Reviewed by Samuel Avital

On Saturday October 4th, 1997 in Denver, Colorado, the matinee performance, I saw the great and excellent performance the western world has ever created in modern times - "QUIDAM" the new production of Le Cirque du Soleil in Denver.

"Le Cirque du Soleil is a celebration and the ultimate realization of excellence in the performing arts, fertile imagination and state of the art technology, integrated to astonish, entertain with meaning, elevate the human spirit, and celebrate the plasticity of human form and the genius of our becoming. "Experiencing Le Cirque du Soleil moves me profoundly to simply say..I am proud to be a human being." Samuel Avital

The performance depicts with the genius of concept and interpretation, the journey of a little girl, misunderstood and neglected by her parents.

While she is separated from her parents, she embarks on a quest for the "Paradis Perdu", the lost paradise of childhood. She meets a headless and faceless (Quidam) being with an umbrella, who opens her way into an imaginative world by giving her his magic hat. She puts it on to guide her to dream a magical world by the power of imagination. She embarks on a fantastic journey until she is reunited with her parents again. She enters with joie de vivre into her own childhood fantasies, where she finds a meaningful, playful, happy and extraordinary world.

The word "QUIDAM," is a Latin word for the unknown passenger, the faceless individual, un-important, and meaningless part of society. It also describes the anonymous person, the no one, the average person who is lost in the crowd of the anonymous mass of humanity. A human that has become a number in a culture gone mad. A society away from its natural center of being, living and surviving. A civilization out of balance.

This is a very strong message and a powerful artistic protest for a dominating society in search for the Paradis perdu -- "Lost Paradise," a childhood of playful and creative ways for experiencing and relating to life totally, honestly, fearlessly and worry free. A new world in search of excellence, wonder and meaning.

The performance, "QUIDAM" is a great artistic social criticism with subtlety and genius use of mime, acrobatics, clowning, juggling - All in CONTEXT, ALL in harmonious CONCERT, balance use of human imagination and the human body. Art and technology finally in unison.

Two outstanding and enthralling performances I considered as great live works of performance art today were, "The Woman with the Red Silk Scarf" and "The Status/Balance Act of a Man and Woman." For me, both were a hymn to the human body's balance. An infinite ability to become and develop into an instrument of great communication beyond words, to the source of our essence.

The first was an exquisite solo performance by Isabelle Vaudelle (France), the woman within the red silk scarf hanging from the ceiling struggling to be born. Moving within the supple red silk sash, she gave the impression of slowly moving inside the birth canal attempting to be born. Artfully stretching within, so gracefully and with mastery of action. I have the image of a child in the process of birth, so fragile and yet so strong. The mystery of being in action. My eyes followed with focused attention on every move from movement to emotion of an ancient ritual being performed before me. A wondrous worldly drama of great meaning and beauty that moved me very deeply. I was embraced with the ultimate rhythm of life itself.

The second performance of Yves Decoste (Canada) and Marie-Laure Mesnage (France) was a superb act of great beauty and balance. A man and woman in total equilibrium. A modern Adam and Eve metaphor in action. Is this an artistic suggestion that we are to evolve with beauty, strength and grace in a harmonious and supportive relationship?

These mime actors were a song. A poem of human spirit in action. The body movements were well coordinated and they moved in harmony to become beautiful convolutions of body sculpture - Like the sculpture of Rodin. Their work suggests that perfection is possible in this imperfect world, in spite of the imbalances we witness everywhere in every day life.

Watching attentively, their slow motion movements, connections and mutual supports gave me hope and confidence for the future of humanity. Their physical movement transcends to the truly spiritual existence longed for throughout all time.

I also had the pleasure of seeing "MYSTERE" in Las Vegas last February, 1997. We traveled especially to see the rare beauty of a performance. True, genuine, meaningful entertainment. If you ever want to experience truly ecstatic, great artistic excellence and meaningful balance of the human body and spirit, then, I urge you to go and take everyone you care about with you to experience deeply a grand transformation of spirit. Take them with you to experience this earthly and ecstatic beauty still possible in this "civilization" that worships and glorifies mediocrity.

This is how Cirque du Soleil (a marvelous troupe of great performers astonishes audiences all over the world) genuinely communicating beyond the ordinary. So now you can understand when I say, "Keep me sane in the midst of madness" or "In the midst of mediocrity rampant in the western world, a torch of light, of excellence, of honest and artistic work is STILL POSSIBLE today - uniting the state of the art technology and the creative edge of human possibilities."

QUIDAM is a feast for the senses. It is realized with grace and ease in spite of the negativities the world is plagued with. It is a triumph of the human spirit with the ability to rise above the mediocrity of "entertainment." I repeat, It is still possible today. This fact in itself is a reassuring statement of the powerful existence of the human genius and spirit. Seeing this beautiful work once again instills in my heart, the infinite possibilities for human genius and creativity. Only through genuine artists nearing perfection, can we dare make a step towards leaping into a new world of artistic expression - Human nature fragile, but yet so beautifully balanced.

Le Cirque du Soleil is the ultimate realization of excellence in the performing arts, fertile imagination and state of the art technology; integrated to astonish, entertain and celebrate the human form and the genius of becoming.

Thank you Cirque du Soleil! Your brilliance has touched me deeply as it continues to touch millions of circus lovers all over the world. Once again, Le Cirque du Soleil has reinvented itself....A circus totally human. What more can be said about Cirque du Soleil? ----------------------------- If you wish to know more info about Le Cirque du Soleil you can visit their website at: http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/

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