Exquisite visual spectacle

SALTIMBANCO, Manchester Arena

THOSE of you fortunate enough to have seen the first North-West visit of this incredible show in the Big Top at the Trafford Centre, in 2005. will remember it only too well.

As I said at the time, it’s an exquisite colour factory explosion of theatre, circus, comedy and visual extravagance that sends people home with a childlike sense of wonder.

What it is about, with its unformed language, surreal characters and weird goings-on that supposedly mean something profound, is neither here nor there: whatever story exists is irrelevant to the spectacle and splendour of colour, music and extraordinary circus performers.

The latter includes the likes of an exquisite four-girl bungee-trapeze act that is both graceful and ultra-precise as its members fly down and up in perfect synchronisation, performing elaborate crossovers as they go.

Then there are the boleadoras — exponents of the Argentinian bolas, part-weapon, part skipping rope, used to dash out a rhythm on the ground at furious speed as they dance.

And that’s ignoring hilarious clown Amo Gulinello, who mimes to noises produced by his highly-amplified mouth and other effects, which have the audience howling with laughter at the invention and cheeky wit involved.

Other highlights are the Chinese Pole acrobats; an amazing juggler; a phenomenal Russian Swing act that flings exponents 35ft into the air, and bicycle balancer Ivan Do-Duc, who makes riding a bike in reverse, or from the front mudguard, or standing on the handlebars facing the rear wheel, seem as comfortable as the way the rest of us manage.

This time the show is staged not in the company’s 2,500-seat big top, but as an indoor arena spectacular, which basically means a stage whose position, diameter and height remains pretty much the same as before, without the tent.

Though in many ways this makes no difference to the quality, colour or beauty involved, it does have an effect on that most important of circus assets, atmosphere.

The arena is many things, but it can never offer the sort of close-up brilliance, energy or intimate scale of the big top, nor the latter’s perfect view from any seat, nor its sense of community experience.