The international artistic troupe Cirque du Soleil is coming back to South Florida in November with an adrenaline-packed spectacle entitled KOOZA.
The name is inspired by the Sanskrit word “koza,” which means “box,” “chest” or “treasure,” and was chosen because one of the underlying concepts of the production is the idea of a “circus in a box.”
KOOZA tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world. The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Pickpocket, and the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog.
KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil that combines two circus traditions—acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor. “KOOZA is about human connection and the world of duality, good and bad,” says the show’s writer and director David Shiner. “The tone is fun and funny, light and open.
The show doesn’t take itself too seriously, but it’s very much about ideas, too. As it evolves, we are exploring concepts such as fear, identity, recognition and power.”
The show starts with the Trickster bursting onto the scene like a jack-in-the-box right in front of The Innocent, and that’s just the first of many surprises to follow.
Invoking many themes familiar to fans of Commedia dell’arte and other similar forms, the Innocent’s journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the Trickster, the Pickpocket, the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog.
Between strength and fragility, laughter and smiles, turmoil and harmony, KOOZA explores themes of identity, recognition and power. The show is set in an electrifying and exotic visual world full of surprises, thrills, chills, audacity and total involvement.
KOOZA runs from November 12 through December 26, performed under the Grand Chapiteau in Bicentennial Park in downtown Miami. For tickets and further information, go online to www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/kooza/.
