Kurios (Cirque du Soleil)

Kurios
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities
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 Raphaël 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, Quebec, 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.
  • Jean-Claude: Conjoined twins who are the embodiment of unity and separation.
  • 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.

  • 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.
  • The Invisible Circus: "You've never seen anything like this...and you never will!"
  • Acro Net: Artists jump into the air using a wide net. They are caught and flipped in the air.
  • Comic Act: A man brings a woman from the audience and invites her onstage into his world.
  • 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: Two-time World Yo-Yo Champion BLACK performs an act with Yo-Yos as a character "Master of the time".
  • 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.[4][5]

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 - From April 24, 2014 to March 19, 2017[6]
  • Sophie Guay - From March 19, 2017 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."[7] The Gazette also declared Kurios a success, saying "Kurios is a classic. It runs like clockwork and could tick on forever."[8] The Globe and Mail described the show as a "Kinetic, whimsical and astounding new production from Montreal’s Cirque du Soleil."[9]

Upon the show's debut in San Francisco the San Francisco Chronicle called Kurios "the best Cirque du Soleil show in a long time."[10] 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."[11]

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."[12]

Tour

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 May 2018, Kurios has toured to the following regions:

  • North American Tour - [2014 - 2017]
  • Japan Tour - [2018 - Present]
  • Australian Tour - [TBA]

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

Grand Chapiteau tour

2014-2018

2014 schedule

  •  NA   Montréal, QC - From 24 Apr to 13 Jul 2014
  •  NA   Québec City, QC - From 24 Jul to 17 Aug 2014
  •  NA   Toronto, ON - From 28 Aug to 26 Oct 2014
  •  NA   San Francisco, CA - From 14 Nov 2014 to 18 Jan 2015

2015 schedule

  •  NA   Seattle, WA - From 29 Jan to 22 Mar 2015
  •  NA   Calgary, AB - From 9 Apr to 24 May 2015
  •  NA   Denver, CO - From 11 Jun to 26 Jul 2015
  •  NA   Chicago, IL - From 6 Aug to 30 Sep 2015
  •  NA   Costa Mesa, CA - From 15 Oct to 29 Nov 2015
  •  NA   Los Angeles, CA - From 10 Dec 2015 to 7 Feb 2016

2016 schedule

  •  NA   Atlanta, GA - From 3 Mar to 8 May 2016
  •  NA   Boston, MA - From 26 May to 10 Jul 2016
  •  NA   Washington, DC - From 21 Jul to 18 Sep 2016
  •  NA   New York, NY - From 30 Sep to 27 Nov 2016
  •  NA   Miami, FL - From 9 Dec 2016 to 29 Jan 2017

2017 schedule

  •  NA   Dallas, TX - From 17 Feb to 26 Mar 2017
  •  NA   Houston, TX - From 6 Apr to 21 May 2017
  •  NA   Winnipeg, MB - From 2 Jun to 9 Jul 2017
  •  NA   Edmonton, AB - From 20 Jul to 13 Aug 2017
  •  NA   Portland, OR - From 28 Aug to 8 Oct 2017
  •  NA   Vancouver, BC - From 19 Oct to 31 Dec 2017

2018 schedule

  •  AP   Tokyo, JP - From 7 Feb to 8 Jul 2018
  •  AP   Osaka, JP - From 26 Jul to 29 Oct 2018
  •  AP   Nagoya, JP - From 22 Nov 2018 to 27 Jan 2019

2019 schedule

  •  AP   Fukuoka, JP - From 15 Feb to 31 Mar 2019
  •  AP   Sendai, JP - From 18 Apr to 2 Jun 2019


References

  1. ↑ "Kurios - Press Materials". Kurios. Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  2. ↑ Donnelly, Pat (April 18, 2014). "Cirque du Soleil piques our curiosity with Kurios". The Gazette.
  3. ↑ "Kurios - About". Kurios. Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2014-01-29.
  4. ↑ "Facebook". November 23, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Facebook". December 6, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Facebook". March 12, 2017.
  7. ↑ Ouzounian, Richard (May 2, 2014). "Kurios is Cirque du Soleil's strongest act in years: review". Toronto Star.
  8. ↑ Donnelly, Pat (May 2, 2014). "Review: Cirque du Soleil's Kurios reveals a world of wonder". The Gazette.
  9. ↑ Wheeler, Brad (September 1, 2014). "Cirque du Soleil's Kurios: Send your sense of wonder into overdrive". The Globe and Mail.
  10. ↑ Hurwitt, Robert (November 15, 2014). "Theater review: 'Kurios': Best Cirque du Soleil show in a long time". San Francisco Chronicle.
  11. ↑ D'Souza, Karen (November 15, 2014). "Review: Cirque du Soleil's new 'Kurios' unveils a wild, darker world". San Jose Mercury.
  12. ↑ Jones, Chris (August 7, 2015). "With 'Kurios,' Cirque is back with 4-star dazzle". Chicago Tribune.
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