Mystère Cirque du Soleil

The beautiful mystery of life -- Mystère

By Greg Thilmont

Wondrous and perpetually new, the amazing spectacle of Cirque du Soleil's Mystère celebrates life and its myriad forms.

Directed by the masterful Franco Dragone, Mystère is a festive and acrobatic experience for theater-goers. A carnivalesque atmosphere fills the theater as The Clown -- looking like a manic usher -- interacts with the audience as it settles in for the show. Hang on tight to your popcorn, kernels tend to fly when The Clown is around!

Then, with the pounding beat of a giant Japanese taiko drum, Mystère begins. The evocative performance is filled with a flurry of acrobats and dancers in outlandish, colorful costumes, many of them inspired by birds and other animals.

Early on, a major Mystère character is introduced -- the Baby. Bouncing a giant ball and cooing to the audience, the Baby represents the humor and innocence of life. Later, as he explores the precipitous heights of the stage, the Baby brings a sense of danger alive for the audience.

From this new, youthful person, Mystère moves to the full flourish of the adult human form with Paul Bowler and the Aerial Cube. Spinning aloft with a cube of connected tubes, Bowler bends and twists with the shape. Sometimes it spins about his body - it's a stunning exercise in geometry and dexterity.

Mystère plunges into a study of group dynamics with the mesmerizing Chinese Pole episode. Dozens of performers scale a series of poles, rising and falling in sync. As they leap side to side and from pole to pole, their bodies and intricate costumes form a hypnotic moving pattern.

In the Hand to Hand routine, the human body itself becomes a frame as Marco and Paulo Lorador support each other upon a rotating dome. It's thrilling to see two bodies nearly meld together in suspended, outstretched poses. It's a true show of great strength.

From the grounded solidarity of these two united dancers, Mystère moves into the freedom of the air with Bungee and Korean Plank pieces. The Korean Plank has performers hurtling into the air -- spinning and corkscrewing -- after being launched from a giant teeter-totter like catapult.

With the Trampoline segment, acrobats hurl themselves across the stage in great, breathtaking arcs. With the Aerial Bar, Mystère performers spin and fly 40 feet above the stage.

With all this colorful and thrilling flying, Mystère builds to an extravagant, prismatic and percussive finale. Like life itself, Mystère is filled with mystery. It's the mystery of breathtaking beauty and movement -- both in body and spirit.