There’s an old cliché that says, “Everyone loves a circus.”
When Cirque de la Symphonie comes to town, don’t expect just to love it, however. Expect to be entranced and surprised and carried away, as well.
“This is not a popcorn and peanuts kind of presentation,” said Bill Allen, executive director and producer. “It’s more of a theatrical production. We perform to classical music with only one act going on at a time. Our show is meant to raise Cirque artistry to the fine arts level.”
Cirque de la Symphonie began in 2005 when Allen joined forces with Alexander Streltsov, a Russian aerial artist. On his own, Streltsov had put together similar programs with the Cincinnati Pops.
“The shows were very successful, and it was actually the conductor, Erich Kunzel, who gave us the idea of starting the company,” Streltsov said.
Now 10 years later, Cirque de la Symphonie works with 50 to 60 orchestras a season, along with some 65 Cirque artists, and regularly fills the house. In fact, last year’s two shows with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra at The Forum sold out, and, at press time, tickets for this month’s shows were going fast.
Allen said that the shows attract new patrons to the music hall, many of whom may never have seen an orchestra before.
“You would expect to see grandmothers luring in their grandchildren to be exposed to the symphony with the promise that they may see a clown or a juggler or something like that, but what’s really interesting is that you see a very large number of young adults in their 20s and 30s who have just about everything else in the world competing for their entertainment dollar, and they choose to come see this program,” he said. “These young adults are the very people that orchestras need to be recruiting as new subscribers.”
Cirque de la Symphonie is the only Cirque company in the world that works exclusively with symphony orchestras.
“Performing along with live classical music is a very different kind of performance for these Cirque performers,” said Allen. “The orchestra is not there just to be a background band and play along to what antics are going along down stage.”
Alina Sergeeva, a third generation circus performer who specializes in hoops and hand balancing, said that she loves getting into a venue, doing just one rehearsal with the orchestra and then putting on the show.
“Live music makes it all better,” she said.” The symphony really helps you do the best you can on stage.”
When Cirque de la Symphonie comes to Harrisburg, the group will perform feats that make the “nearly impossible look easy,” accompanied by well-known classical masterpieces, said Allen.
“They’ll hear a little bit of Shostakovich’s ‘Festive Overture,’ Rossini’s ‘Tarantella’ from ‘La Boutique fantasque,’ some Rimsky-Korsakov, Kabalevsky and Brahms,” he said. “We also have some recognizable music that the young people would find interesting, like ‘Flight to Neverland’ from the movie ‘Hook.’”
Streltsov is one of the eight Cirque artists who will be performing in Harrisburg. A celebrated aerial artist, he performs mostly on “silks,” which are long pieces of fabric that are suspended from the ceiling. Streltsov comes from a circus family and has performed for three Russian presidents, with the Bolshoi Ballet and on Broadway.
Other performers include award-winning acrobatic gymnast Christine Van Loo; Vitalii Buza, an elite gymnast with the Russian national team; master juggler and illusionist Vova Tsarkov; aerial and balancing specialist Sergeeva; and 13-year-old contortionist Nate Nordine.
Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz Wronski (known as Jarek and Darek) appear as a matched pair, painted from head to toe in gold. They will display strength and agility as they show off their skills as Poland’s former national hand-balancing champions.
“All of our Cirque artists are consummate performers who are at the top of their game,” said Allen. “Imagine what it’s like for them to be highlighted as a solo artist with a sold-out music hall in front of you and the power of a full symphony orchestra behind you. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Cirque de la Symphonie performs with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra on March 7 at 8 p.m. and March 8 at 3 p.m. at The Forum in Harrisburg. To find out about ticket availability or to learn about any of the Symphony’s other programs, visit www.harrisburgsymphony.org.
