By NOEL MURPHY
THE BIG TOP is the perfect way to describe Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian-based outfit that’s rewritten the rules on circus shows with its staggering colour, choreography and athleticism.
Neelanthi Vadivel, artistic director of the latest Cirque franchise to hit Australia, Totem, is right in the thick of this remarkable troupe overseeing a multitude of tasks that seems a little mind-boggling in its own right.
She ensures costumes, lighting, set design, sound design, music and choreography are all at peak standard. She revs up the cast — many of them first-order elite athletes — helps their acrobatic evolution and integrates new ideas while all the time ensuring the show adheres to its original concept.
Vadivel says Totem, playing at Melbourne’s Flemington Racecourse from January 21, is an evolution-themed vehicle to display the superlative skills of Cirque’s performers.
True to Cirque form, it’s all delivered in wildly kaleidoscopic fashion.
“Man’s journey is such a huge story with so many different facets,” she told the Independent.
“The nice thing about (Totem creator) Robert LePlage’s vision is he didn’t want to represent just vision of animals, etc. It could have been linear but instead you get these momentary vignettes that are very colourful and emblematic.”
Vadivel has performed in Cirque du Soleil’s Dralion, where she was posted as dance captain then artistic director with Saltimbanco. She headed up Michael Jackson THE IMMORTAL World Tour, again with Cirque, before taking on Totem.
“You’re dealing with people of so many different levels — ex-Olympic athletes transitioning to the role of artists, then well-seasoned artists who might have been performing since they were five years old in traditional circuses or theatres.
Geelong Olympian Trudy McIntosh, for six years a star with Cirque du Soleil, recently told the Independent of swapping the vaults and rings of gymnastics for the exquisite glamour of its world-touring Alegria.
“You wouldn’t think you can beat the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games, you can’t, but with Cirque, after shows you see people crying,“ she said.
“We’d open them to a new world, let them forget their worries of life for a bit.
“To see that every night was really rewarding. I trained 37 hours a week as a gymnast, it was really hard. This is the reward, doing what I love and making people happy is absolute bonus.“
