'Cirque Dreams' gives audience chance to live 'Jungle Fantasy"

by Jennifer Conlee, co-associate editor

When I walked into the Lubbock Municipal Auditorium, it was the same venue I had been in many times before.

Moments later, however, it was transformed into a magical forest full of magnificent creatures, including spine-bending Lizards, Lions of great strength and balance, dancing JazZebras, colorful insects of many varieties, and one singing Ladybug.

Celebrity Attractions has once again brought a fantastic production to the Hub City with Neil Goldberg’s “Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy,” a magical performance of high-flying trapeze acts, dare-devil balancing feats, and fantastic acrobatics that incorporated the use of jump ropes, among other items.

The March 16 opening night performance began with “Jungleboy” Marcello Balestracci interacting with the audience and scolding latecomers.  After he and a fellow “Jungleboy” kidnapped one audience member, the show began with stunning images. 

Julia Langley played the part of the Ladybug, performing quite well as she connected each scene with a song.  Her partner, the extremely well-built Jared Burnett, was stunning in his role as the Tree Spirit.  Burnett played the electric violin, an accompaniment to the pre-recorded soundtrack that provided a background for each stunt.

The trio of Lizards, Mongolian contortionists Uranmandakh Amarsanaa, Tsolmon Batbold, and Khongorzul Erdenebayer, bent themselves into unimaginable shapes, and

mesmerized the audience.  It was often difficult to tell where one body ended and another began.

The high-flying stunts performed by the trapeze artists and the Butterflies using chiffon ropes to fly around stage had the audience on the edge of their seats.  Ivan Dotsenka, from Ukraine, and Carly Sheridan, from Canada, were each other’s only protection as they swung from the trapeze high above stage, catching each other just when it appeared they would fall to the ground.

Perhaps the most frightening exploit was that of the balancing Giraffes.  I had to hide my eyes as they stacked several platforms on top of a can, and then climbed on top of the stack.  Scarier still was when they stacked several cans on top of each other and climbed on top of the shaky pile.

Other acts included Ruslan Dmytruk, of Ukraine, who impressed the audience with his juggling act, and Spiders swinging on ropes, spinning their “web” of imagination.  The final scene involved the “Lions,” played by Sergey Parshin, Serguei Slavski, and Alexander Tolstikov, all from Russia, who showed off their strength as they stacked themselves on top of each other in horizontal positions, using only one arm, or sometimes just a head, to hold themselves up.

Contrary to what I believed before the performance, “Cirque Dreams” is not part of the Cirque du Soleil performances, which are popular in Las Vegas.

Neil Goldberg created Cirque Productions in 1993.  The company became the first American-produced show to perform cirque-type shows for events and public audiences.  Since it’s conception, Cirque Production has added “Cirque Ingenieux”, “Cirque Imaginique”, “Cirque: Christmas Dreams”, all which include amazing stunts with various backgrounds.

”Cirque Dreams: Jungle Fantasy” drew large crowds to each of the Lubbock performances, and I know that I am now a fan of Cirque Productions.  I look forward to seeing other performances from the company.  My sole complaint was that the performance, which lasted 90 minutes with a 15-minute intermission, was not long enough.