But the show most resembles a mysterious, vivid dreamscape, complete with La Dormeur (“The Dreamer”). Another comical fellow straight out of Dr. Seuss with his blue-striped pajamas, long tale and droll face, The Dreamer guides the audience from one amazing set piece to the next, when he isn’t napping.
The focus of “Saltimbanco” isn’t on the loose narrative but on the stunning sensory experience. In the first act, three limber acrobats representing father, mother and child intertwine in a variety of configurations, lifting, arching and walking across each other’s bodies. A juggler dribbles bouncy balls down a set of acrylic steps with lightning speed and unerring precision, while a bold bicyclist flips, does handstands and rides his bike like bucking bronc. As the stars perform their amazing tricks, capricious clowns look on, babbling at the audience in gibberish and adding a touch of humor to the awe-inspiring stuntwork.
A couple dances around one another, creating an intricate and furiously fast rhythm with th eir drums and stomping feet, and later with boleadoras, long cords with weights on the end. With the boleadoras spinning at high speeds, the weights crack out a frantic beat on the stage and the cords blur into a flash of light around the performers.
But the Chinese poles provide the highlight of the first half. At least 15 acrobats dressed in multihued leotards ascended the four 20-foot poles with apparent ease, sometimes not even using their legs, and then executed an array of tricks, from leaping agilely from pole to pole to sliding down headfirst toward the stage.
After a 20-minute intermission, Cirque du Soleil sends in the clowns. But the jesters don’t just lark about, instead using a Russian swing to catapult high into the air and flip onto a waiting mat.
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