Review: 'Kooza' opens a box of treasures in S.F.

SAN FRANCISCO – One of the wonders of Cirque du Soleil, perhaps the most amazing of all its astonishments, is how the Canadian mega-entertainment company retains its core sensibilities. From its origins in 1982 as stilt-walking, juggling, fire-breathing street performers in Quebec City, the business now has over 3,800 employees worldwide, including almost 1,000 artists. Cirque du Soleil has 15 shows performing around the world.

"Kooza" is the latest to make its North American premiere, opening Friday under the blue-and-yellow big top in the parking lot at AT&T Park in San Francisco.

"Kooza" emphasizes the basics of Cirque du Soleil with spectacular acrobatics and the classic art of clowning. The performances are framed through the eyes of an Innocent (Stephan Landry) who receives a mysterious box present. The title "Kooza" derives from the Sanskrit word for box, chest or treasure. Writer and director David Shiner chose the word to underline the idea of a circus in box, which is how "Kooza" unfolds.

From the box, Jason Berrent's Trickster catapults (literally) on to the stage, where he directs the succession of performers as if creating fantastic illusions. The set designed by Stephane Roy initially seems like a large, open public space where the Innocent plays with his little kite, trying to make it fly.

The audience sits on three sides of the nearly circular stage that holds a dramatic two-story structure called the Bataclan at its rear. Part bandstand – the nine-piece live ensemble with vocalist sits in the top section – and part entrance for the numerous acts, the Bataclan slides forward and back, unfolding giant fabric wings as it does.

The acts are jaw-dropping feats of physical skill, strength, coordination, flexibility and audacious creativity. After an opening procession of the core artists, a trio of contortionists (Julie Bergez, Natasha Patterson and Dasha Sovik) are first group to stun the crowd. Plying their bodies into what seem at first like extreme yoga poses, the three women build human sculptures as they impossibly fold their bodies on top of and over each other.

Unicyclist Yury Shavro uses partner Diana Aleshchenko as a human accessory as she performs a variety of acrobatic maneuvers with him while he pedals the unicycle around the stage. Juggler Anthony Gatto gets points for a remarkably distinct silver shiny outfit as well as freakish skill and creativity as he adds more and more elements (balls, hoops, and pins) along with speed to his clever routines.

Though chair balancing is as straightforward as it gets – stacking chairs on a pedestal – Zhang Gongli displays as much sheer physical control and strength as any performer as he balances himself in a one-arm handstand at the top of the 23-foot-high tower.

The danger factor is multiplied by the high-wire quartet (Angel Quiros Dominguez, Vincente Quiros Dominguez, Angel Villarejo Dominguez and Flouber Sanchez) who not only skip rope on the wires but also make a human pyramid on bicycles.

Finally there is the modestly named Wheel of Death, where Jimmy Ibarra Zapata and Carlos Enrique Loaiza power large wheels (think of a hamster wheel on steroids) at either end of a large pendulum. As the pendulum swings over the top of itself at increasing speed, the acrobats somehow spin outside and on top of the wheels, where they leap and twist in the air and, rather incredibly, land on the moving wheels while maintaining their balance.

Interspersed through the acrobatics are the antics of three clowns, the King (Gordon White) and his two sidekicks, Christian Fitzharris and Joshua Zehner. Michael Halvarson also does an ingenious pickpocket routine with a volunteer from the audience.

Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt created the diverse costumes, Jean-Francois composed the atmospheric music, and Clarence Ford created the subtle choreography.

Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza"

WHERE: Under the Grand Chapiteau at AT&T parking lot (Third Street and Terry Francois Boulevard), San Francisco

WHEN: 8 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays, 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 1 and 5 p.m. Sundays

TICKETS: $49.50-$90

TIME: 2 hours and 45 minutes, including intermission

INFORMATION: (800) 678-5440 or www.cirquedusoleil.com

About the writer:

• Call Bee theater critic Marcus Crowder, (916) 321-1120.