Call it a job hazard, but we don't pay any attention to what copywriters say about a show if we can help it.
That one-liner in the Sistic event description ("an extraordinary evening of intimate cirque style entertainment") though — well, that ain't a lie.
Watching Le Noir is not like watching the circus. There's no giant tent, no end-to-end flying trapezes, no boneless men, nor fire-breathing lions. Instead, you get about 20 award-winning acrobats, some alumni of the famous Canadian Cirque du Soleil, each uncomfortably close to where you're seated. If you're not stage side, where you'll be able to see every muscle contraction, every bead of sweat, every slick of face paint on an acrobat's body, you're up front and inches away from high-fiving them in the middle of an act. Even from a seat slightly further into the back of the Grand Theatre, you'll get the foreboding sense that someone might come loose and fly into your face.
And that's not all. In fact, that's not even close to being all. Le Noir may be a travelling circus production, but aesthetically, it's vaudeville. Each time they're preparing for the next appearance they send the rest of the troupe out on stage in various states of fancy play and undress. Both men and women have evidently been given strict instructions to ham it up for the audience — shake and shimmy they do in their glistening white spandex and ripped fishnet stockings, while occasionally flicking faux fireflies at each other and popping red balloons with no reason at all. And let it be known we're convinced they spend all their time in between training, showers and sleep at the gym — these are some unabashedly toned, practically Aryan human beings. Reminder: stageside tickets put you within enviable eyeball reach of every butt clench.
While most if not all the brilliant acts — 12 altogether — make good after-show conversation fodder, these two sent the blood rushing to our head most: Pas de Deux and The Wheel of Death.
The latter, performed by Angelo L. Rodriguez and Carlos Mayorga, consists of a set of connecting, rotating wheels suspended high in the air. The two Colombian daredevils take turns to keep the wheels moving like hamsters do, while the other spins, jumps rope and "goes blind" within and outside the wheels. There's no magic and no safety net, and that there's every possibility of one or both of them falling into the audience will make you cry out loud.
The star couple of Pas de Deux may not be as heart-stopping as the Colombians, but they're just as impressive. Telling their love story in a breathless showing of acro dance, Anne-Marie Godin and Diego Rodarte Amor (seriously, even these names won't look out of place in a classic romance novel) move strongly, gracefully, fluidly together. My show companion summed it up in one awe-inspired whisper, "Wow, so this is what gymnasts look like in the bedroom."
Ringmaster Salvador Salangsang Jr., who sets the momentum of the two-hour show, is an unapologetic pain in the ass. He dresses a bit like a clown, sure, but he doesn't just tweak your nose and hands you a plastic flower, no, sirree. He picks out the latecomers and makes them dance to heavy drums before they even realise what's hit them. He gets a gang of guys to simulate a performing band, convincing even the greatest wallflowers to show off a bit of flesh. And he will invite your girlfriend to a picnic on stage and commend her figure using a mix of French and mouth gestures.
So yeah — here's another liner to add to that Sistic description: "Le Noir is the sexiest show you'll see all year". Hips don't lie.
Le Noir is showing now through June 29, 1pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm at the Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Tickets are $70 — 888 (for four people, includes champagne and popcorn) via Sistic.
Call it a job hazard, but we don't pay any attention to what copywriters say about a show if we can help it.
That one-liner in the Sistic event description ("an extraordinary evening of intimate cirque style entertainment") though — well, that ain't a lie.
Watching Le Noir is not like watching the circus. There's no giant tent, no end-to-end flying trapezes, no boneless men, nor fire-breathing lions. Instead, you get about 20 award-winning acrobats, some alumni of the famous Canadian Cirque du Soleil, each uncomfortably close to where you're seated. If you're not stage side, where you'll be able to see every muscle contraction, every bead of sweat, every slick of face paint on an acrobat's body, you're up front and inches away from high-fiving them in the middle of an act. Even from a seat slightly further into the back of the Grand Theatre, you'll get the foreboding sense that someone might come loose and fly into your face.
And that's not all. In fact, that's not even close to being all. Le Noir may be a travelling circus production, but aesthetically, it's vaudeville. Each time they're preparing for the next appearance they send the rest of the troupe out on stage in various states of fancy play and undress. Both men and women have evidently been given strict instructions to ham it up for the audience — shake and shimmy they do in their glistening white spandex and ripped fishnet stockings, while occasionally flicking faux fireflies at each other and popping red balloons with no reason at all. And let it be known we're convinced they spend all their time in between training, showers and sleep at the gym — these are some unabashedly toned, practically Aryan human beings. Reminder: stageside tickets put you within enviable eyeball reach of every butt clench.
While most if not all the brilliant acts — 12 altogether — make good after-show conversation fodder, these two sent the blood rushing to our head most: Pas de Deux and The Wheel of Death.
The latter, performed by Angelo L. Rodriguez and Carlos Mayorga, consists of a set of connecting, rotating wheels suspended high in the air. The two Colombian daredevils take turns to keep the wheels moving like hamsters do, while the other spins, jumps rope and "goes blind" within and outside the wheels. There's no magic and no safety net, and that there's every possibility of one or both of them falling into the audience will make you cry out loud.
The star couple of Pas de Deux may not be as heart-stopping as the Colombians, but they're just as impressive. Telling their love story in a breathless showing of acro dance, Anne-Marie Godin and Diego Rodarte Amor (seriously, even these names won't look out of place in a classic romance novel) move strongly, gracefully, fluidly together. My show companion summed it up in one awe-inspired whisper, "Wow, so this is what gymnasts look like in the bedroom."
Ringmaster Salvador Salangsang Jr., who sets the momentum of the two-hour show, is an unapologetic pain in the ass. He dresses a bit like a clown, sure, but he doesn't just tweak your nose and hands you a plastic flower, no, sirree. He picks out the latecomers and makes them dance to heavy drums before they even realise what's hit them. He gets a gang of guys to simulate a performing band, convincing even the greatest wallflowers to show off a bit of flesh. And he will invite your girlfriend to a picnic on stage and commend her figure using a mix of French and mouth gestures.
So yeah — here's another liner to add to that Sistic description: "Le Noir is the sexiest show you'll see all year". Hips don't lie.
Le Noir is showing now through June 29, 1pm, 3pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm at the Grand Theatre, Marina Bay Sands. Tickets are $70 — 888 (for four people, includes champagne and popcorn) via Sistic.