Playing without a net: The rumble heard over the northeastern horizon during the last week was not, in fact, late summer storms but instead the arrival of 55 tractor trailers carrying over two million pounds of equipment to (literally) stage the production of Cirque du Solleil’s KOOZA. Running until September 27th at Denver’s Pepsi Center Grounds, KOOZA is the story of a boy (“The Innocent”) who opens a delivered parcel to discover The Trickster. This dashing conjurer guides the boy through the magical world of KOOZA like Virgil through Dante’s Divine Comedy, allowing him to intermingle with his surroundings but never be truly put in harm’s way. The ten stage acts that comprise the show are connected throughout by The King of Fools and his Court of Clowns, players that engage the audience with comedy and magic while the stage is rearranged for the next eye popping performance.
While the storyline is appropriately fantastical, it’s the performer-athletes that more than justify ticket prices ranging from $35-130. There is a unicyclist who performs a Latin Waltz, a juggler in command of a dozen rings, and a bevy of bright-eyed players standing on enormous balls, head-balancing other acrobats who are in turn supporting two more. A trio of young contortionists unfold a performance of high art that truly needs to be seen to be believed. But it’s the acts at altitude that cause the heart to skip and head to shake. Dual high wires, stacked one above the other, support fencing acrobats at twenty-five feet while giant see-saws, or teeter boards, catapult the artists even higher in flight and flips. Yet the most spectacular event of the evening is the Wheel of Death that begins the Second Act, a pinwheel of steel cages that propels the performers in a dizzying loop that reaches heights at the breaking point of the big top, with nary a safety line in sight.
