Kurios (Cirque du Soleil)

Kurios
Company	Cirque du Soleil
Genre	Contemporary circus
Show type	Touring show
Date of premiere	April 24, 2014 (Montreal)
Creative team
Director	Michel Laprise
Director of creation	Chantal Tremblay
Set designer	Stéphane Roy
Composers	Raphëal Beau, Bob & Bill (Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard)
Costume designer	Philippe Guillotel
Lighting designer	Martin Labrecque
Choreographers	Sidi Larbi Cherkaoui Yaman Okur
Acrobatic choreographers	Andrea Ziegler Ben Potvin Susan Gaudreau
Sound designer	Jacques Boucher Jean-Michel Caron
Makeup designer	Eleni Uranis
Acrobatic performance designers	Rob Bollinger Germain Guillemot Boris Verkhovsky
Rigging designer	Danny Zen
Production manager	Gabriel Pinkstone
Chief production officer and executive producer	Charles Joron
Creative guide	Jean-François Bouchard
Other information
Preceded by	Michael Jackson: One (2013)
Succeeded by	Joyà (2014)
Official website

Kurios^[1] is a Cirque du Soleil touring production which premiered on April 24, 2014 in Montreal, Canada under the full title of Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities. Created and directed by Michel Laprise,^[2] it looks at a late-19th century world inventor who invents a machine that defies the laws of time, space and dimension in order to reinvent everything around him with steampunk elements featuring characters from another dimension that interact with him and a tribute to the power of the human imagination.^[3]

Characters

• The Seeker: a scientist, is on a quest in which he creates a machine to travel into another dimension to find the place where the possible and the impossible meet.
• Nico the Accordion Man: Nico’s accordion costume allows him to bend way down or stand way up so he can be at eye level with absolutely everyone.
• Mr. Microcosmos: An authority figure, Mr. Microcosmos is the leader of the group. This serious chap is the embodiment of technological progress.
• Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible: Klara can receive alpha waves by turning on her heels and pointing her hoop skirt in various directions.
• Mini Lili: She represents Mr. Microcosmos’ unconscious mind, his intuitive self, his fragile and poetic side.
• The Kurios: The Seeker surrounds himself with a brigade of assistants including the Winch Kurios and Suction Cup Kurios.

Acts

Kurios features numerous innovative acts ranging from Aerial Bike to upside down Handbalancing on Chairs.

Inside the Grand Chapiteau of Kurios (Toronto 2014)

• Chaos Synchro 1900 (Juggling/Drums): A juggler, percussionists and dancers perform a fusion of acrobatics, eccentrics, acrobats.
• Russian Cradle Duo: A catcher flings his partner in the air where she performs more and more intricate somersaults.
• Aerial Bike: A woman rides a bike which takes off into the air and performs several trapeze-like tricks.
• Contortion: The four wriggling artists execute a series of pyramids and figures using the Mechanical Hand as a platform.
• Upside Down World (Handbalancing on Chairs): An upside-down performance and a right-side up performance featuring two acrobats who handbalance on a series of chairs.
• Rola Bola: An Aviator balances on tubes on a platform suspended in mid-air.
• Acro Net: Artists jump into the air using a wide net. They are caught and flipped in the air.

A Kurios and the Seeker in the show. Taken in Toronto in 2014.

• Aerial Straps Duo: “Siamese twins” hanging in the air from straps are separated when they fly above the stage in a series of acrobatic figures, sometimes as a pair, sometimes solo.
• Yo-Yo: 1A and AP World Champion and former Duncan World Tour member Tomonari “Black” Ishiguro performs an act with Yo-Yos.
• Hands Puppetry: The performers present a story of a person who hip-hops, swims, and later falls in love, using their hands as puppets dressed up in miniature shoes and hats.
• Banquine: A group of artists perform spectacular sequences of synchronized acrobatics and human pyramids.

Acts in rotation

• Hand Balancing on Canes: A man hand-stands on canes, featuring his flexibility and strength.

Music

The score was created by Raphaël Beau in collaboration with Guy Dubuc and Marc Lessard (known as Bob and Bill), fusing jazz with electro swing.

The soundtrack was released on December 9, 2014. A CD launch called "Kurios about Music" happened at the December 10, 2014 show, which included an off-stage performance by the Kurios band, as well as an after-show party.

Track titles

1. 11h11 (Opening)
2. Steampunk Telegram (Aerial bike)
3. Bella Donna Twist (Chaos Synchro 1900)
4. Gravity Levitas (Russian cradle)
5. Monde inversé (Upside Down World)
6. Hypnotique (Contortion)
7. Departure (Hand Puppetry/Transition into Rola Bola)
8. Fearsome Flight (Rola bola)
9. Clouds (Acro net)
10. Créature de siam (Aerial straps duo)
11. Wat U No Wen (Banquine)
12. You Must be Joking (Finale)

Vocalists

• Eirini Tornesaki - April 24, 2014 to Present

Critical reception

The Toronto Star praised the show and critic Richard Ouzounian said "Kurios is Cirque du Soleil's strongest act in years."^[4] The Gazette also declared Kurios a success, saying "Kurios is a classic. It runs like clockwork and could tick on forever."^[5] The Globe and Mail described the show as a "Kinetic, whimsical and astounding new production from Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil."^[6]

Upon the show's debut in San Francisco the San Francisco Chronicle called Kurios "the best Cirque du Soleil show in a long time."^[7] The San Jose Mercury News wrote "For its 30th anniversary, Cirque du Soleil has concocted a dark and mysterious world that eschews the brightly colored eye candy for which the French Canadian juggernaut has become famous."^[8]

Liz Jones wrote about Kurios for the Daily Mail and asked Russian mime artist Ekaterina Pirogovskaya, who performs in Kurios as Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible, if she gets nervous before the show. Pirogovskaya responded "If I feel nervous, then the audience will feel nervous. Perhaps, sometimes, when we have famous people in the audience, like Justin Timberlake. We help each other, learn from each other. Before joining Cirque, I didn’t speak English. We teach each other languages. Every new city is, “Hello, hello!”"^[9]

Chris Jones of the Chicago Tribune wrote "Well, the Cirque has come roaring back with a dazzling, hyper-detailed, potent, quixotic and generally fantastic show that reveals this extraordinary artistic company's singular capacity for exploration and metamorphosis. It is not to be missed on any account. Even the music, sung by the Greek vocalist Eirini Tornesaki, is beguiling."^[10]

Tour

The Grand Chapiteau for Kurios. Taken in Toronto in 2014.

Kurios, like all of Cirque du Soleil's touring shows, premiered in Montréal in April 2014. It has been touring North America since.

As of October 2015, Kurios has toured to the following regions:

• North American Tour - [2014 - Present]

The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
 EU   Europe  NA   North America  SA   South and Central America  AP   Asia/Pacific  OC   Oceania  AF   Africa

2014 schedule

2015 schedule

2016 schedule

References

External links

• Official website
• Kurios on Facebook