At the end of this month, Chris Lashua is going to roll around on the ground inside a big fat hoop while a whole bunch of people watch. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. It’s just that annual open-air festivals “” especially the ones called ArtWalk “” evoke something a little more sedate, like strolls along painting-laden thoroughfares normally reserved for cars. For those disinclined to sample the fare, walking in the street at least appeals to that pesky part of them that wants to get away with it.
That’s why Lashua’s appearance at this year’s ArtWalk San Diego, set for April 29 and 30 over an 18-block area in downtown’s Little Italy section, will cast a different light. The Las Vegas resident is a member of iL CIRCo, a San Diego-based international circus collective, and he’s a former member of the famed Cirque du Soleil, which means his performance pedigree is beyond reproach.
Even so, he insists the excerpts from iL CIRCo’s act will be right at home among their land-bound counterparts.
“I’m sure that in the past, the event has been thought of as a display of paintings on canvas and sculpture,” Lashua, 37, said. “But this is a whole other element that I think adds to it. Of course, we’re adding choreography and costumes to it, which is what I think sets it apart. Audiences are there because they’re open to this kind of thing, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The 22nd annual free festival, largest of its kind in the region, will feature the work of more than 350 painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians and other performers, with Lashua’s appearance among the featured entries. iL CIRCo met with rave reviews last year, said events spokeswoman Sandi Cottrell, adding that there’s more to iL CIRCo than its act.
“We wanted to give [ArtWalk] more of a street-festival flair,” Cottrell explained, “like at a Venetian carnival or a Barcelona plaza, where you have street performers and characters in costume. That’s because it’s in Little Italy, which has that very European feel to it.”
iL CIRCo, now in its tenth year, has performed for 5 million people worldwide and seeks to cross the boundaries between theater and circus. The shows feature human-size puppets and sophisticated acrobatics; they’re based in improvisational work, imaginary locales and state-of-the-art technology. Apple Corp.’s popular iTunes music player features selections from “Viaggio,” iL CIRCo’s signature coming-of-age story, and the group has performed in Mexico, Europe and such far-flung destinations as Malaysia and Dubai.
“The best shows,” Cottrell added, “are the ones that have a storyline that makes some sort of sense. [“Viaggio”] has a very theatrical quality in regard to the storyline.”
Lashua’s two-tiered wheel is called a rhoenrad, so named when it was developed 80 years ago in Germany’s Rhone River valley. It means big business in western Europe, where gym-wheel teams thrill spectators and compete as part of an organized sport. Lashua explained that the rhoenrad is far from the unwieldy contraption it appears to be “” its operation, he said, involves time-tested techniques that transcend brute strength.
“It’s actually a very predictable apparatus,” Lashua said. “Once you have the physics squared away, you bring in the other elements when you’re comfortable, like dance and choreography and acrobatics. That’s what I think takes it to the next level.”
The festival’s other features include KidsWalk, a series of hands-on art exploration activities for children; the Fairytale Mile, a stretch of folk story-inspired murals by several local artists and schools; a Mexican Cultural Institute installment featuring works by established and new artists from across the border; and the Downtown Lifestyle Pavilion. New to the festival, the pavilion showcases the downtown San Diego lifestyle and the cultural and commercial benefits thereto.
And then there’s the rhoenrad, whose unique presence likely colors everything around it. That sliver of glee that marks a walk in the street may pale by comparison.
Further information about this year’s ArtWalk is available at 619-615-1090 or at www.artwalkinfo.com.