UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.—Cirkopolis, the newest creation from Montreal’s Cirque Éloize, dives into a vibrant imaginary world and pushes the boundaries of visual and audio innovation through different forms of projections. Circus, dance, music and theater meet in an urban landscape of the imagination at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 27, in Penn State’s Eisenhower Auditorium on the University Park campus.
The classic films "Metropolis" and "Brazil" inspired the unique imagery that takes audiences into this industrial yet fanciful sculptural city. The 12 performers -- and audiences of all ages -- shift between dream and reality in an uninterrupted stream of acrobatics, music and dazzling images.
Tickets for the Center for the Performing Arts presentation are $42 for an adult, $15 for a University Park student and $24 for a person 18 and younger. Buy tickets online at http://cpa.psu.edu or by phone at 814-863-0255. Outside the local calling area, dial 1-800-ARTS-TIX. Tickets are also available at four State College locations: Eisenhower Auditorium (weekdays 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.), Penn State Downtown Theatre Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.), HUB-Robeson Center Information Desk (weekdays 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) and Bryce Jordan Center (weekdays 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.). A grant from the University Park Allocation Committee makes Penn State student prices possible.
Co-commissioned by the Center for the Performing Arts, Cirkopolis unfolds in the heart of an imposing city in which giant gears and dark portals symbolize the crushing lack of individuality. Bathed in the music of an original score and surrounded by projected video, the performers rage against monotony, reinvent themselves and dare the limits of the factory city in which they’re bound.
“Cirkopolis was imagined as a crossroads between imagination and reality, between individuality and community, between limits and possibilities,” said Jeannot Painchaud, Cirque Éloize (serk el-WUHZ) artistic director and co-director of Cirkopolis. “The show is driven by the poetic impulse of life, the physical prowess of the circus and the humor, at once serious and light-hearted. Cirkopolis is all about letting go and allowing yourself to be borne aloft by hope.”
Cirkopolis features a number of circus disciplines, including contortion, trapeze, Cyr wheel, Diabolo, straps, Spanish web, hand to hand, balancing, Chinese pole, German wheel, teeterboard and group acrobatics.
Painchaud co-founded the company in 1993. A native of Québec, he has worked in the circus arts for more than a quarter century. This marks Cirque Éloize’s fourth appearance at the Center for the Performing Arts. The company’s most recent visit to Eisenhower was in 2011’s iD.
Artistic Viewpoints, an informal moderated discussion featuring Cirkopolis Tour Manager Valérie D’Amours, is offered in Eisenhower one hour before the performance and is free for ticket holders. Artistic Viewpoints regularly fills to capacity, so seating is available on a first-arrival basis.
The creation of Cirkopolis was co-commissioned by Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), Crédits d’impôt spectacle du gouvernement du Québec, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Conseil des arts de Montréal et Conseil des arts du Canada, the Center for the Performing Arts at Penn State and La Place des Arts.
The presentation of Cirkopolis at Eisenhower is made possible, in part, by Hilton Garden Inn. Radio station 95.3 3WZ is the media sponsor.
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