Cirque du Soleil's 'Saltimbanco' redefines the big top

Cirque du Soleil changed the nature of circuses when it debuted 25 years ago. There was no string of elephants circling the floor and pausing to sit on well-supported stools. There was no lion tamer handling an entire pride with a whip and a chair.

It was just people, strangely costumed people, who performed odd feats of acrobatics in a sort of surrealistic gravity-free pantomime.

Since then, the Canada-based company has grown into an entertainment empire, with 17 productions going on around the world. Some are in residence ("La Nouba" has been in Orlando for a little more than a decade), and others are on the road.

Tonight, Cirque brings "Saltimbanco" to Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena with eight performances through Sunday. It's the first full Cirque production to come here. Three years ago, "Delirium," a primarily musical reinterpretation of pieces from other Cirque productions, played the arena.

But "Saltimbanco" is classic Cirque du Soleil. It debuted in 1992 and for years traveled from city to city (like other Cirque productions) to play under the big top. It all happened in a huge tent, just like circuses used to when they roamed from town to town.

Two years ago, "Saltimbanco" was redone to fit inside, and it's been touring arenas ever since. Two weeks ago it was in Gainesville, then Tallahassee, tonight Jacksonville.

Carmen Ruest, Cirque du Soleil's director of creation, said changes had to be made. Many arenas aren't as high as the tent, and there wasn't room for the high wire act.

The idea behind "Saltim-banco" is that city life is full of a variety of people.

The news in the early '90s, Ruest said, was full of villages dying in Europe, but that big cities were dangerous and scary places. So "Saltimbanco," she said, creates a place that is fun and safe.

Most people think of Cirque du Soleil as acrobatics - and there is no shortage. Of the 51 performers in "Saltimbanco," 33 are officially acrobats, said Michael Ocampo, who's now a coach after a decade of performing. Most of them were gymnasts, he said, and competing at world championship level. But others came through sports not as popular here in the U.S.: trampoline, tumbling and even through circus schools.

The apparatus is not unique, he said. The trapeze, ropes, Russian swing and Chinese poles were in circuses long before Cirque.

But what it has done is a mood as much as a show tied together with music and costume. In addition to acrobatics, there's a juggler and a pair of flamenco dancers using Argentine boleadoras, swinging hard balls at the end of strings to add to the rhythm of their feet.

The clown is the most dominant performer, appearing in each act. And even though "Saltimbanco" is scripted, Adam Miller, the artistic director, said there's always room for a little improvisation, particularly with the clown, who interacts with the audience.

roger.bull@jacksonville.com, (904) 359-4296

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: 'SALTIMBANCO'

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday; 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Sunday.

Where: Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena.

Tickets: $40 to $95 for adults, $32 to $76 ages 2-12. Call (904) 353-3309.

'SALTIMBANCO' FACTS

Some details about Cirque du Soleil's "Saltimbanco"

Performers: 51 of them including 33 acrobats

Band: Five musicians, two singers

Nationalities: 20

Technicians: 20

Stage: 100 feet long; 65 feet, 51 inches high

Chinese poles: 24 feet tall

Costumes: Each performer wears three to five different ones

Shoes: 250 pairs worn each show