Raleigh Wide Open Saturday: Maximus Circus Sneak Peek

Raleigh Wide Open 5 will go down on Saturday and there will be tons of extremely entertaining things to do all day and night in Downtown Raleigh. We have some preview photos from the dress rehearsals, inspiration imagery and even some 3D models of what City Plaza will look like with the stage and rink set up. All of these photos and especially the models are getting us very excited for some circus under the stars in Downtown Raleigh on Saturday night.

Maximus Circus is a collaboration between the production of Gamil Design (the main brains behind SPARKcon) and management of Acro-entertainment (Kaci Torres and Katie Bouterse) and will be more of a futuristic and technology based circus more than it will be your typical Ringling Bros with animals and silly clowns. With inspiration stemming from the opening credits of the television show Rome to the computer gamer world of Tron and KE$HA’s LED-laced costumes on Saturday Night Live, Maximus Circus will create a spectacle unlike anyone has seen in City Plaza.

Costumes have been in the works for a few weeks and a collaboration with Raleigh Rickshaw plan to produce roving chariots all backdropped by a massive circus rink in the center of City Plaza. There will be 14 local performers from fire-throwers to light performers and two bands, including Pelicanesis and Lake Inferior.

Many of the acts that will participate came together in their build up to circusSPARK. While circusSPARK will embody 3 full days with a variety of talent, Maximus will be a truly focused show and be the headline act for Raleigh Wide Open. “What’s exciting for us, is to once again see SPARKcon give rise to some prominent and paid gigs for local talent. Hats off to the Convention Center for giving us a shot!” says Gamil Design’s Aly Khalifa.

MAXIMUS Circus is built upon a traditional circus environment with a 21st century twist.  Its a juxtaposition of ancient Rome and Empire Strikes Back. 

According to history, circus maximus games were divided into ludi circenses—as in circus (e.g., chariot races and gladiatorial combats) and ludi scaenici—as in scenic (theatrical performances). The ludi started with a procession to the circus maximus. In the procession were young men, some on horseback, charioteers, the almost naked, competing athletes, spear-carrying dancers to flute and lyre players, satyr and Silenoi impersonators, musicians, and incense burners, followed by images of the gods and once-mortal divine heroes, and sacrificial animals.

MAXIMUS Circus is following the blue print above, beginning with a procession at 7:45pm.  We will begin at Davie street and dance/march down Fayetteville Street until we arrive at the circus ring.  We have a chariot (actually a pimped out Raleigh Rickshaw).  We have built stick horses (black horse heads with flaming manes attached to a golden dowels) for performers to ride on (think: opening scene of Monty Python and the Holy Grail), which may also act as our sacrificial animals.

The fire performers will be showing a lot skin as they try to avoid flammable clothing and will evoke a primitive sensory experience, manipulating one of the most powerful elements known to man.  AcroEntertainment is an acrobatic performance duo that uses their two bodies as performance equipment, building, rotating, inverting and balancing each in ways that seem to defy gravity.  Everyone will be dressed in red, black and gold…which leads to the historical significance of clothing:

Costume colors were very important: The drivers of the chariots that raced in the circus wore team (faction) colors. Originally, the factions were the White and Red, but Green and Blue were added during the Empire. Domitian introduced short-lived Purple and Gold factions. By the fourth century A.D., the White faction had joined the Green, and the Red had joined the Blue. The factions attracted fanatically loyal supporters.

They are creating our own faction of Red and Black. All costumes will be embedded with tiny LED lights, in case you forgot their was state-of-the-art element.  Think: Intergalactic Gladiators!

There will be two shows in the circus rink on Saturday night, one during daylight and one at night. When asked about the spectacle and atmosphere of these two shows, Khalifa told us “The first show is there to lure you into the world of circus. For the second show Maximus will use all the tools we have to dazzle with light - black lights, glowing surfaces, LED costumes and twirling fire - all ending with the backdrop of fireworks.” John Morris over at Goodnight Raleigh has also put together a great bio and photos of some of the performers in circusSPARK and Maximus Circus, including the video of AcroEntertainment below.

Many folks have been complaining that this year’s Raleigh Wide Open doesn’t include an end-of-night (washed up) performer for free like previous years and that the amphitheater has Barenaked Ladies for a high ticket price to end off the night. I can see where this opinion comes from but I think Maximus Circus will be much more entertaining than “some old guitar legend or 70s legacy rocker” could ever be.

Plus, this is a homegrown piece of entertainment that we could see gaining momentum from this performance and circusSPARK. Enough momentum to make it not only a local hit but possibly a traveling one as well. We welcome Maximus Circus as a great way to end Raleigh Wide Open 5 and we look forward to the implication of all the imagery and video you see here and on their website. We’ve talked with a few of the folks involved and if the show is anything like their enthusiasm, you’ll be in for a great nightcap.

Maximus Circus Schedule

Raleigh Wide Open at City Plaza
Saturday July 31, 2010
(More Here)

7:00pm: Opening Ceremony featuring music by Pelicanesis

7:45 pm: Procession of Chariots to the Ring at City Plaza

8:00 pm: Daylight Show starts

9:00 pm: Intermission mischief featuring music by Lake Inferior

Roving performers and Hooping Jam in adjacent lawn area

10:00 pm: Blaze Show starts

11:00 pm: Grand Finale during Fireworks

Maximus Circus on the Facebooks and Twitters

 

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