Calgary’s homegrown premier circus troupe, Le Cirque De La Nuit, is costuming up to present “Odditorium” at The Palace Saturday.
It’s subversive, it’s macabre, it’s glam, it’s a dark Halloween circus; and while the troupe often offers family friendly performance, this one is purely geared at adults.
Instead of a seated show with a story line playing out on stage, it’s being presented as more of a dance party where guests could encounter acts in many places of the venue.
Beau Creep is a performer with Cirque De La Nuit, he says when a show like this is being created by a group of artists, the creative process starts with setting a common theme.
“Odditorium,” they say, is about letting the sideshow spectacles and dark underbelly of the carnival out to play for Halloween.
Creep says it all comes from the idea of a freakshow.
“That is where circuses derive from; circuses are all of the black sheep in all of the places in society emerging and becoming these fringe artists that commentate on high society or even just society in general, ” they said.
Tony Esteves is a juggler with Cirque De La Nuit, he says getting one-on-one with the crowd to create moments of surprise is what makes this performance unique.
Audience members will want to look up, down, and sideways to make sure nothing gets missed.
More information can be found at Cirque De La Nuit’s website.