Cirque du Darwin

Where does Cirque du Soleil keep finding these people? The company’s highly stylized circus shows employ dozens of performers with talents ranging from the merely impressive to the seemingly impossible, and right now no fewer than 19 of these spectacles are being staged in cities around the world. How can...

By Ciara LaVelle

January 10, 2013

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Where does Cirque du Soleil keep finding these people? The company’s highly stylized circus shows employ dozens of performers with talents ranging from the merely impressive to the seemingly impossible, and right now no fewer than 19 of these spectacles are being staged in cities around the world. How can there be so many attractive people with the courage to fly through the air, the motor skills to juggle plates with their feet, or the flexibility to contort themselves into human Eagle Scout-level knots? Is Cirque growing them on a farm somewhere? Garden-grown or not, Cirque’s circus freaks are back in South Florida to perform Totem, taking place under the big top in Lot 14 at Sun Life Stadium (2269 NW 199th St., Miami Gardens). The plot of the show traces human evolution, including scenes involving frogs, man’s desire to fly, and a giant turtle. So yeah, it’ll be just as trippy as the seven other Cirque productions that have visited Miami, with the added benefit of pissing off creationists.
Jan. 10-Feb. 3, 8 p.m., 2013

Ciara LaVelle is New Times' former arts and culture editor. She earned her BS in journalism at Boston University and moved to Florida in 2004. She joined New Times' staff in 2011.

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