Cirque du Soleil – Echo, a holiday fairytale

Echo (Cirque du Soleil). Foto: J. F. Savaria.

Author Hana Strejčková

An auditorium of more than two and a half thousand seats surrounded the stage from three sides. The back of the stage was dominated by a huge cube (the visual concept was the work of choreographer Es Devlin), behind which there was still room for seven musicians. First the clowns drew attention to themselves, two acrobats recalling mischievous characters (Cie Soralino: Caio Sorana and Clément Malin, here under the name Double Trouble), whose task was to quiet the many-voiced audience and draw attention to the stage objects - boxes and a cube, appearing gradually in different sizes. Then came out the striker, the designer, perhaps the architect, the cartographer of the world (Lucas Coelho), followed by a girl named Future (Louana Seclet-Monchot) and her faithful friend, the dog/wolf Ewai (Philippe Dupuis). The cube on stage then began to move forward, its surfaces covered with brightly coloured animations. Acrobats in white, possibly paper suits, with detailed animal masks on their heads, ran into the space. They moved in harmony with their animal foregrounds, their acrobatics and dance swirling with energy. They continued their fervor even after they took to the air, throwing somersaults in perpendicular positions to the cube, spinning and interacting with each other.

The stage object landmark - a variable cube - surprised with its transformations and ways of use throughout the more than two-hour performance. It was a projection surface with the potential for suspended acrobatics, the home of a giant marionette, a frame for the inner anchoring of tightropes, a dreamlike diorama, and a symbol of the entirety of the world. For with the removal of one piece, a tale of overcoming pitfalls and obstacles was set into motion, for when the tiny cube disappeared at the hands of a mysterious creature living in the subterranean depths of nature, it was necessary for the heroes (Future and Ewai, with the help of the other creatures) to retrieve it and insert it into the cube, ultimately reuniting the world.

As Cirque du Soleil is prone to do, there was no shortage of illustrative, even detailed descriptions of every plot twist, although narrative was only, figuratively speaking, one of the many supporting pillars of the production. With every production of the renowned company, one enters a world of fantasy and multi-layered imagery; one expects excellent artistry and equilibrium, adrenaline rushes and aesthetic dazzle. Echo has opened its gateway to a land where humans and animals live together in peace and where that "together" is the foundation stone (cube) of our home, security and belonging. The piece emphasized the relationship with nature and the others, the partnership was written into the storyline (e.g. girl and dog, two clowns, etc.), the principle of mirroring into acrobatic passages (e.g. duet of female artists hanging by their hair, hair-hanging), parallels (echoes and multiplications) also appeared in the level of multimedia and all-encompassing music. The leading role of the girl Future was entrusted to the French artist Louana Seclet-Monchot, who, in addition to her adorable appearance on stage, mastered the art of aerial disciplines and her specialization in Washington trapeze (acrobatics on the trapeze, which, thanks to the provision of the artist in a harness, includes many balancing elements, such as headstand, etc.). As a result, in the air and interacting with the trapeze, she beautifully interacted with a gigantic metal puppet that was led by the handlers out of the innards of the central scenic object to create, according to one possible interpretation, the motif of a fairy-tale giant, a wise good or a magician that transcends ordinary "humanity". The artist then presented herself in a technically bravura solo on the trapeze.

It was a pleasant surprise for me to meet a pair of clowns who drew (my) attention to themselves at the Cirque de Demain competition show in Paris a few years ago. Their duet with a box tower, choreography with a cardboard box or the race of the spectators for the fastest movement of the box over their heads with their hands was one of the unforgettable ones and Echo brought them back (from memories) "on stage" with their original tricks. Other performances of astonishing quality in terms of technical execution and level of risk included straps on elastic rubber (Lucas Coelho), completely unique icarian games performed by the duo Sami and Lala (currently very rarely seen pair acrobatic discipline, the so-called human juggling, in which the "base" stabilizes and pitches the "flyer" with their feet, who is able to turn  flips, etc.) and ground hand to hand acrobatics performed by Ethiopian acrobats (Cirque du Soleil cooperates with the Gamo circus school in Addis Abeba), pair aerial hair-hanging choreography (Charlotte O'Sullivan and Penelope Scheidler) and tightrope walking inside a cube (Taras Hoi and Antino-Tisson Pansa).

I would, however, question the including of a solo with a diabolo, for example; others may doubt the significance of the solo of the snake man, whose perfectly elastic body allowed him a seemingly limitless rotation of his joints. Finally, the final teeterboard scene may have seemed simply not enough, though it was phenomenal compared to other productions. Cirque du Soleil continually hones quality to the hilt, and so arguably it only takes a slight deviation from the idea of perfection to trigger a subjective, if actually unwarranted, wave of a few unfulfilled expectations.  On the other hand, a visit to the Cirque du Soleil chapitó, or the opportunity to watch an Echo performance in its homeland, was enough of an experience in itself.

Cirque du Soleil, like many other production companies, has not had an easy time in recent years. The original concept by the English choreographer Es Devlin, entitled Under the Same Sky, was supposed to shine in the striped tent as early as March 2020. Despite all the difficulties, the circus, after four years, reached the spectacular premiere of the production Echo, whose author and director was ultimately Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar. Echo is a mesmerising, aesthetically refined fairy tale that you either wrap yourself up in like a duvet and go on a dreamlike journey, often supported by evocative music and mesmerising physical performances from the cast,  or you break it down into parts and drown your time in a great comparative analysis - comparing the show to what you've seen or experienced many times before at Cirque du Soleil, or to what seems to be missing, be it more flips with screws, or even more original tricks beyond the edge of normal human abilities and skills. Despite possible criticisms, Echo is a pleasant opportunity to be momentarily picked up these days into a realm where the clouds and the jungle are within reach, and even if it engulfs you, it will deliver you back again. The exceedingly kind message of a fairy tale about humanity and the planet tended together can help you keep that faith in goodness and the courage to pursue your dreams, if only for a little while.

Written from a performance on July 15, 2023 at the Cirque du Soleil chapel in Old Port Montréal.

Echo
Writer, director: Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar
Set design: Es Devlin
Music: Jade Pybus, Andy Theakstone
First performance: 20 April 2023

The visit of Cirque du Soleil took place as part of a trip to the Montréal Complètement Cirque Festival, which was made possible with the support of CIRQUEON and the financial support of the European Union.