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Canberra Today 13°/16° | Saturday, March 30, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Arts / Happy Target takes aim on fun

Cirque du Soleil_Quidam_12_Target_0098 ARDEE Dionisio plays the happy, extrovert character Target in Cirque du Soleil’s “Quidam”, coming soon to the AIS Arena.

At 32, Dionisio describes himself as “the happy-go-lucky person who brings life and happiness into the show.”

“I could be him, or it could be her, it’s a kind of asexual character,” he tells “CityNews” by phone from Seoul, where Cirque is enjoying standing ovations.

The dark clown Boum Boum… “a fun-loving character once you get to know him." Photo by Camirand
The dark clown Boum Boum… “a fun-loving character once you get to know him.” Photo by Camirand
He’s rarely, if ever, grumpy, saying: “That side of human nature is expressed by one of the other characters, the dark clown Boum-Boum.

“But that’s only his outside, he’s actually a very fun-loving character once you get to know him.”

Dionisio has much to be optimistic about. He started dancing at age 13 in his native Philippines, becoming a soloist with Ballet Philippines as a teenager, studying at the Hong Kong Academy of Performing Arts and later dancing as soloist for the Nicolas Musin ABC Dance Company in Austria, where he now lives with his wife and daughter.

Spotted on YouTube by Cirque, he joined their tour to Chile, Peru and Colombia in 2010 and stayed.

He’s travelled pretty much from the North to the South Pole, but not to Africa, not to his native Philippines and until now, not to Australia or NZ. I guarantee him sightings of kangaroos in Canberra – “that’s awesome,” Dionisio says.

Not trained as a gymnast, he’s worked in opera, musicals and variety yet only sings “in front of my wife, not in public”. But, he says, his background as a ballet and contemporary dancer “gives me the edge which I bring to Quidam… I can be a jack of all trades.”

Quidam means “anonymous passerby” in classical Latin and he, as Target, is that anonymous observer, watching the young girl Zoe, the focal figure, as she slides into an imaginary world where she frees her soul.

“I’m in character all of the time, I’m always on stage watching my colleagues and it’s amazing how different they are, I really have fun on stage,” Dionisio says.

In his view, there is no “highlight” in “Quidam”, which he sees as “a total performance to live music, the highlight is the whole show”.

That sense of totality is achieved with great care. The costumes by artist Dominique Lemieux, for instance, are all “delicate and handmade, specific to each individual”.

As well, he says: “There’s not a single show that is the same each time, because the public is always very different.

“In South America, the circus culture is so vibrant you feel as if you’re standing in the middle of the audience, but in Germany and Britain, audiences are more reserved, clapping after each act but not during the performance. Korean audiences really surprised us at their reaction – it is just overwhelming.”

And why not? After all, as he says, “there are 18 separate Cirque du Soleil shows around the world, but there’s only ever one ‘Quidam’.”

“Quidam” by Cirque du Soleil, at AIS Arena, December 10-20.

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Helen Musa

Helen Musa

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