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labricoleuseCirque de Soleil's KÀ, currently running at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, NV, is so mindbendingly spectacular that merely witnessing it will make drunk people sober, even if you've been sucking down free drinks at the rate of three per hour down at the Elvis slots since noon...which, admittedly i had been, so I can tell you that from personal experience.
Ever seen a Cirque show? If not, it's like, flying exotic dancers from another planet doing circus tricks on Broadway in a vague sort of Commedia paradigm, while stuff blows up and fire shoots everywhere. Except better. I found myself clapping my hands with glee, gasping in surprise, even weeping like a little girl as i watched this show, the majority of which takes place on a vertical stage set at a right-angle to the audience.
But, most folks know Cirque performances are fantastic and fantastical; this blog is about the costumes.
From the Costume Design section of the KÀ presskit:
Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt's costumes for KÀ are quite a departure from what audiences have come to expect from Cirque du Soleil . In this show there are no neon-bright primary colours on display, no candy stripes or optical-illusion patterns. No shimmering skin-tight bodysuits either. And yet, KÀ's costumes are among the richest and most eye-catching ever seen in a Cirque production. Vaillancourt comes from the world of theatre and film, and it shows.
"We didn't set out to break completely from past Cirque productions," says Vaillancourt. "And actually, it was important that there should be a continuity. However, the fact that I've worked with Robert Lepage since 1989 means that he and I have developed a kind of private language and we found that we couldn’t break with our own past. And at the same time, we did want to bring a breath of fresh air to Cirque."
This is from a scene called "Shore." According to the folks at Cirque, all that "sand" is actually granular cork, and approximately 1,300 hours went into making one crab macropuppet. The performers have to maintain a backbend position while wearing these! Can you spot the crab-dude in the foreground one? He's hard to discern, but if you look close you should be able to see his limbs.
This is the Counselor and his Son. This image is of particular interest to me because it's got this oh-so-familiar element that has been the bane of my existence in many past shows: the tattooed character as a costume problem. And, go on with yourselves, brilliant Cirque designers and craftspeople, for choosing my favorite solution: silk-screened tattoos on a dyed-to-match fleshtone unitard/bodysuit. The Counselor's Son (who, incidentally, reminds me to a somewhat freakish degree of an ex-boyfriend of mine in this photograph) was only one of a multitude of extensively-tattooed characters--the batallions of Spearmen and Archers also had this level and scale of tattooed elements in their costumes.
I'm also drawn to the leatherwork on the Counselor's Son. The multi-piece posture collar seems to be a popular element in ostentatious costume designers' repertoires everywhere--i think i've made around 35 of them in the past few years. The distressed, paneled, tabbed, multilayer intricate leather "skirt"/loincloth element is pretty cool as well, with those narrowest of thin red patent details! Slutty gothic men everywhere must be green with envy. And I find myself wondering: did the leathersmith painstakingly pattern those opera-length fingerless leather gloves, or did s/he stick a shapeless tube onto the arm and, draper-like, clip out the long seams organically and sculpturally?
This character is called Firefly Boy. In addition to the 923874 heat-set Austrian crystals encrusting his leotard and tights and codpiece, there's another bit of sparkle that really calls for a closeup shot:
Now, if i'm not mistaken, those strands of fire-colored beads actually light up on his fly-harness corsety item there. El-wire or some scattered-placement LEDs, i'm guessing. Pretty cool! And, of course, amazing to see onstage, particularly when the wearer is doing aerial ballet and martial arts.
That's it for the pix, but here are a few more craftworthy interesting facts from the presskit:
Seventy specialists worked more than 35,000 hours to produce the first full set of KÀ costumes at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal.
There are approximately 400 pairs of shoes for the artists.
There are six different body tattoo designs on the unitards worn by the Archers and Spearmen.
The Spearmen shoes are created to look like they aren’t wearing shoes, with molded rubber toes affixed to a show base.
That last one just makes me cringe. Something about the idea of having to make fake rubber toes for an illusion foot-shoe squicks me right on out the door and down the block. Yuck! I mean, cool for them, whoever came up with that idea. I'm just not a foot person. But, i totally digress.
So, to get back to the show itself, my recommendation is, if you find yourself in Las Vegas with a spare hundred bucks (or, like me, some industry connections willing to pull some strings for comps), go check out KÀ. Your eyes will pop out on stalks and you'll walk out of the place in a backbend formation.
[Thanks to the Cirque de Soleil pressroom for allowing me to use these photographs. All photos belong to them and may not be reproduced without permission.]
Edited May 31, 2007 to add:
Due to the large number of spam comments this entry receives, i have disabled comments altogether. Hopefully if you enjoy the blog you will comment on one of the many other entries that still have comments enabled, and hopefully if you intend to spam my blog with links to porn sites you will drop off the nearest rocky cliff, thanks.
Ever seen a Cirque show? If not, it's like, flying exotic dancers from another planet doing circus tricks on Broadway in a vague sort of Commedia paradigm, while stuff blows up and fire shoots everywhere. Except better. I found myself clapping my hands with glee, gasping in surprise, even weeping like a little girl as i watched this show, the majority of which takes place on a vertical stage set at a right-angle to the audience.
But, most folks know Cirque performances are fantastic and fantastical; this blog is about the costumes.
From the Costume Design section of the KÀ presskit:
Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt's costumes for KÀ are quite a departure from what audiences have come to expect from Cirque du Soleil . In this show there are no neon-bright primary colours on display, no candy stripes or optical-illusion patterns. No shimmering skin-tight bodysuits either. And yet, KÀ's costumes are among the richest and most eye-catching ever seen in a Cirque production. Vaillancourt comes from the world of theatre and film, and it shows.
"We didn't set out to break completely from past Cirque productions," says Vaillancourt. "And actually, it was important that there should be a continuity. However, the fact that I've worked with Robert Lepage since 1989 means that he and I have developed a kind of private language and we found that we couldn’t break with our own past. And at the same time, we did want to bring a breath of fresh air to Cirque."
This is from a scene called "Shore." According to the folks at Cirque, all that "sand" is actually granular cork, and approximately 1,300 hours went into making one crab macropuppet. The performers have to maintain a backbend position while wearing these! Can you spot the crab-dude in the foreground one? He's hard to discern, but if you look close you should be able to see his limbs.
This is the Counselor and his Son. This image is of particular interest to me because it's got this oh-so-familiar element that has been the bane of my existence in many past shows: the tattooed character as a costume problem. And, go on with yourselves, brilliant Cirque designers and craftspeople, for choosing my favorite solution: silk-screened tattoos on a dyed-to-match fleshtone unitard/bodysuit. The Counselor's Son (who, incidentally, reminds me to a somewhat freakish degree of an ex-boyfriend of mine in this photograph) was only one of a multitude of extensively-tattooed characters--the batallions of Spearmen and Archers also had this level and scale of tattooed elements in their costumes.
I'm also drawn to the leatherwork on the Counselor's Son. The multi-piece posture collar seems to be a popular element in ostentatious costume designers' repertoires everywhere--i think i've made around 35 of them in the past few years. The distressed, paneled, tabbed, multilayer intricate leather "skirt"/loincloth element is pretty cool as well, with those narrowest of thin red patent details! Slutty gothic men everywhere must be green with envy. And I find myself wondering: did the leathersmith painstakingly pattern those opera-length fingerless leather gloves, or did s/he stick a shapeless tube onto the arm and, draper-like, clip out the long seams organically and sculpturally?
This character is called Firefly Boy. In addition to the 923874 heat-set Austrian crystals encrusting his leotard and tights and codpiece, there's another bit of sparkle that really calls for a closeup shot:
Now, if i'm not mistaken, those strands of fire-colored beads actually light up on his fly-harness corsety item there. El-wire or some scattered-placement LEDs, i'm guessing. Pretty cool! And, of course, amazing to see onstage, particularly when the wearer is doing aerial ballet and martial arts.
That's it for the pix, but here are a few more craftworthy interesting facts from the presskit:
Seventy specialists worked more than 35,000 hours to produce the first full set of KÀ costumes at the Cirque du Soleil headquarters in Montreal.
There are approximately 400 pairs of shoes for the artists.
There are six different body tattoo designs on the unitards worn by the Archers and Spearmen.
The Spearmen shoes are created to look like they aren’t wearing shoes, with molded rubber toes affixed to a show base.
That last one just makes me cringe. Something about the idea of having to make fake rubber toes for an illusion foot-shoe squicks me right on out the door and down the block. Yuck! I mean, cool for them, whoever came up with that idea. I'm just not a foot person. But, i totally digress.
So, to get back to the show itself, my recommendation is, if you find yourself in Las Vegas with a spare hundred bucks (or, like me, some industry connections willing to pull some strings for comps), go check out KÀ. Your eyes will pop out on stalks and you'll walk out of the place in a backbend formation.
[Thanks to the Cirque de Soleil pressroom for allowing me to use these photographs. All photos belong to them and may not be reproduced without permission.]
Edited May 31, 2007 to add:
Due to the large number of spam comments this entry receives, i have disabled comments altogether. Hopefully if you enjoy the blog you will comment on one of the many other entries that still have comments enabled, and hopefully if you intend to spam my blog with links to porn sites you will drop off the nearest rocky cliff, thanks.
