(As Australia waits for the arrival of Kurios, we take a look back at some of the previous productions by Cirque du Soleil)
It was the South American touring production that graced Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Curitibia, Rio de Janerio and Porto Alegre. Corteo, which means “cortege” in Italian, is a joyous procession, a festive parade imagined by a clown. The clown pictures his own funeral taking place in a carnival atmosphere, watched over by quietly caring angels.
The show brought together the passion of the actor with the grace and power of the acrobat to plunge the audience into a theatrical world of fun, comedy and spontaneity situated in a mysterious space between heaven and earth.
Corteo featured a variety of innovative acrobatic equipment elements that were invented at Cirque du Soleil and designed to mesh seamlessly with the set design.
- The “Paradis” act brings together two circus skills: The Korean Cradle and the Tramponet (a combination of trampoline and safety net). The artists are thrown between two Korean Cradle double frame stations and rebound off the Tramponet, which is 80 feet long.
- The “Tournik” consists of a steel frame and twin high bars mounted on the stage turnables.
- The “Lustres” are giant chandeliers that float in mid-air above the stage. They are decorated with some 4,000 sparkling “jewels” and garlands of reflective acrylic spheres.
- There are three custom-built ladders in the show, each designed to meet a different acrobatic demand. They include a bungee ladder and a tall ladder which is almost 15 feet high.