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Hollywood Must-See: ‘Traces’ At The Montalban

tracesBy Thomas Kuklenski

I went to see the show “Traces” with high expectations, and the performance Friday exceeded them. “Traces” is by French-Canadian circus Les Sept Doigts de la Main and focuses on the simplicity of circus, in contrast to the flashy acrobatics and colorful costumes of Cirque Du Soleil.

The name of the circus, which translates to “the seven fingers of the hand,” refers to the six men and one woman in the company. Each of them gets their own special act, but most times they have to work as a tight unit. They make it look easy, but if they made a mistake, someone would be hurt.


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Directed by Gypsy Snider and Shana Carroll, “Traces” takes place in a makeshift shelter of tarp, tape and wood scraps, with some sort of disaster waiting outside. While they are in there, they play hard and they fight sometimes, but you can tell they are close friends and want to take care of each other.

The opening of the show is mind blowing. It starts out with strobe lights and a performer runs on stage, and the show begins. Right from minute one there are acrobatics, from tumbling to one performer launching another in the air by hand.

The acrobatic acts in this show range from dangerous to beautiful. Among the dangerous is the teeterboard act in which two people jump on one end of a teeter-totter like board and launch the person at the other end into the air. It’s common among circuses performed under a high big-top tent, but in the relatively small Montalban Theatre in Hollywood, there is less margin for mistakes.

Among the beautiful moments is the acrobatic pas de deux, or acrobatic dance for two. Mason Ames and Valerie Benoit-Charbonneau tell a romantic story while performing some maneuvers that leave the audience gasping.

The cast also impressed the audience with the Chinese diving hoops routine, in which they jump or dive through hoops stacked on top of each other and the stack gradually gets bigger.

My personal favorite act was the cyr wheel (pronounced like “sear”), an act where a performer stands inside of a giant metal ring and shifts his body weight to keep the wheel spinning like a quarter. I have seen many performances of this act, and Bradley Henderson’s is a great version.

One of the less acrobatic but more entertaining acts of the show is a skateboarding act to the old tune “It’s Only a Paper Moon.” In this act, the artists look like they’re just having a good time riding around on skateboards and roller skates. Whiles the act is entertaining, it is also quite impressive. At one point, one artist on roller skates jumps over four other performers.

The act that I found to involve the most skill was the diabolo juggling act done by Xia Zhengqi, also know as Daqi. A diabolo is a spool which is whirled and tossed on a string tied to two sticks. Daqi’s is the most amazing performance of this act I have ever seen. He is truly a master of diabolo.

The lighting in this show is fantastic. I also love the use of projections on the backdrop. An overhead camera gives a view of the stage we wouldn’t see any other way. It also shows a character at a desk writing in Chinese. Another character then sits down at the same desk and adds lines around the Chinese characters, making them into city buildings.

The costumes are quite simple street clothes, which fit the simplicity of the set and shows that things don’t have to be elaborate to be amazing. These simple costumes also come in handy because they are drawn on in the show.

The music choices are more than perfect. While Cirque du Soleil uses original compositions, Carroll and Snider have picked music done by other artists, including V.A.S.T., Radiohead, and Le Peuple De l’Herbe. Each song was chosen specifically for each act based on the feel given off by the song and the act. For example, “Touched” by V.A.S.T. is very powerful and is the perfect song for the opening of the show.

In addition to the recorded music tracks, performers were called on to play the piano live in the show. Florian Zumkehr also played the guitar and sang right after doing a strenuous chair-balancing act.

Overall, “Traces” is a great show that I highly recommend. It is a great blend of amazing acrobatics, humor, and music. It truly showcases great art in simplicity. “Traces” is playing at The Montalban Theatre on Vine Street in Hollywood through Feb. 20. Tickets for “Traces” can be purchased online at www.BroadwayLA.org or by phone at 1-800-982-ARTS(2787).

Thomas Kuklenski is a competitive gymnast (Level 6 at Gymnastics Olympica in Van Nuys) and an aspiring circus performer. He has many talents – juggling, magic, tumbling…. and this is his first theatrical review. Oh, and by the way –  he’s 12.

Hollywood Must-See: ‘Traces’ At The Montalban

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