If you go
› What: Cirque de la Symphonie with the Chattanooga Symphony & Opera.› When: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28.› Where: Memorial Auditorium, 399 McCallie Ave.› Admission: $28-$85.› Phone: 423-757-5580, 423-267-8583.› Websites: www.tivolichattanooga.com, www.chattanoogasymphony.org.› Note: Tickets also available at the CSO office, 701 Broad St.
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About the Cirque de la Symphonie performers› Alexander Streltsov is a Russian aerial artist who started working with famed cirque choreographer Pavel Brun and producer Valentin Gneushev at age 12, performing on Broadway at the Gershwin Theatre.› Christine Van Loo performed as a professional aerialist and acrobat in the 2002 Winter Olympics and at two Grammy Awards, the American Music Awards (with Aerosmith) and the Miss Universe pageant.› Jarek and Darek: Former Polish national hand-balancing champions Jaroslaw Marciniak and Dariusz Wronski bring mind-boggling strength and agility to their “Duo Design” performances, thrilling audiences at several NBA halftimes, Cirque du Soleil, Busch Gardens, Circus Circus and the national tour of Cirque Ingenieux.› Vladimir Tsarkov provides a spellbinding performance combining mime and juggling feats. A graduate of Russia’s prestigious State College of Circus and Theater Arts, he won the gold medal at France’s Cirque de Demain International Festival.› Elena Tsarkova, the “Lady in White,” is a graduate of the famed Moscow Circus School and first-place winner of the prestigious National Russian Circus Festival. She has performed with the Big Apple Circus, Switzerland’s Circus Knie and Germany’s Circus Roncalli.› Vitalii Buza began his gymnastic training as an elite gymnast with the Russian national team. He has been featured in numerous TV ads and won a role in the Walt Disney movie “Enchanted.” Vitalli also performed at the 2007 NFL Pro Bowl, 2010 Academy Awards and has performed for celebrities such as Donald Trump, Russell Simmons, P-Diddy and Shaquille O’Neal.
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Halloween reignsHalloween themes abound in this final weekend before the holiday, which falls on Monday. For more, see Halloween roundups in Music (Page H3), Arts (Page H15) and Out & About (Page H23).
Chattanooga Symphony & Opera Music Director Kayoko Dan falls just short of calling the Friday, Oct. 28, performance with the acrobatic performers from Cirque de la Symphonie a once-in-a-lifetime experience, but she does go so far as to call it a rare chance to see something so exciting and beautiful.
It’s so good, in fact, she wishes she could see it herself.
“It is a fantastic experience for the family,” she says. “I almost wish I could be in the audience so I could watch.”
While Dan conducts the music, the orchestra and the audience will have a close-up view of the jugglers, acrobats, contortionists and other circus performers behind her and flying over her head.
The show will feature a lineup of familiar classical musical pieces – Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “The Phantom of the Opera,” Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s “Danse des Bouffons (Dance of the Clowns)” from “The Snow Maiden,” Georges Bizet’s “Carmen,” Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s “Swan Lake,” Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” and Modest Mussorgsky’s “Night on Bald Mountain,” among others.
“I don’t want to say it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” Dan says, “but it doesn’t happen very often.”
The show has garnered praise from fans and media around the country.
The Seattle Times praised Cirque de la Symphonie’s “every breathtaking feat of strength and agility” and explained:
“A symphony orchestra has a lot in common with circus acts. Both involve developing and maintaining suspense. Both involve spectacle and modulating emotional pitch, capturing the rapt attention of an audience willing to surrender to every nuance or peak The clearest sign that ‘Cirque’ was working was in the way kids in the audience were just as absorbed by the stand-alone musical portions of the program as they were by the ones featuring the performers.”
The Baltimore Sun wrote: “It was cool to hear collective ‘oohs’ and ‘ahs’ rise from the crowd [and] hear shouts of approval.”
The Cirque de la Symphonie performance also necessitates a change of venue for the CSO, from the Tivoli Theatre to the larger Memorial Auditorium.
Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.