Embed for this video is disabled, click the image or here to view the video.

The Russian Bar act in Cirque du Soleil's Alegria has been around for a long time. I'm sure they've gone through tons of lineup changes and generations of flyers and porters, but this video takes the absolute cake.

I first saw it on TV from the recorded version (see here.)  It was one of those mind-blowing acts that made a huge impact on me as a young gymnast. It has all the aerial difficulty you'd expect from an elite trampolinist but with the added challenge of landing on a little flexible bar.

From what I understand, the same team as in the Monte Carlo video is now in Totem, and though their act was amazing when I saw it, I can understand why they wouldn't want to perform their 100% act every night, but why they would want to unleash it for this festival. They came out with a Silver Clown.

It's funny that I never thought about the idea of a 100% act. Think about all of the people in circus that do mind-bendingly difficult and dangerous skills every night. Then think about the skills that they don't perform every night because they're too dangerous to risk injury. It makes me want to rethink the way I evaluate acts when I see them. An act in a show you have to do 8 times a week should leave hints about what else is possible without actually doing those things. I feel like this is a rare occasion where you can see the difference.

Photo via here

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Copyright 2010 Kinesthesist
Lunax Free Premium Blogger™ template by Introblogger