Thursday, December 8, 2011
theater Cavalia: Odysseo carries audience to horse heaven
Posted by Curt Holman @Curt_Holman on Thu, Dec 8, 2011 at 1:38 PM
- Dustin Chambers
- FLYING V: Cavalia: Odysseo
Normand Latourelle, one of the founders of Cirque du Soleil, founded the Montreal-based production, which appeals to Cirque fans who miss animal acts at the circus. The U.S. premiere of Cavalia’s new show, Odysseo features 55 human performers and about 70 horses delivering a graceful but undeniably magical spectacle at the Big White Top on Spring Street.
As the title suggests, Odysseo leads audiences on an odyssey of simulated landscapes and climates, from rain forest to African savannah to Easter Island to North America’s monument valley. The back of the performing space features a life-size, sloping hill, and when riders stand silhouetted on the crest, or emerge with photorealistic projections behind them, Odysseo displays iconic images from the American West and other horse-based cultures.
Some of the acts present old school trick riding, like rodeo stunts with multi-culti costumes and New Agey musical accompaniment. Riders stand astride two steeds at once, or dangle from saddles with no visible means of support, or cling to the animals as they vault over hurdles. At times the handlers guide the horses in graceful formations, like sidestepping in a row before the audience, or moving abreast in teams of four or more.
The loveliest and most impressive moments come when the horses move free of saddles, reins or bridles. In Odysseo’s opening moments the animals enter on their own and eventually trot in circles without any cues the audience can detect. Are Cavalia’s trainers all horse-whisperers?
My favorite moment was the final sequence, when water floods the mulchy space. First a rider leads his mount in impressive moves, like cantering in place or walking backwards, then a small herd of unharnessed horses come racing, the water splashing in the stage lights. It’s a breathtaking tableau of liberation that makes you forget the animal’s extensive training.
Numerous times Odysseo gives the horses a breather and lets the people take over. Muscular tumblers come boisterously in forming elaborate human pyramids or leading the audience in familiar but fun call-and-response songs. One group of acrobats leap hurdles and do flips while wearing those bouncy stilts on their feet. Where Cirque du Soleil often raises the audience’s adrenaline level with risky stunts that have names like "the Wheel of Death," Odysseo cultivates a more delicate atmosphere. While hanging onto a suspended carousel, ballerina-like performers hold themselves from poles at 90-degree angles in striking but low-key feats of athletic control.
Odysseo crafts multiple moments that can leave the spectators unexpectedly serene, such as the hypnotic sight of horses arranged in concentric circles cantering in opposite directions. If you’ll pardon the pun, the show could be used as a Trojan horse to introduce young people to the aesthetic concepts of space and movement that inform dance as a craft. Perhaps the boys in the audience more moved by “extreme” pastimes will get restless by the show’s second half, but girls of all ages will think they’ve died and gone to horse heaven.
Cavalia: Odysseo plays through Jan. 8 at the Big White Top at 8th and Spring St. www.cavalia.net
More photos from Odysseo
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