Cirque du Soleil - Toruk - visual spectacle but where's the story ?

The flying Toruk enters the stage - Cirque du Solei - Toruk

For those used to seeing and being spellbound by Cirque du Soliel's brilliant circus arts, Toruk would seem to be something of an oddity. The acrobatics, juggling and gymnastics are marginal and occasional being replaced by the sheer visual impact of lighting, design, visual projections and a new development, puppetry.

Loosely inspired by James Cameron's film Avatar, the imaginative crew at Cirque du Soleil have created their own version of Pandora complete with the native Na'vi, Viperwolves, Toruk and the Tree of Souls. Roughly a prequel to the Cameron story in Avatar, Toruk concentrates on the Na'vi and the quest of three young men to find magical objects to restore the power of the tribe and the Tree of Souls. Apart from the simplistic monotone narration, there is little else to tell the audience of what is transpiring with marginal characterisation, an almost non existent story and no real central focus.

Sheer spectacle it is and the visual projections are dazzling whether through the creation of a volcanic eruption or the impression of a vast streams of water with a flood. The viewer's sense of dimension , space and shape are genuinely transformed by the quality of the imagery. But apart from this spectacle there is little else and with no live music and a reliance on recorded sound, this is a one dimensional effort by arguably the world's greatest circus group.