Seattle Sympthony’s “Cirque Noir”

Originally published on social media on October 14th, 2024

I traded one circus for another this weekend, and it was lovely!

Watching Troupe Vertigo and the Seattle Symphony was a full body experience. My body ranged in motions from having my eyes widened to my jaw dropped to hands covering my face. Like a good tango, the symphony and the cirque went back and forth performing as well as performing together.

Some of the Orchestral highlights included Leonard Bernstein’s “West Side Story” Overture, the score from “Scent of a Woman,” and piece from Bizet’s Carmen. They were punchy with feeling and overflowing with passion…it was gorgeous. The cirque highlights were INSANE! I don’t even know how to describe what they did but the athleticism, flexibility, muscle, balance, willpower, and beauty all were mind blowing.

This was a performance, but I have two specific critiques:

1). They told a noir story in the second part of the performance, but the story itself cannot really be considered a story. If there was a story line, I didn’t follow it. I think if they made it Noir themed, I would have been able to enjoy it more, but because I kept trying to find the story, I couldn’t focus on what mattered.

2). This is less of a critique and more of a note of caution: I got nauseous watching the performance a couple of times and I think it was because of the props they used and the way they moved them. Either that, or I deal with anxiety enough that watching potentially life threatening movements is too much for me. Thank goodness I carry anti-nausea pills in my purse.

Besides these two points, I really did feel like I was somewhere special and witnessing extraordinary things.