Cirque du Soleil’s Kurios—Cabinet of Curiosities is a procession of wonders: the Canadian circus giant’s sharpest, sexiest, most stylish production in years. In a departure from the otherworldly themes for which Cirque is best known, writer-director Michel Laprise embraces a steampunk aesthetic: metal and leather, chunky robots, glowing filaments under glass, a singer with a phonograph horn on her head. The style may be retro, but the acts—and the technical ingenuity that makes them possible—are fully up-to-date.
Ukraine’s Andrii Bondarenko projects insouciant ease as he perches gracefully atop a Jenga-like tower of chairs in a dinner-party sequence that is cleverly mirrored from above. Taiwan’s Chih-Min Tuan, a yo-yo master, performs dazzlingly quick, ravey skills with glowing pocket watches. Russian-American brothers Roman and Vitali Tomanov, initially presented as conjoined twins, separate to swing shirtlessly through a cunningly coordinated strap act.
Additional variety is provided by well-honed comic acts. Argentina’s Facundo Gimenez hilariously depicts a date interrupted by animal instincts, and Spain’s Nico Baixas performs a marvelous variation on hand puppetry in which his hand is the puppet—like The Addams Family’s Thing let loose—with manual antics that are projected onto a giant paper lantern.
In its thrilling union of evocative old-time aesthetics and stunning international talent, Kurios seems determined to be, as old circus hype would have it, the greatest show on earth. Watching it, agape with pleasure, you may not disagree.
Next to the Hard Rock Stadium, 347 Don Sula Dr, Miami Gardens. Dec 10–Jan 29: various dates and times; $33–$255. Click here for full ticket and venue information.
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