was memorable for many reasons - the ache of sitting on grandstand planked seating, the puzzling at the antics of clowns and the smell of elephant dung still resounds in my memories.
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| The La Nouba tent in the background, next to Disney Quest, in Downtown Disney. |
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| La Nouba. Pity we couldn't take pictures of the show inside. |
As we walk, the purpose built theater for La Nouba (which means “to live it up “) beckons at the end
of the Disney Downtown walk, luminous and inviting, like a modern day enchanted castle. We take
our seats in the auditorium and before me, I see a nondescript stage which is unadorned and unlit. It
reminds me of an ancient Greek agora that Aristophanes and Greek audiences would have watched
hundreds of years ago, but that is where the similarities end. Whether this is a purposeful design aspect, I am left wondering, as there is an audience interplay with traditional clowns: makeup, red noses and all. It’s a traditional schtick that brings many laughs, but soon enough, traditional ends and amazement begins.
Nothing can prepare you for the prowess and feats of agility and mesmerizing scenes that bloom before the audience. La Nouba, is not the circus of your grandparents or even your parents. This is a remix to the nth power. It is a popup story book that has shaken off its literary bindings and literally come to life. The stage itself is a marvel, as it metamorphosises to present obstacles, backdrops and pits. It’s the modern day circus ring that has grown up, left the house and done big, in the big top.
You literally must swivel your head to catch the sheer beauty and capture the antics on stage.
Sometimes it’s just one performer, and many times, there are many performers doing many things.
She nudges me with her knee, almost telepathically knowing that my line of sight is not in the right
place, I’m watching centre stage, when I should be looking much higher. I follow her gaze above the
stage to see two tight rope walkers daintily stepping down a sloping cable that bisects the stage. La
Nouba is just so…so much to see. High in the gods, the iconic character of La Nouba, the bird, watches through a small door, like a peeled back panel in a child’s popup book. Her presence is framed by a red light. The scene is the very stuff of dreams. It’s the first time in a very long time that I have been entertained and utterly speechless. The tiny Asian girls are caricatured chinoiserie, down
to the way they cock their heads and skip back and forth, throwing and catching their spinning tops
with inhuman efficiency. Each throw is higher and more difficult than the one before, and yet these
young girls never stop smiling. They are inhuman, and yes, you must see them to believe them. I’m
reminded that any live act is a massively complex and intricately wrought machine sequence of timing
and prowess set amidst a surreal backdrop. These stereotypes have broken their own moulds and recast
themselves - seeming stereotypes that have again found relevance amongst today’s audiences. Jugglers, stunt cyclists, gymnasts and more, all characters with their own personalities that hark back to anearlier, more romantic time. All the while, the physical acts of agility are accompanied by otherworldly voices - two singers, as theatrically dressed as the cast themselves. They are literally songbirds who alternate, appear and sing above, and to the side of the action, sometimes presiding, sometimes complementing with operatic dirges. It is an assault of the audience’s senses. I mentioned before that the amazement began with the opening act. It stays with me still. - CW
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| The Cirque Du Soleil virgin |
La Nouba, 1478 East Buena Vista Drive
Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830
www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/lanouba/default.aspx
