Company extends San Diego dates due to demand
By Anthony King | Downtown News
Cirque du Soleil returns to San Diego this month with “Totem,” the 11th production from the Montreal, Canada-based company to visit the area since 1987. Like other Cirque productions, “Totem” combines acrobatics, athletics, music and costumes for a show that is ever evolving.
Evolution may be the theme for “Totem”—which traces the human species from its original amphibian state to modern-day human—but it is also one of the guiding principles of Cirque as a theater company. “Cirque’s mandate as a company is creation,” Artistic Director Tim Smith said. “Technically, you could see a show on Thursday and it would be different on Friday.”
Smith, whose previous experience includes working on six original Broadway shows, said changes in “Totem” happen through a collaboration with new technologies, the actors and, most importantly, through audience feedback. “Although the show was created a year and a half ago, we then start[ed] our journey and we constantly motivate ourselves to change it, develop it [and] make it better,” he said. “That makes it really exciting daily, on a creative basis.”
“Totem” premiered in Montreal in 2010, and the production has since visited more than 10 cities in four countries, with an audience of more than 1 million viewers. The San Diego production begins April 25 and runs through May 13 at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, located at 2260 Jimmy Durante Blvd.
Touring, however, has become a day-to-day occurrence for Amanda Balius, head of wardrobe for the show. Originally from Biloxi, Miss., Balius said she has been on the road for 12 years.
While there are many aspects to a Cirque show, for “Totem,” costumes are a key component to how the actors interact with the audience, Balius said. “In this show, because we’re dealing with evolution… I think the costumes really help [the actors] find their character,” she said. “That’s what makes this special for the audience.”
Characters include frogs, monkeys and a Neanderthal man, as well as a man made entirely out of mirrors, called the Crystal Man.
“We have a lot of very drastic looks,” Balius said. “It’s a vast spectrum.”
For Smith, who said it was “always nice to be in San Diego,” the traveling production is a way for people to see a Cirque show without having to travel far or watch one on television. “What’s great for San Diego,” he said, “is whenever you get the chance to see Cirque live; that’s the only experience. We’re excited to be in a great city, and people get a chance to have an experience that they won’t have anywhere else.”
Tickets for the Del Mar production of “Totem” range from $40 to $148.50. VIP packages are also available and show times vary. For complete times and to purchase tickets visit cirquedusoleil.com/totem.
