"The Golden Jubilee Gala"

Text by: Wayne Leung | November 2002
Fascination! Newsletter, Issue #15

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II recently visited Canada as part of the year-long celebration of her 50 years on the throne. While visiting Toronto on October 10, 2002, Queen Elizabeth was treated to a royal performance, "The Golden Jubilee Gala", showcasing artists who are considered some of Canada's foremost cultural ambassadors. Among them were ballet dancers, opera singers, Quebec pop-stars, Jazz pianist Oscar Peterson, rock band The Tragically Hip and of course, Cirque du Soleil. The Gala was held at Toronto's Roy Thompson Hall, home to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, and featuring a large, multi- tiered, in-the-round seating auditorium which provided a perfect setting for a Cirque performance. The hall was filled with dignitaries, politicians, and other elite dressed to the nines for this invitation-only black tie soirée. Fortunately, for those of us not lucky enough to have been invited, the gala was broadcast live on the CBC. The Queen, dressed in full evening wear and tiara, was seated in the first balcony with Prince Phillip and Prime Minister Jean Chrétien.

After a duet sung by two opera singers the stage lights dim, ominous music starts to play and a swath of red silk falls from the rafters to the stage. A figure climbs up the silk as actor Colm Feore, the emcee, walks across the stage, "We've all been seduced by the magic of Cirque du Soleil and no one has taken the banner of Canada higher or farther in the world. Indeed Cirque has been so bold and so revolutionary that they have turned the circus into a new art form. So prepare to be enchanted once again. . ." The lights come up to reveal Quidam's aerial contortionist, Isabelle Vaudelle suspended high over the stage wrapped in the band of silk. Cirque singer Richard Price starts singing the first strains of the live version of "Let Me Fall". Throughout the evocative performance, the camera zooms in to provide beautiful close-ups of both Isabelle and Richard as they perform passionately. Isabelle writhes and contorts during the performance which, for those who have never seen the original version, is entirely different than Isabelle Chassé's version presented in the Quidam Live in Amsterdam television special. At the end of this emotionally-charged performance, Isabelle looks tentatively at a noose she fashioned from the silk and hangs herself forming a powerful image. She then struggles back to life and slides down the length of the crimson fabric ending a starkly beautiful performance to the enthusiastic applause of the audience including the Queen and Prince Phillip.

For the show's final curtain call, Isabelle and Richard returned to the stage with the rest of the gala performers and bowed to a standing ovation from Canada's upper crust. Isabelle wore a red silk dress evoking the act she performed earlier that evening. The performers were then instructed to remain on stage, the Toronto Symphony Orchestra struck up a flourish and the Queen arrived on stage to meet and shake the hand of every performer. She greeted and spoke briefly with both Isabelle and Richard apparently having enjoyed their performance.

Cirque du Soleil is truly a performance fit for a Queen.