ILLUSION AND CIRCUS NOUVEAUX MELD "AURELIA'S ORATORIO"

Aurélia Thierrée will present  "Aurélia's Oratorio," at the ART in Boston. The show blends circus nouveaux and illusion in a series of vignettes inspired by dream sequences and her vagabond childhood. According to Boston.com, the show presents "a wordless series of topsy-turvy acts and optical illusions, "Aurélia's Oratorio" spirals into a nightmare scenario of a woman gone mad. "Oratorio," which is directed, designed, and choreographed by her mother, the slender and lovely Thierrée showcases her illusionist skills. The piece begins with a simple dresser on a bare stage. As gypsy jazz music swells, her limbs appear and reappear through the drawers in stupefying combinations as she smokes a cigarette and drinks a glass of wine, challenging the audience's notions of logic. In another scene, she walks and spins along a ribbon draped high in the rafters. Yet another act features shadow puppets that become scene partners, dancing and fighting. In one particularly memorable number, Thierrée herself transforms into a puppet, performing inside a tiny toy theater for an audience of actual puppets."