Mother Africa: My Home

Like a theatrical pacemaker lodged onto the heart of Times Square, The New Victory Theatre remains a constant steady rhythm admit the roar of the city streets off-Broadway, circulating a cavalcade of essential extravaganza for youth and the young at heart.

This time around, in the 500-seat venue, the show has opted for the familiar with a return of the acclaimed "Mother Africa: My Home," a big top spectacular from Circus der Sinne set in the South African capital of Cape Town's largest township, Khayelitsha.

In 2014, the company earned critical acclaim and garnered a Drama Desk nomination for "Unique Theatrical Experience." Two years later, the prodigal showstoppers have boomeranged with a new ensemble of young artistes and a new act of sorts, bringing with them an effervescent synthesis of contemporary circus acts with African dance and music to the New York stage, that has rarely been seen outside of say, last year's "Invisible Thread" at Second Stage Theatre or "The Lion King," the Disney megahit now on the cusp of entering its 20th anniversary on Broadway at the Minskoff Theatre.

With the latest offering this time around, "Mother Africa: My Home" offers an amateur ethnomusicological approach to its aesthetic, but still manages to keep it funky and featherweight at the same time, resulting in a tag line that actually delivers: "It's fun for the whole family!"

Better known as Zirkus Der Sinne ("Circus of the senses"), musically, the score of Circus Der Sinne fuses Afrobeat showtunes with a cauldron of soulful rootworking that straddles the contours of the African Diaspora, generating noteworthy cross cultural exchanges of ruggamuffin, calypso, Waka, Igbo highlife, J�j�, Coco, Samba, Maracatu, Kadongo Kamu, zouk, soukous, Bongo Flava, Fuki, yo-pop and Marrabenta music genres. Because of this free-range use of melody and movement, this theatrical event produces a Broadway adjacent globalization effect of black excellence that results in a fiery flare-up of joy.

In 2012, The New Victory Theater received a special Drama Desk Award for "providing enchanting, sophisticated theater that appeals to the child in all of us, and for nurturing a love of theater in young people." It's understandable why.

With "Mother Africa: My Home," the audience is introduced to a gaggle of giddy gymnasts, adroit gymnasts, soul-belting singers, textbook troubadours and dexterous African Gumboot dancers searching to find a linguistic rapport with audiences stateside. The nexus is movement in all its many forms: The movement in a composition, the movement of the body, the movement of high energy and low energy, and so on.

With entertainers representing various African nations that include Mozambique, Ivory Coast,�South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe, the show is not without a few standout performers. Among the many highlights in this hippodrome of high-flying theatrics are a revolving stepladder act by Yared Teklu Sheferaw who flashes a casual but mischievous grin as he lunges skyward toward the heavens.

There's also Mohamed Tadei Mohamed, who does a dizzying handstand act that pinches at our audience anxieties like a twisted nerve; the edge of your seat experience of watching him wobble topsy-turvy upside down is to experience sheer panic. Evan Osah's dish-spinning was an oracular spectacular within itself in the show's first half, but the show really sticks its landing with an eye-popping Ethiopian foot juggling Icarian Games routine by two unknown body-bending contortionist players (credit is not given to these performers in the show bill).

Charles Edward Hizza also makes for a superb harlequin and New Vic Bill covergirl Magonya Silethemba, a singer/dancer/musician, brings a earthy soul to the proceedings.

Circus shows aren't your thing? You are still not going to want to miss this.

"Mother Africa: My Home" runs through January 1, 2017 at The New Victory Theater, 209 W. 42nd St., in New York. For tickets or information, call 646-223-3010
or visit http://www.newvictory.org/