Canada’s circus of dreams comes to Liverpool

Mar 7 2008 by Emma Pinch, Liverpool Daily Post

Emma Pinch previews Cirque du Soleil's Delirium, one of the most fabulous shows you could see this year

TO SAY the sum is greater than the number of parts is no slur on anyone’s talents when you’re talking about the eye–popping spectacle that is Cirque du Soleil.

Cirque, which has gained a reputation for the most surreal and dazzling of all circus extravaganzas, blends music, acrobatics, drama and dance so seamlessly it’s hard afterwards to put a finger on the single components that gave it such colossal impact.

Delirium, the arena production being billed as being bigger, brighter, busier and noisier than any previous shows, is put on by 122 people whose roles go from lighting technicians to gymnasts.

London-born James Mack is one of the three percussionists who share the stage with three other musicians, 12 dancers, six singers, nine acrobats and three actors.

He’s currently in Budapest with the production, and despite touring with some of the biggest and starriest names in the music industry, says the talent at Cirque is some of the most impressive he’s played with.

Mack, with his Senegalese colleagues, helps create the “urban tribal music” which is the backbone of the show and produced predominantly conga drums and cuicas, Brazilian instruments which mimic the sound of birds.

The action takes place on stage and in the air and in typical Cirque fashion, follows a meandering dream of an “everyman” protagonist. But, for the first time in Delirium, music and singers are centre stage, showcasing urban rhythms and using real words rather than an invented language.

It’s billed also as the most massive technical production ever created to tour arenas, because it explodes with 540 feet of pre- recorded and live lights, lasers, holograms and videos, alongside the daring acrobatics taking place continuously on and above the 120 foot stage.

“It’s amazing to watch,” says Mack, 36. “I’ve seen it from the front and it’s everything you want in a show; all going on at once. The visuals are something you would never get in a regular Cirque du Soleil show, and there’s so much going on in the air.

“The acrobats are all on ropes swinging through the air and on hula hoops hanging from the ceiling. What I get is that it follows the sub-conscious of a child and what he wanted to be. He travels all over the world in this dream attached to a big air balloon. He steps into Africa, and there’s African music and dancing and there’s another dream where there’s Arabic music.

“There’s so much talent on stage and such a huge lighting and multi- media element, it’s more like going to see a big pop tour concert.”

Mack is in a position to know what that’s like. He has toured three times with Kylie and with Westlife, Jon Bon Jovi, Peter Andre, and also with productions of Dirty Dancing and The Lion King. Delirium, which he’s been with since January, sees him stepping out from the shadows to become part of the on-stage drama for the first time.

“I’ve had to learn some choreographed movements, dancing and percussion, where as in pop tours I’ve been standing behind the main performer,” he says. “It was quite natural for me. I think I’ve always been a bit of a show off and now I’m allowed to do it as part of my job.”

He’s learning from the best in the business at Cirque, which recruits performers from 15 countries around the world.

Mack studied orchestral and Latin percussion at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and left in 1994. He now lives in Australia with his wife, and spends about three months a year touring.

“When I left music college, didn’t want to do orchestral percussion and I got a tour with Des’ree playing African and Latin percussion and timbale drums.

“What I love about percussion is the variety, you never stop learning. On pop tours, I play a number of different percussion instruments like vibraphone, marimba, timpani and keyboards but we have to have a lot more skills for this show, definitely, because Cirque’s atmosphere is completely different.

“The Senegalese are incredible percussionists. All percussion comes from Africa, then it got mixed into Brazilian music and Latin stuff. They learn it young and are incredible artists. I feel like a complete beginner.”

Cirque du Soleil began 20 years ago as a group of penniless street performers in Quebec. Today, they are among the top entertainers in the world, performing sell-out shows to millions.

Although Cirque today is bristling with modern technology, Mack says the tradition of the circus family is still very much alive. But, he says, he’s more star- struck by the people he’s rubbing shoulders with here than the global names he’s toured with in the past.

“The artists are so disciplined,” he says. “You see them off stage and they are so normal and nice, and then you see them on stage and your mouth just opens and you think ‘I just can’t believe what I’m seeing you do now, spinning 50 foot up in the air upside down‘. There’s no kind of hierarchy really, but I’m more star-struck here than on any pop tours I’ve been on.”

He says he’s so far been spared Diva-like behaviour. “With Kylie, you’re eating dinner during the whole thing and living as the same unit. She’s a really nice girl and all the people round her are great. She’s not a diva at all. I don’t think you really get Aussie divas. And English people are not really diva–ish are they? So far in my career I’ve been very lucky.”

* CIRQUE du Soleil is on March 25 and 26, with tickets priced at £45 and £55. To book tickets log on to www.accliverpool.com or call the Echo Arena Box Office on 0844 8000 400.

FACTS

* TWO special rail bridges and 27 motors have been built for Delirium to allow characters and equipment fly across the sky.

* The equipment takes nine hours to set up and 18 trailers to transport it from venue to venue.

* Eleven tour buses transport the 122-strong crew, which includes 29 bus and truck drivers

emma.pinch@dailypost.co.uk