By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
If last year's Cirque du Soleil's ``Quidam'' was all about spectacle, this year's Cirque Eloize's ``Nebbia,'' unveiled at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts on July 9, is much purer in theater circus.
The Canadian circus troupe presents Nebbia, which means fog in Italian. The means of expressions used in circus shows are intertwined through with that of high theatrical art in an unusual, surreal and tragicomic way.
The show collects segments of childhood memories, provoking nostalgia through each episode with diverse characters.
Fog took center stage from the beginning of the show, when three performers appeared and started talking about their memories of their families and friends while getting lost amid the fog-laden roads. Then, the show slipped into dream-like stages, blending acrobatic theater and modern circus.
In the circus, acrobatics took part of the whole performance and integrated themselves into the narrative flow of the show.
The energy that emanated from this characteristic, combined with the multi-disciplined performers, gave birth to magic on stage.
Nebbia relied on breaking the rules, constantly changing traditions and integrating different forms of art.
There was no spectacle, but a beautiful and poetic atmosphere continued throughout the show, making the best use of the human body.
Trampoline artists flew in the air up and down automatically as if controlled by a TV remote, defying the laws of gravity and reinventing the art of circus with theatricality and poetry.
It also utilized 365 flying balls depicted as shooting stars against a backdrop of the pastel-toned foggy green and yellow sky, while about 12,000 cork balls fell from the ceiling like rain.
One of the striking scenes was contortions in which a performer moved his body and face into unusual shapes and positions, actually turning his body inside out somehow.
The show focused more on emotions and themes inspiring imagination compared to other circuses like Cirque du Soleil, which emphasizes acrobatic technique and large-scale spectacles in big-top theaters.
Cirque Eloize has been widely recognized for its poetic style and is often described as an artistic circus. The degree of perfection involved in executing the complex elements of each show is a testament to the unique skills and creativity of this Montreal-based contemporary art and performance group.
The circus has evolved from its earlier traditional form using animals and clowns to stage spectacular performances. Now a style of circus known as cirque nouveau, or contemporary circus, combines many different art forms such as trapeze, juggling and acting, to convey a story or theme.
Nebbia also co-produced by Credia, a local performance organizer. It is the third part of their Sky Trilogy ― Nomade, Rain and Nebbia ― directed by Daniele Finzi Pasca. Credia put ``Rain'' on stage in Seoul in 2006, scoring a big success with the audience.
The performance will be staged at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts through July 20.
It runs for 140 minutes including a 20-minute intermission. Tickets cost from 30,000 to 100,000 won. For more information, call 1577-5266 or visit www.nebbia2008.com.