Cirque Surreal - Trafford Centre - 10/04/08 by Julia Taylor

Cirque Surreal began in 1995 when show-biz pair, Phillip and Carol Gandey set out to create a different kind of circus. It is now Britain’s most successful modern circus.

Two hours of non-stop entertainment feature artistes from 10 different countries wearing bright, glittering costumes that are truly surreal.

You don’t sit on hard wooden benches on a saw dust floor. I know because I’ve experienced the luxury of having an individual seat whilst watching a show which is more like theatre in the round with spectacular lighting – though the ceiling is a lot higher!

You’ll be sitting on the edge of that seat because you’ll be watching 25 human daredevils perform sensational acts which have you biting your nails for fear of the consequences.

It was a Bulgarian twosome, Nikolay and Konstandin who had me close my eyes in fear for their fate. A large rotating bar connected two circular cages in which the performers walked hamster-like inside and, more terrifyingly, outside, at a height of 25’

Equally scary yet beautiful was the display on the trapeze by Muscovite Anna Rastova. Her fast spins, catching the trapeze by her ankles are her breathtaking speciality. You couldn’t call the oriental swan act featuring Lui Jai and Miao Chiang Wei frightening but they make up for that with the sheer skill with which Lui balances on Miao’s shoulder and wraps herself around him.

Jemile Martinez is an Irish football juggler. At one stage he has five of them on the go – and they’re a lot bigger than juggling balls! I was already telling myself he should use his skills on the football field when I read that he was going to work with aspiring players at the Reebok Stadium.

In a break with tradition, Cirque Surreal does not have a ringmaster in top hat and tails but the acts are glued together by the award-wnning clown, Housch ma Housch. He uses mime and made up language to interact with the audience and home in on stooges.

This show, with its non stop futuristic music, is 21st century circus but it still retains the traditions of the big top which have gathered over the centuries.