Reviews 2003
Reviews 2003
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created by Normand Latourelle, directed by Érisk Villeneuve
Voltige Inc., Big Top at Mill & Cherry Streets, Toronto
November 2, 2003
If Cavalia looks and sounds like Cirque du Soleil with horses, there's a reason. Normand Latourelle, who created the show, led the international development of that famed company from 1985-1990. His latest brainchild, beginning an extensive North American tour in Toronto, is a fantastic spectacle that celebrates the beauty of the horse and the partnership man has developed with it.
The show depicts to woozy New Age accompaniment man's first encounter with wild horses, their gradual domestication and the emergence of dressage as an art. Thrilling scenes abound--a demonstration of Roman riding where three riders, each standing on two horses, race around the sandy on-stage ellipse or a display of trick riding where one horse after another dashes the full 50-meter length of the stage as the riders perform acrobatic stunts. Such adrenaline rushes are counterpointed with quieter scenes emphasizing the intricate hoofwork familiar through the Lipizzaner shows of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. The most amazing scenes are the simplest. French trainer Frédéric Pignon, solely through whispers and facial gestures exerts a wizard-like influence first over one, later over three horses. Far from any notion of coercion, he and the horses seem to be playing a game of mime.
Attempts to integrate tumbling or dance with horse routines largely fail. The sheer size of the stage and of the quadruped actors dwarfs whatever the acrobats do and their solo efforts seem merely to mark time to give the riders a break. In some cases, as in the trick riding display where three acrobats dangle from the ceiling, their presence is actively distracting. Yet, in one magical scene it works. Two men ride in a circle while two women suspended on cords float nearby as if they were spirits. It's like a fantasy illustration come to life.
©Christopher Hoile
Note: A version of this review appeared in Eye Weekly 2003-10-23.
Photo: Frédéric Pignon and horses. ©2003 Voltige Inc.
2003-10-23
Cavalia: An Equestrian Fantasy