Philip French 

Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away – review

This DVD of the Canadian circus company in Las Vegas manages to be both spectacular and solemn, writes Philip French
  
  

cirque du soleil
Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away: ‘solemn, tastless, overdressed’. Photograph: Public Domain

This is a 3D anthology of numbers from seven spectacular shows put on by the Canadian-based Cirque du Soleil, a glossy combination of circus (without animals) and street theatre, staged in various Las Vegas casinos. It's a kitschy enterprise in which the various acts are linked by Mia, a wide-eyed gamine much like Leslie Caron in Gigi, meeting a handsome aerialist. There's some remarkable work on trapezes, much splashing and synchronised swimming, lots of bouncing around to the music of Elvis, Tchaikovsky and the Beatles (inevitably culminating with the company performing All You Need is Love). It's solemn, tasteless, overdressed, a circus smelling of Chanel No 5 rather than sweat and sawdust.

 

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