A preview of Cirque Alegria
Cirque Alegria opens in Hawaii on October 15, and some of the 55-member cast is already in Honolulu to help get the show ready and promote it. They had a press conference yesterday to give us a little taste of what we will see, with clowns dressed like elaborate — albeit old — birds, and a hand-balancing act.
We also got to catch up with 26-year-old Micah Naruo, who hails from Honolulu, but has been touring with the show for about two years as a fire knife dancer. You can also read an in-depth feature on Naruo in InsideOut Hawaii.
Some quick highlights:
Ed Morita shot video of an interview with the show’s publicist, Genevieve Laurendeau; a performance by hand balancer Denys Tolstov; and an interview with Naruo.
The two-and-a-half-hour show features 55 artists from 15 countries doing amazing acts of balance, agility, and muscle control.
“‘Alegria’ is a joyful cry, a cry for life,” says Laurendeau. “In fact, the story line is basically about a power struggle between the generations.” Naruo pointed out that the bird-clown costumes represent the older generation, which is why their faces and bodies are shaped that way.
“It’s exciting to be a part of this show — I got to travel the world and am in a different city, sometimes, every week,” Naruo says. “But for now, it’s good to be home, and I can’t wait to show my friends my home and the foods I like. (Hand balancer) Denys just discovered loco moco the other day, and he loves it! So we’re definitely going to be looking for more.”
I think we can help him with that.
Cirque Alegria
Oct. 15 through 31
Blaisdell Arena
