Corteo—Cirque Du Soleil

by Heather Myer

Corteo by Cirque Du Soleil is a portrayal of a clown dreaming of his own death. The audience is treated to French operas, unusual instrumentals, and acrobatic feats. Full of charm and magic, Corteo highlights the clown’s past. Angels guide the clown through the delicate dance of life with loved ones. Past memories spin and twirl in chandeliers above the clown’s death bed. Children leap on beds, displaying endless and unceasing back hand springs, flips, twists, and turns. Men seven feet tall fold themselves up and dive through small 3x3 hoops suspended in the air. A tight rope walker hoo-la-hoops with 20+ hoops on her tiptoes suspended in midair. Human marionettes, dwarfs, and giants display amazing flexibility and acrobatic talents through catapults, summersaults, leaps, and bounds 20 feet above the ground. During one act, men effortlessly tossed ladies simultaneously and without ceasing through the air. The timing was perfect. The performers revolved within seconds and mere inches of each other, yet avoided painful collisions. In another scene, a petite woman was suspended by only her ankle in mid air and a strong man held onto her pony tail to support himself in the air. Ouch. The audience followed the clown through his past and applauded as he eventually earned a set of angel wings ascended through fluffy white clouds into heaven. Nice touch, but this is not an accurate picture of eternity. Rather, Corteo is a humorous glimpse of a funeral procession with scant hope of an everlasting life.

Revelation has a glimpse of what our everlasting will include. Jesus will be at the center of a throne encircled by an emerald rainbow. He will have the appearance of both jasper and carnelian. From the throne will come lightning and thunder. Seven lamps will blaze. Twenty four elders will be seated around the throne and four living creatures, each with six wings and covered in eyes, will be before the throne. Without ceasing, the living creatures will give glory and honor to God by saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” The elders will fall before the throne and worship God,

You are worthy, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things by your will they were created and have their being (Rev 4:1-11).

All angels will fall down on their faces before the throne and worship, “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!” People from every tribe, nation, and language will wear white robes and hold palm branches before the throne and cry out, “Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” They will have survived great tribulation and have washed their robes white in the blood of the Lamb. We will serve him day and night and God will house us. We will not hunger, thirst, hurt, or even become sunburned. God will personally wipe away our every tear. Our self-consumed thoughts will be changed only to focus on praising and worshiping our holy Lord. We will join an eternal celebration with those who have gone on before us. He will be our shepherd and lead us to the springs of living water (Rev. 7.9–17). This is our promise. May our robes be washed white in the blood of the lamb so that we too may join in the promise of an everlasting life. Salvation belongs to him alone.

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http://www.cirquedusoleil.com