Jordan Wright
July 7, 2014
Special to The Alexandria Times
In a few weeks National Harbor will host Cirque de Soleil’s Amaluna, a production loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Amaluna is a fusion of the words ama, which refers to “mother” in many languages, and luna, which signifies “moon” – a symbol of femininity evoking both the mother-daughter relationship and the idea of goddess and protector of the planet. Amaluna is also the name of the mysterious island where the story unfolds.
Water Bowel CWP
In this groundbreaking show that celebrates the work and voice of women, the audience is transported to a mysterious island governed by Goddesses, Amazon warriors and Valkyries and guided by the cycles of the moon. Performed by a cast of 70% female artists, the story recreates an exotic female mythology of half-human, half-animal characters expressed through original compositions, dance and extreme acrobatics.
Goddess
Rachel Lancaster, who previously worked on Corteo, brings her savvy to the show as a trained dancer with a theatre background. She is excited that Amaluna is her first show as Artistic Director. “All of our shows are so different. In Amaluna we have used newer technology for the aerial events, something we didn’t have before. The whole big top comes alive. The most exciting aspect of this show is the physical and emotional power of the woman. It’s really unique and features an all-female nine-piece band. It even has the only uneven bar act in the world. It is incredibly beautiful with a different esoteric sense from other Cirque shows.”
Teeterboard
Set in an island forest it tells the story of Miranda’s coming of age, using symbols and themes from Greek mythology. Hera, the Greek Goddess of women, is expressed by a peacock feather decoration that refers to the legend of the bird’s protective eyes in its tail. The eyes are said to watch over women in all stages of their lives.
Tony Award-winning Director, Diane Paulus (Pippin – 2013) directs the amazing cast. Her impressive theatre background reflects her position as Artistic Director at A.R.T. at Harvard University. This year Paulus was recognized on TIME Magazine’s annual list of the 100 most influential people in the world and Variety named her among its “2014 Trailblazing Women in Entertainment”. “I didn’t want to build a ‘women’s agenda’ show,” she has said. “I wanted to create a show with women at the center of it – something that had a hidden story that featured women as the heroines.”
Ama Prospera Miranda
I met with cast member Iuliia Mykhailova, a petite contortionist with muscles of steel, who plays Miranda – a leading role that requires her to be on stage throughout the show. Discovered at a circus college in her hometown of Kiev, the twenty-nine-year old Ukrainian has performed in three other Cirque productions including Ovo, Kooza and Varekai. In a recent interview she talked about her focus in performing her intricate and daring feats. “We do ten shows per week so I really have to concentrate. It’s easy to get distracted and slip…and I have.” Dressed in one of her four costumes, a fitted cropped jacket with miniscule bloomers to match, the pony-tailed brunette described how the garments are constructed to accommodate the artists. “If a sleeve constricts the arm movements, they make openings in the shoulders to allow more freedom of motion.”
Manipulation
I was fascinated to learn that Mykhailova travels with her young daughter, as do many of the artists. While on the road, children are educated in on-site classrooms where programs are multi-level and multi-cultural to accommodate the myriad of nationalities, and languages, represented. “There are around 30 children that travel with us. We have teachers and school programs for them,” she remarked.
Images courtesy of Cirque de Soleil
Amaluna opens under National Harbor’s blue and yellow big top on July 31st. For tickets and information visit www.CirquedeSoleil.com/Amaluna.
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