Cirque du Soleil returns to London with Kooza
Preview by Lizzie Guilfoyle
CIRQUE du Soleil is returning to London – to the Royal Albert Hall – with Kooza, a new, critically acclaimed touring show, which opens for a limited season on January 8, 2013 following previews from January 5.
Since its premiere in April, 2007, Kooza has captivated close to four million spectators in North America and Japan.
London will be the first destination of the 2013 Kooza European tour. Tickets were released for sale today, Monday, September 10.
Written and directed by David Shiner, Kooza is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil combining two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility and is presented in a colourful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humour.
The name Kooza is inspired by the Sanskrit word “koza,” which means “box,” “chest” or “treasure,” and was chosen because one of the underlying concepts of the production is the idea of a “circus in a box.”
Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, Kooza is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.
Speaking about the show, David Shiner said: “Kooza is about human connection and the world of duality, good and bad. The tone is fun and funny, light and open. The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s very much about ideas, too. As it evolves we are exploring concepts such as fear, identity, recognition and power.”
The show presents an unprecedented approach to the High Wire and a breathtaking Wheel of Death – an act that Cirque du Soleil has never before presented under the big top.
The show brings together the following team of 13 creators, several of whom are working with Cirque for the first time: Writer and Director David Shiner, Director of Creation Serge Roy, Set Designer Stéphane Roy, Costume Designer Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt, Composer Jean-François Côté, Choreographer Clarence Ford…
…Lighting Designer Martin Labrecque, Co-Sound Designers Jonathan Deans and Leon Rothenberg, Props Designer Rogé Francoeur, Acrobatic Equipment and Rigging Designer Danny Zen, Acrobatic Performance Designer André Simard and Makeup Designer Florence Cornet.
From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Québec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has 5,000 employees, including more than 1,300 artists from more than 50 different countries, and has brought wonder and delight to more than 100 million spectators in more than 300 cities in over forty countries on six continents.
Infiniti, CGI and Xerox are the official sponsors of the Kooza 2013 European Tour.
Tickets: Available from the box office on 0845 401 5045 and online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/kooza/ or www.royalalberthall.com/.
Times: Thursdays at 8pm, Wednesdays and Fridays – Sundays at 3:30pm and 8pm, Press night (January 8) at 8pm.