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Pictures: Caroline Thibault Cirque Éloize: iD Reloaded Wolverhampton Grand **** Montreal based Cirque Éloize frees circus from its traditional 42 foot ring first laid down some 250 years ago and sets it loose in a bleak industrial environment with a sort of greatest hits collection of acts from past shows which test logic and human evolution to the limit. The cast of iD Reloaded manage to push the capabilities of the human body - and a bycycle - way beyond its limits, and it is all done without any safety nets, safety wire or harnesses. If anything goes wrong . . . it goes really wrong creating a real sense of danger that adds to the tension. And the bycycle? That's down to Trevor Bodogh on his trial bike hopping and bouncing around the stage . . . and a brave soul plucked from the audience who presumably did not mind the risk of a cycloectamy if it all went wrong. Bodogh's control and mastery of his bike was simply mindblowing. Then we had the collection of aerial feats with Kiwi Christophe Bate, straps around his wrists going through a series of twists, contortions and routines that would leave most people living on hospital food for weeks. He was to return later in the show in the Cyr wheel, the giant hoop you can stand and ride inside. And speaking of hoops, enter aerial artist Florence Amar, who defies gravity suspended from a hoop or wrapped in long strips of fabric, twisting, turning and bending into shapes that anatomy hadn't reckoned on, assisted by Alexia Medesan, another aerialist who showed off her figure skating skills on roller skates as well as performing a contortionist routine that showed unbelievable suppleness and flexibility. We opened on a bleak, black and white, industrial set of girders and scaffolds and a custom Chinese pole and what appears to be a sort of urban gang rumble coming down to a battle of polesters with Kayden Woodridge, the pole specialist, taking the prize. The pole is, well, a pole which you can climb up, hang from or slide down. The Flag, gripping the pole and holding the body horizontally, takes remarkable upper body strength, while to drop from the top of a stage high pole at gravity speed, holding on with just your legs and stopping dead inches from the floor takes incredible strength, nerve and, perhaps, a touch of madness.
Then there is jugglers, not the conventional type, but JP Deltell type, which involves not just traditional juggling but also bouncing balls off the floor, angled panels or a wall, with seven balls flying around in a blurring pattern at one point. Deltell and Woodridge were to star again when a trampoline appeared which, although clever, didn’t have the wow factor of the rest, perhaps because we have seen Olympic trampolining and falling from a high tower to bounce back again demands skill it does not demands gasps pf wonder. Adam Dransfield was another in the trampolining session but his starring role was in chair balancing, hand stands on an ever growing tower of chairs, a wonderful feat of balancing with the only leeway for any sort of wobble being that the floor would break your fall . . . along with the odd bone. Around the featured acts were American Bryan “Slinky” Boyer a break dance specialist who can spin . . . and spin on his head and Lakesshia “Kiki” Pierre who is a street dance specialist. Whether break or street, who cares, the dancing is energetic, defies logic and explanation, like how do you manage a hand stand with one hand, or spin on just your head . . . And did we mention skipping? The involves the entire nine strong crew with at one point skipping over and around three ropes, as well as skipping over a rope using press ups, yat another thing from the show not to try at home . . . The dancers and postures keep interest buzzing as equipment is moved and changed with a video wall at the rear of the stage adding to mood and atmosphere or what is a brilliant display of contemporary circus. At times it is truly jaw dropping, gobsmackingly good, and your feel tired at just thinking about the hours and indeed years of training and practice to have reached the levels they have. Simply stunning. To 04-10-25. Roger Clarke 03-10-25 |
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