Corteo is a long-running show from Cirque du Soleil that is currently gracing our shores. The concept was developed in Italy and corteo itself means procession in Italian. The show is based around the funeral of Mauro, a much beloved man known as the Dreamer Clown. In nine scenes, the performers farewell Mauro in a boisterous affair full of magic and whimsy.
As you might expect with a Cirque show, the costuming, props, lighting and soundscape are dazzling and unforgettable. On top of that are the incredibly performed acrobatics and beauty of the choreography.
After an introduction to the dying Mauro and his distraught community, four of his former loves perform high-rise acrobatic farewells from huge chandeliers that swing like pendulums above his death bed. What follows are a series of incredibly orchestrated scenes including massive beds that become trampolines; breathtaking Cyr Wheels; a man taking taking a flower from an angel; while standing on an unsupported ladder; and mesmerising and perfectly timed manoeuvres on a see-saw and later parallel bars. The latter involved several performers using the bars simultaneously on different angles but so well timed they missed one another by centimetres.
It was all so gloriously good, but my favourite had to be the scene where one performer, suspended by large helium balloons, drifted just over the audience and powered along by people pushing on her feet.
At the end, Mauro is high up on a single wire riding slowly on a bicycle. As he ‘moves on’ accompanied by gloriously costumed angels, the community he loved and those who loved him say their farewells.
This is one heck of a stunning show full of chaotic joy, exuberance and sheer beauty that shows off the ingenuity and flair of humanity.
CORTEO – CIRQUE DU SOLEIL
30 October – 9 November 2025
