KOOZA Goldberg

KOOZA

KOOZA WOWS CROWDS IN HARTFORD
BONNIE GOLDBERG

A visit to the giant blue and yellow big top, the Grand Chapiteau, is an experience you and your
family will long remember and treasure. Hold on to your hat and let your imagination fly as Cirque du
Soleil flies into Hartford, until Sunday April 27 to present its new show KOOZA.

The name KOOZA comes from the Sanskrit word "koza" which means "chest" or "treasure" or "box"
to signify the concept of a "circus in a box." But Cirque du Soleil, from its humble beginnings as a
band of street performers in Quebec, Canada in 1984, has grown into a $600 million industry, with
almost four thousand employees, from over forty different countries, to delight eighty million
spectators in two hundred cities on five continents with almost twenty different shows. Cirque du
Soleil pushes the envelope right out of the box and into the heavens.

The word "WOW" becomes quickly redundant as you are amazed, mystified, delighted, bewildered,
astonished, surprised, awed, stunned and electrified by feats of physical agility that seem
impossible. WOW!

KOOZA is the story of The Innocent, a boy who wants to fly his kite, Charlie Brown style, and meets
a Trickster, who jumps out of a box, and opens the boy's eyes to a world he has never envisioned.
Imagine with him...as he meets acrobats who crash dive into trampolines and glide on spun gold
globes, a triad of contortionists who fluidly mold themselves into human sculptures, twin high wire
acts on bicycles fifteen and twenty-five feet above your head balancing precariously on a thin wire
rope, somersaulting performers who jump off teeterboards with stilts strapped to their legs, a
balancing act on a towering pedestal of chairs stretching up over twenty feet, a unicyclist who
dances with his whirling partner and a Wheel of Death unlike anything your hamster ran around on
that dares you to stop breathing as two artists leap and jump at adrenaline pumping speeds high
above your head.

To change the pace, these feats alternate with the silliness of clown acts, led by a king who
resembles a Christopher Lloyd mad scientist who interacts with The Innocent and allows hearts to
settle back to a normal rhythm. Even innocent audience members can find themselves stage center
as part of the festivities, much to their own amazement.

For tickets ($50-85 adults, $35-59.50 children 2-12, $45-76.50 students and seniors), call
1-800-678-5440 or online at www.cirquedusoleil.com. ; A special Tapis Rouge VIP package is
available for $215 for adults and $152 children and includes the best seats as well as access to the
VIP suite one hour prior to the show and during intermission.

Performances are Tuesday to Thursday at 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and
Sunday at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. The Grand Chapiteau is on Market Street in Hartford at the intersection
of I-84 and I-91, the northwest corner. KOOZA is written and directed by David Shiner and combines
the two great traditions of Cirque du Soleil: the joy and art of clowning and the phenomenal acrobatic
and acts of skill.

Let your emotions and your imagination soar as Cirque du Soleil takes you on a three hour
adventure that will thrill your senses and put smiles on your heart. WOW!
This review originally appeared in The Middletown Press.