Totem

Totem is Cirque du Soleil's new touring show. It's playing in Montreal and Quebec City before jumping ship and going to Europe for a run. I'm not sure if it'll be coming to Toronto, but it doesn't matter, I got a chance to see it in Montreal!
Is with all Cirque shows that I've seen, I was not not disappointed. This chow didn't seem to have an overarching storyline, which I thought took away from the show. There were definitely obvious themes tying the acts together, but I like a good narrative to tie things together.
I was impressed with the diversity of acts that this show had. On top of some of the classic cirque acts, there were some acts that I'd never seen before. The classics included things like Russian bars (one of my favorites), rings (featuring the most muscular woman I've ever seen), foot juggling, duo trapeze (I thought these artists portrayed their characters the best. Great feeling and chemistry.), and unicyclists balancing bowls. Of course the clowns helped join the acts, and usually I think they are one of the highlights of the show. I was disappointed with this set. Perhaps it was the audience that didn't react appropriately, but I just didn't feel as though they were as effective as I have seen them be in previous shows.
As always, I thoroughly enjoyed the costumes, music and set design. Having a front row seat really allows you to examine the costumes and make-up that the performers have...it's absolutely incredible. I'm glad that the musician got a couple acts front and center, especially highlighting the creativity that the cirque is known for with a mad scientist inspired act which to me, was one of the highlights of the show (more about that later). The set changes were seamless as per usual and I liked how part of the stage magically became so many different purposes, including a motorboat!
As mentioned, there were a couple acts that I'd never seen before. Usually the clowns don't have acts outside of their 'clown' thingy, but the clowns in Totem seemed to have special acts as well. The most impressive was the one that turned into the mad scientist thingy. The musicians used giant test tubes and beakers to create different sounds and rhythms to accompany a clown that turned into a juggler. At first, I thought it was going to be one of those jugglers that bounced balls on the floor kind of like the ones that play songs on keyboards by bouncing the balls on the keys, but then it became this crazy ball tossing/swirling thingy while he stood inside a giant Erlenmeyer flask. All I could think about the whole time was conic sections. And then the black lights were turned on, the balls started flashing different colours and it was a fabulously psychedelic show.
One of the other 'new' acts that the audience seemed to really enjoy was a roller skating duo. I can understand the appeal of such an act, but it was not new to me. I had seen similar performances with duos on figure skates. The pair did a variation of a headbanger, took ideas from ropes acts...I just wasn't as impressed as I could have been had I not seen many of the tricks in a colder environment.
Although not particularly original, I also liked the high bar act. I usually like the gymnastic-type of acts, so this one was right up my alley. A trampoline magically appeared in the stage which only added to my amazement. The timing and synchronicity of the artists always astounds me.
Not completely original, there was a balancing act that was also quite impressive. I think of Cirque shows as often having acts that I'd seen previously, but taken to the next level. This particular act was no exception.
I feel like I'm forgetting to mention another stand-out act, but I can't even use the show's website to help me out. Cirque hasn't added all of the details of the show on the site yet.
The finale, as per usual, intricately got all of the artists onstage in a dance number. The visual effects of the show allowed the artists to enter the stage in a creative way.
The show was also the first one that I attended that gave a standing ovation. Now, it was a great show, but if the other ones that I'd attended didn't give as high of a reception, I'm wondering why this one did. Maybe it's a Quebec thing? I've been annoyed with how easily audiences give standing ovations these days, at operas, ballets, symphonies and many other types of shows. I'm not saying that the calibre of shows it lacking, I just don't know if all of the shows that I've witnessed ovations for are completely deserving. I just don't think that many of the shows have gone above and beyond the quality that I expect from the companies to warrant such ovations. Anyway, I'm not trying to take anything away from Cirque...just making a general comment.
While it was a great show, it was not the best show that I've ever seen. Regardless, if you have the chance to see the show, I would definitely recommend it!