The audience is awestruck as black magic illusionist Louis-Olivier Ostrowsky makes tables, chairs and people appear out of thin air and disappear. Loud cheers greet Pavel Yeusiukevich as juggles several rings while bouncing a ball on his head at the same time.
Their eyes are transfixed on Thomas Barentin as he bends, cuts and restores laser beams while performing well synchronised moves. One thousand six hundred excited school children watch in open-mouthed wonder as act after amazing act keeps them glued to their seats.
For the sell-out crowd that have come to watch “The Extra Terrestrials,” a show organised by the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation and event managers Showspace at CODISSIA Hall in Avinashi Road, it is 75 minutes well spent.
First up is the quadra men hand balance act, where four men take on each other’s weights, balancing themselves on the shoulders of the other and performing acrobatics in slow motion. Each act of endurance is met with delight and the formation of the human pyramid is the highlight.
British acrobats Rebecca and Donovan, using the help of silk sashes lie suspended in the air, then fall gracefully to the ground and perform the handstand. Donovan balances the entire weight of his partner on one shoulder as the excited crowd wants more.
Valerie Bilodeau displays her control over the Cyr wheel, twisting and turning with the wheel at dizzying speeds. It is then the turn of the Swedish unicyclist Erik Ivarsson to skip, jump and ride not one, but three unicycles. Erik balances a unicycle on his head while riding another, and juggles rings while riding the cycle at the same time. Erik also invites a few kids to stand on his shoulder as he cycles on effortlessly.
The most visually stunning acts were perhaps Ostrowsky’s black illusion and the laser magic. “The magic acts were truly mesmerising. I have been to the circus before, but this entertainment was at a level that I have never seen before,” says Madhura Mohan, a student of Vivekalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School who barely noticed the time pass. For the organisers, it has turned out to be a great bonus. “Not just children, even adults and older people came to witness the show. We now plan to make this an annual event, and will have more shows the next time round,” says Divya Chandran, trustee of the Coimbatore Cancer Foundation.
‘The Extra Terrestrials’ had three shows in all. The first was exclusively for children while the next two shows were open to the public. Proceeds from the show go towards cancer care, awareness campaigns and financial assistance for the under-privileged.
