Cirque Du Soleil’s show Totem is a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind, and is staged in a Grand Chapiteau next to Campbell’s Field at Camden, New Jersey’s waterfront. Sitting inside the tent, you get the feeling that this structure has been there from the beginning of time, and then the performances take you there.
The show is about the evolutionary progress of the human species. The performances start with a crystal man being lowered from the sky to frog like creatures crawling out of a shell and then to a man in a suit carrying a brief case and cell phone, who is shocked because he is being followed by apes which imitates Zallinger’s “March of Progress.” Darwin is a recurring character throughout the show.
There are a series of performances that leave the audience holding their breath and hoping that the woman attached to her partners neck, flying through the air on roller skates is not going to be catapulted out into the audience and crash into someone. The performance is ethereal, and tugs at your heartstrings as the two float off into the distance.
The costumes reveal not six, but eight packs that go on for days, and not one ounce of body fat. The music is melodic and seductive, which lends it beautifully with the romanticism of the lovebirds that fly through the air playing a cute cat and mouse game. There is a performance of five women on seven- foot tall unicycles who kick bowls into the air and catch them on their heads. Two crystal women spin crystallized fabric squares on their hands and feet upside down, and continue with a one armed balancing act while one woman holds the other up on her shoulders with her feet. This show leaves the audience awestruck at just what the human body is capable of doing.
Totem is written and directed by Robert Lepage and bills itself as somewhere between science and legend. The show was awarded the 2013 New York Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience. Fifty- two performing artists from 19 countries make up the cast of Totem.
The show continues when you leave the Grand Chapiteau with a view of the Ben Franklin Bridge and skyline of Philadelphia, which in all its glory, is breathtaking. The show runs to June 30th.
http://www.camdenwaterfront.com/
Cirque Du Soleil’s show Totem is a fascinating journey into the evolution of mankind, and is staged in a Grand Chapiteau next to Campbell’s Field at Camden, New Jersey’s waterfront. Sitting inside the tent, you get the feeling that this structure has been there from the beginning of time, and then the performances take you there.
