Cirque: Perfectionistic Inspiration or Too Darn Jaded?

8-10-11

Here’s another post inspired by the Cirque du Soleil visit.

As I watched the circus performers, I was struck simultaneously with two completely contrary notions. On one hand, I was slightly disillusioned by the obvious jadedness of the performers. They are almost robotic in their performance. It’s canned, perfect and clearly repetitive. They do this twice daily, year in and year out. Given the sheer quantity of performances and the negligible window for mistakes, there is really no other choice. Every performance must be perfect, 100% of the time. Audience interaction is solicited, well, just for show.

Now, don’t get me wrong. I was truly inspired by these incredible perfectionists. I kept thinking, “each of these performers is as coordinated as the single most coordinated person I’ve ever known, but he or she has honed that skill to perfection.” It was somewhat mind-boggling. Honestly, there were so many stimuli that I didn’t adequately take it all in.

As I considered the mind-blowing levels that their perfectionism has achieved, I felt inspired. See what dedication can do for those who have some innate talent? Obviously, I would never be a circus performer, but, in my case, dedication to my craft of writing would be the clear correlation. Yes, I was inspired. Those performers weren’t just lucky—it takes both innate talent and years of dedicated work to do what they do.

So, those are the two contrary notions—hence my claim that the performance was both inspiring and a bit uninspiring.

Now a word further on contrasting the uninspired elements of this incredible performance with the more inspiring performances I have in mind—despite my reservations about in any way diminishing my point about ‘visiting the best circus’ in my last post.

In Savannah, most of our live entertainment comes from local venues with local performers—generally in the form of students. No, I’m not talking about the tedious children’s performances—sweet but not generally inspiring, of course. I’m talking about performers who are dedicated to their crafts. The Savannah Arts Academy may only be a high school, but those performers have been hand-selected through a jury process from applicants throughout the county and then have worked daily to achieve their dreams, which are still their dreams. Same goes for SCAD and Armstrong college performers. When they get to the point of performing for an audience, it’s a thrill. They are incredibly receptive to the audience’s energy, and I feel extremely participatory in the whole process and get a certain satisfaction from that participation. Yes, the vibe is palpatory, and I can completely tell that my responses and energies are felt—just as, in contrast, I felt that my energy, as well as the rest of the audience’s energy, was completely beside the point for the Cirque performers--as far as that participation element goes, we may as well have been watching a film!

So, I suppose I’d say that the level of incredibly sheer perfectionism and ability wins out on the inspiration front as an occasional thing. I’m sure I’d have a similar report for a Broadway experience (which I do anticipate reporting in the next few years, at some point!). And this is perfect, by the way. However, while I do appreciate occasionally seeing these heights of perfectionism and am inspired by them on a completely intellectual level, on a daily basis I think I prefer the responsive, more human artistic ventures at a local level. That interaction and human element is the crux of what I truly love about live performances, honestly.