Combine modern dance, acrobatics, street performing, and a lot of costumes and body paint — and you’ll get a wonderfully unique Cirque du Soleil show. The performances feature lots of twists and turns, music to keep your foot tapping, and a spectacle of colors to excite your senses. Cirque tours worldwide, and the first time they came to the United States was in Santa Monica in 1987. Now the company is back at the city’s pier, with a show called “KOOZA.”
Kaat Dumarey, an acrobat in the performance, tells KCRW that she’s been training in gymnastics since age 7. She competed in European and global championships before establishing a career with Cirque du Soleil at age 18 (she’s 25 now).
She says the word “kooza” is inspired by the Sanskrit term “koza,” and it means box, chest, or treasure.
She describes the show: “There is the lead character, The Trickster, which has electrifying powers. And ‘Kooza’ follows the self-discovery adventures of The Innocent, who is magically transported to an exotic … kingdom.”
When training for these acts, especially in the beginning, people can safely fall as many times as they need to, since they’re still held by ropes, Dumarey explains. “So this is how we learn those very crazy, high-level tricks. And then after, when the trick is stable, we can take the ropes off.”