Soaring with drama and deep concentration, the artist conquers the universe
through his cube. He effortlessly turns and spins the cube while nonchalantly performing
a exhirilating ballet of jaw-dropping aerial maneuvers. Fascinated observers hold their
breath wondering who is in control. The cube or the artist? The mystery continues.
The first act takes place as a chiseled Herculean of
a man twirls a huge aluminum cube in the palm of his hand. He rises out
of the machine with cube in hand; arms over his head. The lights flash and he
begins to dance with the cube. And what he can do with this cube is
amazing - Taking this enormous metal cube in his hands, the man juggles it,
flips it and otherwise amazes the audience with the feats he's able to accomplish
with only his two hands keeping the cube and the audience separated. And when it
glows in the after light of the theater, you can't fight back the chills any longer.
After his bouts of strength with the cube, the artist takes to soaring through the
theater to amaze us once again.
Mikhail Matorin, who perfected this cube act while in Russia, was first featured
in 1994's Alegría. After the conclusion of its North American Tour in 1995,
Mikhail joined Mystère, where he performed his act for the next three years.
Meanwhile, Paul Bowler, whom Mikhail had trained as his protégé, continued to
perform the Aerial Cube act in Alegría throughout its European Tour. In
early 1999, Mikhail retired from Mystère and was replaced by Paul Bowler,
who continued to perform this act for many years thereafter, retiring himself
in 2014.
The original song that accompanied this act, "Misha", is named after original
cube aerialist and was used through Paul Bowler's tenure. It was replaced in 2015
with a more upbeat number after Paul Bowler retired. The version of Aerial Cube
during this time was more of a combination of Straps and Cube, than strictly Cube
(although Aerial Cube always had Straps as part of the act.)
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