowns to clear the lions before bringing on the dancing horses are now the undisputed stars of the show.

Cirque du Soleil, touring Totem for a year in New Zealand and Australia under their massive big top, has mastered the packaging of classy international speciality acts. Their solution is to find a theme.

The chosen, linking theme here is nothing less than “The Odyssey of the Human Species”, which is broad enough to cover hoop dancing, unicycle bowl-juggling, spin roller-skating, trapeze dancing and many other pursuits.

Any odyssey or storyline is provided entirely by the brilliant production design, the gorgeous costumes, the exceptional lighting and computer-based projections. It’s the transitions between the acts that make this show a must for the theatre community, for Totem is a sampler of future stage effects.

Bringing in Canada’s leading theatre director Robert Lepage was a great idea. Known for his outlandish opera productions, Lepage is always interested in new theatrical possibilities. His centre piece here is awesome: a stage that’s a projection screen, that bucks, splits, flows, turns into a speedboat, a swimming pool, an otherworldly totem pole.

The costumes (by Aussie movie designer Kym Barrett) are literally dazzling; the lighting (Etienne Boucher) and image projection design (Pedro Pires) break new ground. As retreating gymnasts cross the projected water, so their feet seem to make splashes.

The acts are varied. Five Chinese unicyclists are endearingly committed as, bizarrely, they kick bowls on to each other’s heads. The troupe of Russian bar jumpers — hard to explain: you’ll just have to see them! — are amazingly coordinated.

Most touching is the handsome couple on the fixed trapeze. Muscular Guilhem Cauchois and petite Sarah Tessier tell a balletic love story as they cling, tease and tumble high above the stage. It’s the act with the most narrative in a spectacular display of gymnastic originality and human fitness.

Frank Hatherley 

Photographs: OSA Images