After the opening night of “Kaleidoscope” under the big tent in downtown San Francisco, Circus Bella performers invited fans into the ring and posed for photos with them.
That’s just part of the down-home charm of this San Francisco troupe, perhaps best known for free outdoor summer shows throughout the Bay Area. But for the holidays, “Kaleidoscope,” a ticketed event in a space at Howard and Beale streets near the Transbay Terminal that developers are calling The Crossing at East Cut, provides a welcome alternative to your “Nutcrackers” and “Christmas Carols.”
Though there are no sleigh rides or snow in the show, “Kaleidoscope’s” open-hearted spirit exemplifies the goodwill that characterizes the yuletide season.
Some of the acts are thrilling, some are funny, some are beautiful, some are mind-blowing, and all are presented with daring and precision. The synchronization between the stunts and the great original jazzy music by accordionist Rob Reich playing with the All Star Band — Clare Armendante on violin, Kasey Knudsen on saxophone, Ian Carey on trumpet, Jonathan Seiberlich on tuba and Michael Pinkham on percussion — is remarkable.
Things get off to a sparkling start as the full ensemble, led by ringmaster Abigail Munn and wearing glittering costumes (by Dark Garden corset expert Autumn Adamme) greet guests with juggling and a human pyramid.
Veronica Blair flies with strength on the aerial straps, looking great in a pink-and-orange outfit that floats as seemingly effortlessly as she does, then juggler Jefferson Freire displays his skills while riding a unicycle!
Clowns Calvin Kai Ku, Jamie Coventry and Natasha Kaluza have several fun and actually amusing scenes in “Kaleidoscope,” beginning with some business with balls. There’s a gag about napping, and a spoof of ballet. But the best is “A Rainy Day,” which involves a vivid soundscape, audience participation and some truly magical umbrellas.
Kaluza also goes bonkers with multiple hula hoops spinning on many parts of her body.
Contortionist Elise Hing’s act is among those that raises eyebrows (Munn calls her “poetry in motion,” performing “mind-bending feats with precision and grace”), and it indeed is hard to believe how she puts her feet and legs over and around her head, wriggles, and smiles while doing so!
Toni Cannon climbs, slides, hangs upside down and balances on a Chinese pole in another amazing display of muscle and power; bowler hat jugglers Kirk Marsh and Julie Marshall offer some graceful moments; and Ori Quesada on rola bola (a teeterboard balancing apparatus) thrilled on opening night, after tossing a spoon in the air and landing it in a can on top his head in the last of repeated attempts (and to great applause).
Mighty aerialist-gymnast Dworia Galilea swings round and round in the air on a hoop, Munn gets a vocal number (with visual aids) in “It’s Only a Paper Moon” and hand balancer Kyran Walton’s penultimate act of elegance and energy is another one provoking those “I can’t believe he’s doing that” reactions.
Another notable attribute of Circus Bella show is the up-close-and-personal-aspect, which comes to the fore in a downtown (heated) tent in winter as well as it does in a park in summer. Check out “Kaleidoscope” for holiday merriment.
Circus Bella’s “Kaleidoscope” has been extended through Jan. 7 at the Crossing at East Cut, Howard and Beale streets, San Francisco. Tickets are $55 to $75 at circusbella.org.