Page 19 - BusinessWest April 15, 2024

Flying High
Cirque du Soleil’s BAZZAR Entertains Audiences in Hartford
“The high-energy excitement, collision of sounds and colors, and meeting place of diverse characters you’d find at a traditional bazaar inspired the name of the show.”
As Steven Bishop, the creative director for a Cirque du Soleil troup that recently opened a month-long run in Hartford, Conn., spoke with BusinessWest just two days before the April 6 opening, performers milled about in the back- stage area, polishing high-skill routines that include teeterboard, acrobike, contortion, duo rollerskates, duo trapeze, aerial rope, hair suspension, fire manipulation, slackline, and more.
The show, called BAZZAR, a play on the word ‘bazaar,’ has been honed through performances around the world over the past six years. The event will continue at Under the Big Top on Market Street through May 4, and tickets are available at www. cirquedusoleil.com/bazzar.
As its marketing materials note, “Cirque du Soleil BAZZAR is an eclectic lab of creativity where a joyful troupe of acrobats, dancers, and musicians craft an awe-inspiring spectacle. Led by their maestro, they band together to invent a whimsical, one-of- a-kind universe. In a place where the unexpected is expected, the colourful group imagines, builds, and invents vibrant scenes in an artistic and acrobatic game. You might find that the end
of the story is really only the beginning. The high-energy excite- ment, collision of sounds and colors, and meeting place of diverse characters you’d find at a traditional bazaar inspired the name of the show.”
Meanwhile, for the first time in Cirque du Soleil history, perform- ers in BAZZAR display strength and technical feats in an act of mal- lakhamb, a traditional Indian sport in which a gymnast performs aerial yoga postures and wrestling grips in concert with a vertical stationary or hanging wooden pole, cane, or hanging rope.
Steven Bishop, one of the creators and designers for BAZZAR, has been with the company for 20 years.
Staff Photo
Impactful Operation
Christine Achampong, senior publicist for BAZZAR, said 97 people are traveling together to put this show on, and they’re on the road, performing at locations around the world, 50 weeks out of the year.
The big-top tent, which holds 2,600
Cirque
Continued on page 38
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