Kozy Up With KOOZA in a Box
June 21, 2010 by Hedonista · Leave a Comment
The circus is in town this month … and next month.
The Cirque du Soleil (”Circus of the Sun”), that is.
Cirque du Soleil – Cirque for short – is a Canadian, Québec-based organization. With humble beginnings as street performers in the small town of Baie-Saint-Paul back in 1984 – and formerly a street theatre group founded by Giles Ste-Croix called Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (the Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers) in the early 80s – it now boasts 5,000 employees (approximately 1,200 of which are artists) from over four dozen nations speaking a total of over two dozen languages. Cirque has performed for nearly 100 million people in 300 cities on 5 different continents; this year presenting 21 simultaneous shows worldwide to close to 15 million spectators.
Rather than reveal the fab performances in this treasure chest, check out KOOZA under the sky blue and sun yellow tent for yourselves, dear hedonists!
Cirque – an organization that hasn’t received any grants from the public or private sectors since 1992 – now gives back as a global citizen: an amount equivalent to 1% of the annual gross earnings of Cirque du Soleil is given by the company and its founder and CEO, Guy Liberté, to cultural and social action programs (with a focus on youth-at-risk) as well as Guy’s ONE DROP Foundation that he founded in 2007 in an effort to bring potable water to this planet’s poorest regions.
From June 2nd to July 11th, 2010 at King County’s Marymoor Park, Cirque du Soleil presents KOOZA (your Hedonista attended the hosted June 2nd private preview event). KOOZA – inspired by the Sanskrit word koza, which means “box,” “chest,” or “treasure” – the idea being that this performance offers a “circus in a box” to its attendees. Delivering up its artistic pairing of two circus traditions of clowning and acrobatics while blurring global ethnicities with the full gamut of emotions into one living Jackson Pollock painting, KOOZA is indeed a true treasure. Complete with 53 performers – and the Wheel of Death, which has never before been performed under its big top – this show is worth a look-see.
Note that after this Seattle engagement, KOOZA will head north to Vancouver, B.C., where it’s scheduled to open on July 22nd and run until August 22nd, 2010.
