In which I drool over acrobats

I love the Fringe festival: the entire month filled with its quirky and affordable shows; its ability to turn Adelaide into a busy-busy city seven evenings a week (instead of just on Friday and Saturday…); its Garden of Unearthly Delights with all the incredible tents, lights lining paths and hanging in clusters from trees, spruikers spruiking $6 freakshows, the cacophony of music and talk and bottles clinking with cheers… Oooooh I love it all.

This year we went a bit Fringe-crazy and saw seven shows, one of which I went to see twice. Cantina was amazing — Melbourne folks, keep an eye out for this one: the troupe is travelling your way on Wednesday so you all really must go see it. Yes, all of you. Sure, the entire city won’t fit in the Spiegeltent, but you can take turns. It’s worth queuing up for. Pseudo-dustbowl era costumes, old-time music (with ukelele and guitar, scratchy records, and voices transported from the 1930s), a gorgeous Finnish contortionist, even more gorgeous acrobatics (and acrobats!), acts both dangerous and sensual… I would see it again tomorrow, even though I just saw it last night (from the front row, no less!) for the second time this month.

Take a gander at Cantina‘s promo clip and then tell me you aren’t dying to see it live:

Something about fit people flinging their bodies around in beautiful — while simultaneously death-defying — ways really tickles my fancy. Which probably goes some way towards explaining why my second favourite show of the season was Tom Tom Crew. While I am certainly not a huge fan of hip-hop music, the combination of acrobats, unbelievable beat-boxing and frenzied drumbeats — not to mention acrobats jumping over drums being beaten (have I mentioned the acrobats??) — made going to this show on a warm Friday night so much fun.

*wistful sigh*

Farewell, Fringe. Until next year…