“There won’t be any clowns, will there? I don’t like clowns.”
That was my 14-year-old mentee, outside the circus tent and just before we stepped into the 1970s for an hour of disco magic, as interpreted by impresario Michel Michelis and his Cirque de Boheme.
“I don’t think so,” I told him, “but I’m pretty sure you’ll see some other amazing things.
Indeed we did.
We saw a juggler on a unicycle keep four electrified bowling pins flashing in the air as he circled the stage. We saw aerialists contort and suspend their bodies from ropes, trapeze bars and columns of silk. We saw a very large magician pull a six foot-long balloon from a 12-inch paper bag while inelegantly solo dancing to the music of the Bee Gees. Stayin’ Alive, oh yeah.
And we saw the hypnotically elegant, sinuous and only slightly sensual (there were lots of kids watching) aerial dance of two gifted performers who flowed through the air in a feat of romantic choreography that required extraordinary strength and balance while looking effortless.
All this from a distance of less than 20 feet.
Michel Michelis is quintessentially French. He has been a French blues singer, he has been a Frenchman in movies, he voiced a French automobile in the film “Cars 2,” and his grandparents founded a French circus in the Montmartre district of Paris. After their passing the circus was demolished to make room for a parking garage. Oh, the indignity.
So the inspiration and the motivation for Cirque de Bohème runs deep and reflects a tradition, and a time, when bohemian values were embodied in performing arts offered in the intimate proximity of a small tent.
Now in its eleventh season in Sonoma, Cirque de Bohème is back on the grounds of Cornerstone gardens, tucked into a circus tent with a capacity of just 150 people. No one is far from the stage.
Every production has a theme, a story, and a musical message. The theme this year is Disco, and the sound track for each performance runs the gamut from Donna Summer to the Village People.
The exceptional cast is drawn from the ranks of Bay Area aerialists, contortionists, magicians, jugglers and this season features Vix Nolan, Joey the Tigger, Ken Garr, Heather Tipton, Chris Garcia (aka Draco the Juggler) and the delightful aerial ingenue, 16-year-old Elah Robinson.
As we exited the tent, my not-easily-impressed companion said, “Yeah! That was pretty good. I liked it. A lot.”
Cirque de Bohème continues at Cornerstone gardens on December 7,8,14,15,21,22,28 and 29. Shows start at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. Tickets are available online at www.cirquedeboheme.com.
By David Bolling
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