DENVER | The basic storyline behind Cirque de Soleil’s new touring show “Amaluna” should feel familiar to any serious William Shakespeare fan.
A ferocious storm runs a ship and its crew aground on a remote island governed by a powerful magician. One of the shipwrecked sailors falls head over heels for the magician’s daughter, and romance springs amid sorcery and mystery. The outline of “The Tempest,” a romance written by Shakespeare in the early 17th century, also serves as the foundation for the Cirque de Soleil’s latest traveling show that’s set to kick off its run in Denver this week.
But the parallels between Shakespeare’s fantasy and the original production by the Canadian circus company known for extravagance only goes so far. Case in point: Shakespeare’s work never called for juggling, teeterboards and giant bowls of water.
“We’ve reinvented old circus acts in a way we’ve never done before,” said Jamie Reilly, the company manager for the touring production of “Amaluna.” “I think, first and foremost, as patrons walk in to the Big Top, they will feel immersed in a different universe.”
“Amaluna” draws on the trademark performance elements that have made Cirque de Soleil an international cultural powerhouse for nearly 30 years. The show takes cues from traditional circus performances and expands them: the jugglers’ patterns are more complex, the props and sets are lavish and the acrobats take to trapezes, teeterboards and uneven bars to launch themselves into the air. All of it takes place in the Cirque de Soleil’s traveling “Big Top,” a canvas structure that stands more than 60 feet high, measures more than 160 feet in diameter and boasts a capacity of about 2,600 people. That separate structure will rise on the grounds outside the Pepsi Center in Denver this week.
“I say there’s something magical about the Big Top,” said Reilly, a Montreal native who’s been touring the world with Cirque de Soleil for more than a decade. “When you’re in the Big Top, a circular venue, it gives a very different feel,” she added, pointing to the differences between the company’s large-scale shows in Las Vegas, “It’s a lot more intimate … You have artists wandering around the audience; you get the emotions, the facial expressions.”
But the scale isn’t the only exceptional feature of “Amaluna,” a show that debuted in Canada last year. The production is a watershed for a company that’s dedicated itself to pushing artistic boundaries and recreating the notion of the traditional circus. Created and directed by New York-based writer and director Diane Paulus, “Amaluna” is the first Cirque de Soleil show to feature a mostly female cast.
About 70 percent of the performers are women, an all-female band provides the live music and the spirit and structure of the show explores themes of femininity, rebirth and renewal.
“‘Amaluna’ is a tribute to the work and voice of women,” said Fernand Rainville, one of the show’s creative directors, in an artistic mission statement. “The show is a reflection on balance from a woman’s perspective.”
That theme impacted just how much Paulus and the rest of the creative crew drew on “The Tempest” for inspiration. In William Shakespeare’s work, the sorcerer Prospero casts spells to summon the storm that brings the ship’s crew to his island. In the Cirque de Soleil production, the titular island of Amaluna (a combination of words meaning “mother” and “moon”) is governed by Prospera. While the central theme is still rooted in a love story between one of the ship’s crew members and the daughter of the island’s magician, “Amaluna” also features acrobatic routines tied to feminine coming-of-age ceremonies and the dances of goddesses.
“We have women in this production who represent various (natural) elements,” Reilly said. “On our other shows, it’s more or less between 60 or 70 percent male artists. I’m certainly very proud to be at the helm of the show that showcases women.
“I take a lot of pride in my job,” she said.
The stress on including more women’s voices in the show isn’t limited to the plot, or even the performers onstage. Reilly is one of only a handful of women to hold the title of company manager for a large-scale Cirque de Soleil show. She came to the position after working on a traveling production that toured across the world; she was part of the creative crew that took a Cirque show to Russia for the first time in 2009.
“My experience in Russia demonstrated that I have the capacity to lead a tour anywhere in the world,” Reilly said. “It was extremely difficult, to be very honest. Anywhere you go in the world for the first time will be very difficult.”
Those difficulties included getting the right kind of permits and permission for the Big Top tent and the Cirque traveling crew of about 40 trucks. It meant finding a way to heat a circus tent in a Russian winter with temperatures that dipped far below zero. It included working with the Russian militia to get the troupe’s complex infrastructure set up in central Moscow.
Traveling to Denver after stops across Canada won’t pose those same kinds of challenges. Still, Reilly is eager to bring a new brand of circus show to Colorado audiences, one that celebrates performers who have traditionally been in the minority. Even with the greater stress on femininity in the casting, the plot and the crew, Reilly is confident that the appeal of the production will go beyond a single gender.
“I also feel that ‘Amaluna’ is not just about that. We do have men. Diane Paulus refers to the yin and the yang,” she said. “You need balance, you need men around. It’s important not to forget about them.”
Reach reporter Adam Goldstein at 720-449-9707 or agoldstein@aurorasentinel.com