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 typical art walks usually evoke something a little more sedate, like strolls along painting-laden thoroughfares.
Laushua’s appearance at the 22nd annual ArtWalk San Diego on April 29 and 30 will challenge that stereotype as visitors meander through 18 blocks of Little Italy. The Las Vegas resident is a member of iL CIRCo, a San Diego-based international circus collective. Lausha, 37, is also a former member of the famed Cirque du Soleil.
Even so, he insists that his performance will be right at home among stationary works of art.
“I’m sure that in the past, the event has been thought of as a display of paintings on canvas and sculpture,” Lashua 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 free festival is the largest of its kind in the region and will feature the works of more than 350 painters, sculptors, photographers, musicians and other performers. According to events spokeswoman Sandi Cottrell, iL CIRCo’s multi-faceted act met with rave reviews last year.
“We wanted to give [ArtWalk] more of a street-festival flair, like at a Venetian carnival or a Barcelona plaza, where you have street performers and characters in costume,” Cottrell said, adding that the festival capitalizes on Little Italy’s European feel.
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. The group is 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 are the ones that have a storyline that makes some sort of sense,” Cottrell said. “[‘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 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 commercial and cultural benefits of living downtown.
For more information about ArtWalk, call (619) 615-1090 or visit www.artwalkinfo.com.