A bit of Cirque du Soleil came to Tahoe last weekend as Director Christopher Childers brought an amazing cast of dancers, stilt walkers, aerialists, martial artists and all around amazing performers to Sand Harbor.
“A Midsummer Night-MARE” premiered on Friday, Aug. 24 to a capacity crowd under a brilliant moon at the Lake Tahoe Shakespeare Festival Stage at Sand Harbor, with a second show on Saturday night.
The storyline followed a young girl’s dream/nightmare, brought on by her consumption of a hallucinogenic flower on a dare.
Soon stilt walkers, dancers, aerialists, contortionists and exotic performers of all stripes — all of them elaborately costumed and each seemingly more amazing than the last — took the stage as the nightmare ran its course.
Local dancer Leigh Collins portrayed the young girl whose nightmare the audience was experiencing, while other InnerRhythms dancers and even Artistic Director Elizabeth Archer showcased the company’s homegrown talent.
When, after almost two hours of ooohs and ahhhhs, the Night-MARE finally came to a close with a performance by the Sideswipe martial arts performance team, the audience came alive and gave the cast a lengthy standing ovation before settling back down for a post-performance question-and-answer session with the company.
Local dancer Leigh Collins portrayed the young girl whose nightmare the audience was experiencing, while other InnerRhythms dancers and even Artistic Director Elizabeth Archer showcased the company’s homegrown talent.