Naperville director's dream reaches new heights with 'Cirque Shanghai'

Every high school band director dreams, at one time or another, of making it as a big-time director. Naperville resident Dwight Jordan, the director of "Cirque Shanghai: Bright Spirit" (currently running at Navy Pier), followed his dream.

"How I got into directing was just kind of luck," Jordan says. "There was a show choir at the school I was teaching at (Mt. Zion High School). I also was a choreographer for them. The group had some success."

From there Jordan branched out. He co-founded and co-directed Showchoir Camps of America, summer camps for the performing arts, with branches in Decatur and Tiffin, Ohio. That was 30 years ago, and the camps are still going strong.

Then Jordan began directing shows at Six Flags in St. Louis and the Missouri resort town of Branson. Suddenly he was in demand across the country. He and his family moved to Naperville in large part because Chicago's central location made the most sense.

Jordan's work in Branson, however, landed him a gig close to home: the chance to direct this year's incarnation of "Cirque Shanghai," the annual summer family-pleasing acrobatic circus at Navy Pier.

"One of the producers of the show gave me a call last spring," Jordan says. "He had seen my work in Branson and Silver Dollar City." The next thing Jordan knew he was on a plane to China to check out the troupe that would be coming to Chicago.

This particular troupe hailed from the Zunyi province in southwestern China, Jordan says. Zunyi is renowned for its acrobats - young, lithe, athletic performers who make twisting themselves into shapes and leaping and throwing each other across the stage look as easy as surfing the Web.

"I was only over there 10 days," Jordan says. "The acts had been pre-selected. They were amazing. My job was to tie them together. I was kind of a director, choreographer and writer wrapped in one. We selected music that made sense with the show.

Jordan found his work in China was not that different from his work in Missouri.

"We do mini Broadway-style musicals in Branson and Silver Dollar City. We do our own version of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol.' We do a show called 'Headin' West' that tells the story of early settlers. It has a story line and it really plays with emotions. My goal is to make you laugh and cry and then you leave happy."

Jordan wants to do the same with "Cirque Shanghai: Bright Spirit."

"They are just tremendous acrobats and each act is very different. But I didn't just want the show to be just a series of acrobatic acts. At the top of the show we meet a performer who represents Bright Spirit and we really follow her through the whole performance. I want the audience to feel something.

"There is something we say down in Branson: People like to be surprised by things they know. Most audiences want to feel comfortable; they want to go home happy. I think this show does that."

"Cirque Shanghai: Bright Spirit"

The show runs through Sept. 7 at the Pepsi Skyline Stage on Navy Pier, 600 E. Grand Ave., Chicago.

Tickets: $12.50 to $29.50. Can be purchased at Navy Pier, by calling Ticketmaster at (800) 745-3000 or by visiting ticketmaster.com.