Arts & Entertainment

Quidam: 'Like Alice in Wonderland, the Cirque du Soleil Way'

Amazing acrobats perform at Sears Centre, Feb. 8 -12.

Cirque du Soleil brings Quidam to the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates this week. Quidam is the story of young Zoe, who is bored and finds life meaningless. She slides into the imaginary world of  Quidam where she meets characters that encourage her to free her soul.

Quidam was first performed under the Big Top in 1996. The current production has been adapted for an arena. Quidam publicist Jessica Leboeuf said adapting the show provided some challenges.

“The stage looks the same,  but it's designed differently, more clever, to allow it to be put together and torn down easier,”  Leboeuf said. The stage is designed so that everyone in the house has a good view, she said.

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The sound is even better than under the Big Top, said Leboeuf.  “We had amazing results. The show features a live band with six instruments.”

Quidam has evolved over the years due to the addition of new performers.

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“Our shows are organic productions that live and breathe with the people in it. Every performer in the show brings a little bit of themselves. They make the characters their own,” she said.

The entire artistic team goes on tour with the show to keep the artistic integrity and to keep the show fresh.

Quidam is a family-friendly show and appropriate for children 5 or older.

“It depends on the kid, but if they can sit through a movie with their parents, they will be OK. The show does a good job of keeping their attention with so much color and the music is beautiful,” Leboeuf said.

“Quidam evolves around a family and follows around a little girl. Kids can really relate to the little girl. It is like Alice in Wonderland, the Cirque du Soleil way,” she said.

Some highlights of the show, according to Leboeuf are:

  • The music – The dramatically intense music features the singing of a man and a child. Music on a variety of instruments is performed live at every show.
  • Skipping Ropes act in which a child’s game is turned into a choreographic feat. “Skipping Ropes comes after an intense emotional and  beautiful act, Aerial Silk; Twenty performers come on stage with colorful costume and create a group skipping act,” Leboeuf said.
  • Banguine, an Italian medieval acrobatic tradition, is the show's finale and features 15 artists who perform spectacular sequences of acrobatics and human pyramids.

Cirque du Soleil began in the mid-‘80s with 20 street performers in Baie-Saint-Paul a small town near Quebec City. Today, the business had 5,000 employees worldwide. In 2012 Cirque du Soleil will present 22 different shows around the world.

Tickets for Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam are available online  or by calling 1-888-SEARSTIX (732-7784).


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