Limbo: Up close and personal
Fire blowing, acrobatics and pole dancing are all in a day’s work for four Spiegeltent festival performers.
Aerialist and contortionist Penelope Elena, tap dancer Hilton Denis, Chinese pole acrobat Mikae¨l Bres and fire performer Heather Holliday are taking part in Limbo Up Close, a show that mixes cabaret, circus and acrobatic stunts.
Limbo Up Close is performing eight shows until December 1 at Spiegel Fest. This is a 10-day festival showcasing comedy, music and cabaret in the Pacific Crystal Palace Spiegeltent, a large travelling tent constructed from wood and canvas which has been erected on the Puke Ariki Landing in New Plymouth.
‘‘You enter the tent and it is a different world,’’ Holliday said. There were fewer than 170 tickets left for the remaining shows, with additional seating added to the 6pm Friday and Saturday shows, which had sold out.
Limbo has been touring since 2003 and has sold out venues in London, Sydney, Brussels, Edinburgh and
Prague, but Holliday said the New Plymouth shows were different.
‘‘This show is a lot more intimate, I feel like you can feel the heat, you might even feel some sweat,’’ she laughed. ‘‘With this kind of intimate show it is a lot more impressive.’’
Denis added: ‘‘Pretty much at an arm’s length are the performers. It is pretty right there in your face and you can immerse yourself in their world and see the detail of the performance.’’
All of the music is original, composed by New York’s Sxip Shirey, to run alongside the performers, who are all multi-talented.
‘‘We all have our solo moments but the show is not that kind of cabaret show where everyone is one at a time; we are all quite fluid so everyone is able to be in almost every scene doing something else,’’ Holliday said.
The first show on Tuesday night opened to a full house and the group said they were excited to wow more Taranakians throughout the festival.