Cirque de la Symphonie and another stunning performance in Lincoln

The Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra season opener with Cirque de la Symphonie played to a nearly full house last night. Couples dressed up for a formal date, college students in jeans, and families with small children all came together for the evening. 

LSO opened immediately with a rousing performance of the Star Spangled Banner--perhaps a new tradition for each concert? It was certainly well met as the audience leapt to their feet to salute the flag. 

But the highlight? The amazing feats of the cirque artists. Having the children in the audience aided the sense of wonder and awe for all--the children would sing along to the music and scream as the aerialists swung and twirled high above us on the ropes or silks. 

The aerial performances by Shana Lord, Alexander Fedortchev, and Vitalii Buza seemed to be the crowd favorite. The grand finale, a duo aerial act performed by Lord and Fedortchev, elicited many gasps of awe and bursts of applause. 

The other acts were equally impressive from the contortionist to the juggler, perhaps the most well choreographed, the performances that most matched the mood and rhythm of the music were the hula hoop act to Manuel de Falla's Ritual Fire Dance and the Cyr wheel performance to Bernstein's Overture to Candide--another breathtaking performance!

A few pieces were orchestra only--they were wonderful pieces! The Tchaikovsky Finale from Symphony from no. 4 and Strauss' Thunder and Lightning Polka were particularly delightful and wonderful!  

Bravo, LSO!

Cirque de la Symphonie returns to Lincoln

This Friday, Sept. 20, at 7:30pm, LSO and Cirque de la Symphonie reunite on stage for what's sure to be another stunning performance. It was in October, 2011, that Lincoln's Symphony Orchestra opened it's season with the spectacular performance of the Cirque de la Symphonie. The audience was awed by the production.

Shana Lord - who will
be performing in Lincoln
on Friday night.

The LCM News review described the audience's reaction:

"As the aerial artists spun and twisted with graceful, athletic skill, and spun or flipped almost to the ground, the audience would gasp... and then sigh with relief."

What is the Cirque de la Symphonie? Shana Lord, one of the aerialists on this Friday's performance, described what the Cirque does as "a marriage" of "physical artistry and musical artistry." In Lord's exclusive interview with LincolnCMN, she said that the audience should be prepared for: 

"A big surprise! Be along for the ride. 

We would love to inspire people to listen to Classical music and become a part of it in their community as people who play and listen to it--enjoy it!"

 Having started as a gymnast and a dancer, Lord describes herself as first an athlete who, with her experience in dance, learned to combine the two into an art form. Canadian based Cirque du Soleil was an important part in the development of her career in this style.

Photos courtesy of Cirque de la Symphonie

Besides performances with Cirque du Soleil, Lord has enjoyed performances with Gwen Stefani, Will Smith, and most recently, Anastacia. Lord shared with LincolnCMN a touching memory from her tour with Anastacia. Just as Lord had finished her act, Anastacia called her back on stage and completely surprised her by singing "Happy Birthday" to her in front of 10,000 people in a stadium. "Traveling together," Lord said, "you become a family."

Cirque de la Symphonie has three troupes of performers, and Lord was not among the troupe that came to perform in Lincoln in 2011. But she is looking forward to performing this Friday in Lincoln:

"Performing with the symphony is really a special treat—we don’t always get to work with live music. My favorite part is really just that--getting to work with the live music. With the different tempos and working as a team, it becomes a more organic, seamless performance."

Lord does all of her own choreography for the show. In Lincoln, she will be performing with Khachaturian's Valse from Masquerade in the first half and, in the second half, an aerial duo with Alexander Fedortchev to music by Rimsky-Korsakov.

Besides the aerial artists like Lord, the Lincoln audience will experience performances with juggling batons, contortion, spinning frame and cubes, hula hoops, acrobatic dance, juggling hats, and more.

If you haven't purchased tickets already, do so right now! All ticket information can be found at the LSO website. On Friday--be there and be amazed!

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