日韩精品久久一区二区三区_亚洲色图p_亚洲综合在线最大成人_国产中出在线观看_日韩免费_亚洲综合在线一区

Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
China
Home / China / GBA focus

Why can't family entertainment shows grow up?

By Chitralekha Basu | HK EDITION | Updated: 2025-05-30 13:45
Share
Share - WeChat
The contortionists perform a jaw-dropping feat in the Cirque du Soleil-produced Kooza, now on show at the Central Harbourfront Event Space in Hong Kong. Photos by Andy Chong / China Daily

The return of two mega entertainment shows in Hong Kong and Macao in May should be good news for cultural tourism in these two cities and, by extension, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. One cannot help wonder though why the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil, whose last Hong Kong outing was in 2018, had to stage a repeat performance of Kooza, rather than, say, Kurios, K or Echo — shows that succeed in using jaw-dropping acrobatic acts and slapstick comedy to create a piece of engaging theater.

Similarly, the revival of House of Dancing Water (HODW) at its purpose-built theater in City of Dreams, in Cotai, Macao, after a five-year, pandemic-prompted hiatus, feels like a rehash of a tired old trope involving a malevolent queen and her scheming minister who is also the comic act. The two kidnap an Asian princess who possesses a powerful sword but can be rescued only by a Caucasian male hero.

Both Kooza and HODW are essentially showcases for hair-raising physical feats, and some of these, the handstand act, for example, are common to both, except that in the latter show, water is the real hero, or adversary, that the performers play against. The "stage" is a massive artificial water body equaling "five Olympic-sized pools". This water rises in waves, swirls, drowns performers, shoots jets into the air, gushes forth in rows and rows of fountains and comes down in sheets from the overhead ducts. Those in the ringside seats are handed out plastic sheets so as to not get soaked by the relentless splashing.

If you don't mind checking in your brain in the cloakroom and can accept that plots in such shows are just devices to string together demos of what the human body can achieve, Kooza and HODW are amazing pieces of escapist entertainment, created by some of the world's most competent professionals, both on and off stage. In a gesture not often seen in live shows, the huge backstage and underwater crew of HODW makes an appearance at curtain call.

The amazing set of House of Dancing Water in City of Dreams, in Macao, includes a watery expanse equaling five Olympic-sized pools. Provided to China Daily

Watching it live

From another perspective, however, Kooza and HODW confirm that the pull of live shows and communal viewing is anything but diminished. Indeed, the daring bike stunts in HODW or the Wheel of Death piece in Kooza — in which acrobats have to keep pace with a rapidly rotating giant wheel even as they perform stunts, inside, and on the surface, of its twin orbs — wouldn't be half as thrilling even on a home theater screen with surround sound.

While the two shows feature a few astounding solo acts — the chair balancing act in Kooza, the contortionist in HODW — essentially, each performer is a cog in the wheel. This is demonstrated quite literally in HODW when a group of performers suspended midair move in sync to suggest a rotating chandelier.

And the fact that the Kooza ensemble includes acrobats in their late 50s and early 60s — two of whom can cycle in tandem on a high wire while carrying a third standing upright on a chair balanced on a horizontal pole hoisted on their shoulders — demonstrates that being in a circus is perhaps a way of life from which performers never really retire.

 

The high-wire act in Kooza is performed by acrobats who have been with the company for decades together.   Photos by Andy Chong / China Daily
Top
BACK TO THE TOP
English
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

Registration Number: 130349
FOLLOW US
 
主站蜘蛛池模板: 日韩精品一区二区三区中文字幕 | 色综合久久天天综合观看 | 国产精品一二区 | 一区二区三区成人A片在线观看 | 精品久久一二三区 | 露娜同人18av黄漫网站 | 日韩成人三级 | 久久只有这才是精品99 | 亚洲不卡视频在线 | 国产在线自在拍91精品黑人 | 亚洲美女亚洲精品久久久久 | 久久se精品一区精品二区 | 八武将免费完整版在线观看 | 亚洲日本视频在线 | 国产亚洲99影院 | 欧美v在线 | 亚洲精品电影在线观看 | 国产日韩精品入口 | 短视频网站免费观看 | 日韩有码第一页 | 日本道二区视频 | 日本在线观看视频网站 | 亚洲精品乱码久久久久久蜜桃91 | 久草热久草在线 | 亚洲精品一区二区三区福利 | 日韩欧美在线免费观看 | 波多野结衣 久久 | 亚洲视频免费在线播放 | aaa级片| 狠狠搞视频 | 天天摸天天操天天干 | www.777色| 日本大学生免费一级一片 | 日韩欧美一区二区三区免费观看 | 在线中文字幕视频 | 国产精品成人不卡在线观看 | 日韩一区不卡 | 免费国产一区 | 亚洲国产视频网站 | av小说在线 | 欧美欲乱妇135 |