Small Talk (Circa 07.18.2010)

The other night the better half and myself watched Cirque Du Soleil’s “Quidam” with our kids on DVD. If you aren’t familiar with Cirque, you should try to see them sometime. It’s a circus that was started by some French Canadians in Quebec, and has since become a worldwide thing. The songs are in mixed languages, sometimes with words completely made up, as the “story” of the show is conveyed more through pantomime, imagery and movement than concrete thoughts. The composers seem more interested in the sounds of the words than the meanings of the words. You will hear English, French, German, etc., sometimes all in a single sentence. But it doesn’t keep you from enjoying it at all. It’s kind of just the flavor of Cirque. My wife and I saw a live performance of their show “Mystere” around ten years ago and it was amazing.

Quidam was pretty cool, with the usual mix of acrobatic circus acts, performance art and music. For some reason it made me feel like I was watching a Jim Henson movie, like Labyrinth or The Dark Crystal. But our movie night with Quidam led to a short conversation the next day with two of my kids. It went something like this...

6 Year Old: Dad, can we watch the circus again? What’s it called?

Me: You mean Quidam?

6 Year Old: Can we watch it again?

8 Year Old: If we do, I’m going upstairs!

Me: Why would you go upstairs?

8 Year Old: Because it was freaky!

Me: It’s just a circus. It’s meant to be different to keep it interesting.

6 Year Old: Yeah! And it teaches you to speak Chinese!

Me: Well, yes, I hadn’t thought about that aspect of it, but learning Chinese is certainly a plus.

8 Year Old: But it was freaky!

Experimental mosaic by Greek Artist Charis Tevis,
inspired by Cirque Du Soleil.
You can see some of his work on Flikr.

Peace to you.





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