Breath-taking, moving, nail biting and electric — Corteo will leave you on the edge of your seat as these phenomenal artists entertain you
Presented by: Cirque Du Soleil and TEG Live
Reviewed: 2 October, 2025
Cirque Du Soleil is known for reinventing the wheel when it comes to modern circus. They push the creative boundaries in both how routines are executed and the impressive costumes and theatrical staging.
Corteo has premiered in Adelaide for the first time and, like all shows under the Cirque Du Soleil banner, it is highly impressive. Featuring a cast of over fifty performers who are all world-class circus, acrobatic and musical trained, Corteo leaves the audience suspended in disbelief at the skills and perfectly executed routines on display.
Like all Cirque Du Soleil products, a light story is threaded in and between each act. The title, Corteo, comes from the word cortege – a procession. The show is set during the funeral of the main character, the dreamer and clown, Mauro. The production does leave it to the audience’s own imagination to decide if it is Mauro’s actual funeral or if he is merely dreaming about it. The whole story is a celebration of life, rather than a commemoration of Mauro’s passing. Each act represents flashbacks of his life and people he has met.
The staging for Corteo is both highly creative and unique. The Adelaide Entertainment Centre Arena is split in half, with the stage running down the centre of the arena and dividing the audience. The stage is framed by ornate curtains, and stunning crystal chandeliers hang above the audience and stage.
Following the opening procession of the cast, Andrea Dillon, Monize Gmach, Inna Teslenko and Kristi Wade performed a stunning act, Lustres. This saw these four incredible artists suspended above the stage on three oversized chandeliers in an impressive aerial routine. From solo moments to perfectly synchronised routines, these incredible performers set the standard and highlighted what was to come.
Following was the Trampo Beds routine, which symbolised Mauro’s early childhood and jumping on his grandparents bed. This featured Marie-Christine Menard-Bergeron, Helene Leblanc, Francis Croft, Stanislau Yazhou, Jonathan Buse and Simian Bukin performing flips and tricks on two giant beds that hid trampolines inside them.
Marie-Christine Menard-Bergeron, Justin Buss, Dzmitry Labanau, Joao De Lima Siqueira and Viniclus Vasconcelos Da Silveira stunned audiences in Roues Cyr, which saw all five artists spin and defy gravity in five large hoops.
Halyna Zaporozhets performed an impressive Suspended Pole routine taking the art of pole to a whole new level. Starting with the pole in a more traditional manner (straight up from the stage) it wasn’t long before the Cirque twist appeared and the pole, and Zaporozhets, were elevated off the stage with the routine continuing suspended in mid-air.
Closing the first half we saw Shaun Gregory, Oleg Sudakov, Ben Van Overberghe and Vinicius Vasconcelos Da Silveira perform Planche — a routine that saw all four artists use a see-saw to propel each other into the air, performing twists and flips at astronomical heights. You could hear the audience gasp in sheer delight at this impressive routine.
The second half opened with an act that showcased the power of human strength; four performers threw four additional artists into the air, where they performed flips and somersaults before being caught, all atop a pair of looming towers. Paradis featured the impressive skills of Agustina Estari, Victoria Dominguez Tuchi, Manae Hirosawa, Florencia Listello Sosa, Rylee Jonuska, Vitalii Alekseev, Rodriguo De Abreu Riberiro, Denis Getman and Ewan Schell.
Johan Juslin challenged all we understand about the laws of gravity with his Diabolo routine. I have seen a lot of diabolo routines over the years, but the skill level and Juslin’s remarkable manipulation of the diabolo was phenomenal. Roman Munin brought a touch of comedy to his impressive Acro Ladder routine, using a freestanding ladder to balance or walk stilt-like across the stage. The mesmerising Duo Straps act saw Hitomi Kinokuniya and Oleander Kunytsky fly high above the Corteo stage in a breath-taking routine.
The final routine saw Simian Bukin, Jonathan Buse, Francis Croft, Julien Gobaux, Aliaksei Kushneryk, Andrei Kushneryk, Dzmitry Labanau, Vitalii Nakonechnyi, Fabio Santos, Stanistau Yazhou, Victoria Dominguez Tuchi and Florencia Listello Sosa, supported by the whole cast, perform Taurnik. In this act, audiences were left stunned by this adaptation of the parallel bars that you see in traditional gymnastics. At times, six artists would be flipping and flying between beams in unison, appearing to narrowly miss crashing into each other (though of course with perfect control). As an audience member, you could only watch on from the edge of your seat during this nail-biting routine.
Peppered between each act were several smaller comical routines performed by Cirque clowns. Two standout routines were Golf and Helium. In Golf, a living golf ball created havoc for The Giant and Auguste Clowns, bringing much amusement to the audience. In Helium, we saw The Clowness, Anita Szentes, fly over the audience suspended by six giant helium balloons. With no guide wires, Szentes floated above the audience on both sides of the stage, aided at times by the audience giving her a gentle push back up into the air.
Like all Cirque Du Soleil shows, Corteo is supported by a brilliant band of live musicians. Band leader Philippe Poirier-Frentette, on keyboard and saxophone, directed seven additional musicians and vocalists who were placed at the four corners of the stage. At times, the band were featured as part of the acts on stage. Huge credit must go to Stephane Allard (violin), Bobby Brennan (Bass / Double Bass), David Manning (keyboard), Sofia Montano (vocals), Kyle Edmonston (drums / percussion), David Repulses Fernandez (vocals) and Francis Vancoppenolle (guitar / accordion) who moved flawlessly between a vast array of musical styles, providing the perfect musical backdrop to each act of Corteo.
Corteo is circus at its very best. There is so much emotion put into each and every moment of the show. From the artists, musicians and crew, there is not a single weak link in this production. Corteo is breath-taking, it is moving and it will leave you perched on the edge of your seat as these brilliant artists leave you spellbound.
Reviewed by Ben Stefanoff
Photo credit: Maja Prgome and Johan Persson
Venue: Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Season:
Friday 3 October: 7.30pm
Saturday 4 October: 4.00pm and 8.00pm
Sunday 5 October: 12.00pm and 4.00pm
Duration:
Tickets: From $81.40 (plus booking fee)
Bookings: https://premier.ticketek.com.au/shows/show.aspx?sh=CIRQUE25
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