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Circus ringing with attitude
Urban
Circolombia Birmingham Hippodrome *** TALK about circus with attitude. These
young people who have escaped the streets of the Colombian city of Cali
through learning circus skills certainly pull no punches with their
show. Urban is fast and furious, blending dance,
acrobatics, song and tableaux in a burst of energy and life. Performed by youngsters who have trained at the
Foundation Circo Para Todos (Circus for All), the show is an outlet for
their talent and has toured the globe. Inspired by their own experiences of growing up
in a tough city, Urban is gritty and street. From young people trapped
in dustbins to dance which mimics fight scenes and ugly confrontations
between gangs of youngsters, the underlying toughness of their lives is
evident. And yet Urban is exuberant, life-affirming,
energetic and with plenty of humour. Some of the feats are awe-inspiring as performers
leap into the air, balance, take to the trapeze and tightrope walk. It is a rough at the edges with not every feat
being a success but that is somehow forgiven in the enthusiasm of the
performers who laugh off a mistake and simply carry on.
One particularly moving scene sees the performers
carrying candles while dancing with Day of the Dead skeletons as flames
are projected onto the backdrop. Through this scene a performer whirls on a cyr
wheel cast in orange shadow through light and smoke. There is something
slightly infernal about this scene and yet one can't help but respond to
the fact that is acts as a memorial to other young people who continue
to die on the streets of South and Central America. These performers are the lucky few. They have
found a talent, been nurtured in it and are now able to share it with
the world, in a lively and entertaining production. Performed again tonight, May 18 Diane Parkes Barnum and brash . . . *** THIS is circus in the raw - edgy,
streetwise and, as the name of the show suggests, urban. There are some traditional circus acts such as
slack rope walking, tumbling and some remarkably high acrobatics up into
the flies using a Teeterboard, the strengthened kit resembling a
playground seesaw which has been a circus prop for generations. Mixed in with the acrobatics was a story about
gangs, drugs, poverty and the hard life many of these kids used to lead
amid the poverty and crime in areas of the Columbina city of Cali where
many of them come from. There are thousands of kids like them in Columbia
and Latin and South America who have not found escape as these talented
youngsters did through the Foundation Circo Para Todos. Not every routine worked, and a couple were a bit
of a let down, the trapeze for example did not seem to be awash with
thrills or derring do while the section with the skeletons and Day of
the Dead might work better with a Latin American audience where is has
some meaning than in downtown Brum. The attempt at audience
participation also fell a little flat although audience chat in Spanish
is probably a bit of a problem. The acts were not as slick, varied or as polished
as the likes of Cirque Éloize, at the Hippodrome at the end of 2011, but
made up for that with an infectious enthusiasm and some moments of pure
skill. To 18-05-12. Roger Clarke
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There
is a tumult of ideas in this 75 minute show as the action speeds through
dance into monologue and acrobatics into comedy with even a touch of
audience participation.