Last Saturday the lovely pre-doc and I went to the grand opening of Batty’s Hippodrome, a new venue in Portland for circus arts. I saw the late show, which featured Seattle’s Pure Cirkus.
The Hippodrome is buried in warehouses against the riverfront, and there’s a disturbing feeling as you park on the darkened streets and make your way past shuttered loading docks towards the only bit of life and light in the area. The venue feels every bit like a converted warehouse, with lots of flat black paint covering the past life of the space and rows of folding chairs aimed at a narrow and deep stage. There’s a patio/bar out back, which I’m embarrassed to say I didn’t explore. But only because I was enjoying the show too much to risk missing anything.
Pure Cirkus is a far-cry from Ringling Brothers. 🙂 They are a dark (dare I say “goth”?) themed circus reminiscent of the Jim Rose Circus Sideshow. There was acrobatics…
… juggling, contortion, bellydancing…
… a bit of sideshow, a wide variety of fireplay (poi, clubs, fan/claws, swords, whips, staff)…
… some trapeze, silk work, and then the show stopper, suspension!
I can’t even begin to capture the spirit of it all, but it was a hell of a show! I am definitely looking forward to going up to Seattle to catch the full show on their home turf.
And I’m excited that Portland has a venue like the Hippodrome. I will be checking out another of their shows in the very near future.