Cirque du Soleil's "Quidam" Brings Artistry To A Lonely World

Quidam is the latest touring production from the fabulously successful Cirque du Soleil to visit San Diego, and is the first stop on the show's 2006 North American Tour. Like it's other productions, Quidam delivers a dazzling array of acrobatic performances delivered with breathtaking artistry. All performances take place under the blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau at the Del Mar Fairgrounds.

Quidam, (pronounced "key dam") Latin for 'anonymous passer-by', is an intense and imaginative journey that transforms an alienated world into a place of hope and connection. Although all Cirque productions have a thematic story line, most are loose threads that are held together by the mostly acrobatic performances.

Quidam, on the other hand, actually has a story that you can (sort of) follow: that of a young girl, Zoe (Letitia Forbes), who is lost amid a world where she finds no meaning and is swept up in the universe of Quidam.

Quidam made its debut in 1996 but is only finally making it's way to San Diego this year. Unlike the two previous Cirque shows that stopped here (Dralion in 2002 and Varekai in 2004), Quidam seems to rely more on a quiet (well, for Cirque du Soleil) artistry and less on the frenetic spectacle of the previous Cirque tours. Which lends itself to a different, but no less memorable experience.

The show opens with ringmaster John (Mark Ward), of the cowlick hairdo, and some odd characters dressed in bio-hazard-like white coveralls. Hmmm...what the hack's going on here?

Zoe appears along with her disinterested parents, appearing lost and out of place. She is met by a mysterious, headless figure with an umbrella (depicted on the show's advertisements), who hands her a bowler hat - and the magic begins.

First up is Shayne Courtright and the spinning German wheel. Sort of like a giant hamster wheel, courtright contorts his body as he rides and spins the wheel with amazing dexterity. It's a nice warmup of things to come.

Following the wheel is an adorable crew of Chinese youngsters who perform the "diabolos," sort of giant yo-yos. These girls flip, throw and spin the devices with skill beyond their years, all the while performing somersaults and flips before throwing and catching the diabolos on a mere string. They brought huge cheers from the crowd.

Clowns and audience "volunteers" are always a big part of Cirque, and Toto Castineiras did an amusing "driving" skit with a female audience member, and actually held her own with Toto. Another clown skit later in the show with Voki Kalfayan and four audience members was even more hilarious because of the participants' game enthusiasm.

Warning: if you don't want to risk embarassment, don't sit down front or make eye contact with the clowns.

Quidam's spectacle features a five-rail 120-foot overhead conveyor which spans the Grand Chapiteau. Aerial acts fly back and forth through the sky along this track.

Anna Venezilos performed her aerial contortions hanging on to two strands of silk, spinning and dropping from the sky, only to catch herself with the silk fabric.

The Cerceaux hoops performers spun over the audience within and between hoops suspended on the overhead rails. The Spanish Webs featured a team of aerialists climbing, hanging and dropping on ropes suspended above the crowd, with daring moves only to be caught by their own knots entwining their legs. And Donna Stevens performed her Cloud Swing elegantly on a trapeze-like swing.

All of the aerialist routines had an elegance that were quite impressive and fitting of Cirque du Soleil acts. But to me, they didn't quite have the "oh my god" wow factor that some of the aerial acrobats of Dralion and Varekai displayed.

Perhaps that's because Quidam's storyline was a bit more subdued and introspective and didn't lend itself to an over-the-top "wow" factor. But it's not a quibble, just an observation. Because there are still plenty of "wows" to be shouted during Quidam.

Three acts of the show really sent the show into overdrive. The first was the Skipping Ropes routine featuring Kata Banhegyi and Norihisa Taguchi. A combiination of double-dutch and boxer rope skipping, this brought playground rope skipping into a whole different orbit - literally.

At the other end of the spectrum was the Statue - Vis Versa. Displaying amazing strength, the near nude (bodysuited) Jerome Le Baut and Asa Kuniak lifted, carried and posed entwined together until they appeared as one unit, as still as a statue. An impressive and artistic feat.

Then there was the Banquine, a troupe of mostly Russian and Ukraine acrobats who were flung and caught through the air between each other and landing on arms and shoulders. You literally held your breath as they stuck their landings high above the stage.

Quidam is like everything in the Cirque du Soleil repertoire: spectacular, artistic and entertaining. Cirque has grown into a well-oiled machine since its humble beginnings, but every production always taps into your own imagination. Quidam may not be this guide's personal favorite (Varekai is), but it still left me full of awe and thoroughly entertained.

And isn't that what a circus is all about?