Kurios: steampunk meets rolla bolla for Cirque du Soleil

MONTREAL – Cirque du Soleil unveiled Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities, its 35th production Friday morning to the media, and initial reviews are positive.

“It dazzles,” said Pat Donnelly, the theatre critic for the Montreal Gazette. “It’s got a lot of razzle dazzle from what I saw. And some acts that have never been done anywhere before.”

One of the production’s centrepieces is a high-flying performance of what is known as rolla bolla, a balancing act that involves flat surfaces and cylinders. Cirque du Soleil added a twist – performing rolla bolla tens of meters in the air.

“It’s the only act of rolla bolla aerial of its kind in the world,” said Michel Laprise, the production’s director. “When I was presented that act by casting I said: ‘we do everything to get this guy.'”

The “guy” is James Eulises Gonzalez Correa, a native of Colombia who has performed all over the world.

Fans of steampunk shouldn’t miss this show, as it contains an aesthetic that deals with the world before the advent of electricity.

“Steampunk is both a reference to the past and a projection into the future,” Laprise said. There are visual quirks like batwing airplanes and locomotives with human engines.

“What’s interesting is that it’s got a time and a place,” Donnelly said. “It’s got a time and a place, it takes it’s inspiration from the Paris Exhibition of 1900.”

The show is set to premiere on April 24 at the Old Port. From there it will move to Quebec City, then Toronto and onto its North American tour.