Continuing the night life excursions that we set before knowing our current unemployment
dilemma,
Cirque Du
Soleil's Kooza has come to town! And, of course, Carolina and I have tickets. Not just nose bleeds mind you, oh no. But Carolina was able to score second row! Sweet huh? I think so!
Now, I have never been to any Cirque Du
Soleil show. I have heard of it, but it wasn't something I really wanted to see. My parents took me to various circuses when I was younger. But, nothing too fancy, Ringing Brothers? I don't remember, but I guess says why I never got into it. However, I do love the idea of circuses. Trapeze, cannons, high wire acts, and a ringmaster. Big tents, popcorn, and acrobatics! What more could you ask for?
The show is a visual and exciting experience. It takes everything you expect from circuses, but adding in wonderfully eccentric costumes and
momentous set designs. When we sat down, we took time to look around and take in what was already there. Soon, clowns (not the scary kind) entered the audience and kept us entertained with silly skits and acts. Leaf blowers into people's popcorn boxes and audience members wearing a tutu on stage. And as these acts started to wear thin, the show started when the
The Trickster/ringmaster popping out from a box opened from our endearing actor, The Innocent. With the Tricksters magical wand he started all the acts:
The contortion act with three young ladies was simply amazing. They twisted and moved with grace on a small stage rotating around, which gave everyone a great view of the contortionists movements. Seeing this on 'Ripley's Believe or Not' is one thing, but live is another. Watching them twist and contort their bodies was... shocking, but beautiful. The poses they would hold was pure performance art at its best.
The trapeze act, by 17 year old Darya Vintilova was very cool to see, amazing solo act in the air. It was just fun to see and immediately surpassed what you expect from a trapeze performance.
The high wire act was excellent, considering we watched everything from a very unique perspective in our second row seats. Four men walked with ease 30-35 feet up in the air on a wire. Leaping over one another and landing was a feat without safety wire hooked on. Once, the performer almost fell off, but caught himself on the wire and pulls himself up. While you could say it was intentional to build tension, to me, it only made for a better act. Something about not being perfect in your performance adds to the performance?
The juggling act is a shiny high energy performance that comes at your a little bit silly at first, but the way the juggler goes on and on, you forget how silly it seems and just enjoy how skilled his is with pins, balls, and rings. You get to see a rhythm in a flurry of spinning objects flipping all over the stage. Its quite an act I loved watching.
My favorite act was the Wheel of Death. Yes, the Wheel of Death. Two circular cages attached by a set of bars rotating in the air with two men running and jumping with confidence and swagger. Our great seats, again, gave us a greater appreciation of the act. Watching their jumps from inside and outside the cages was scary but amazing too. I flinched every time it seemed they would fall unto the hard stage below. The best part was their attitude that nothing will go wrong. It made it all the more fun to see.
The remaining show was great to see too. The troupe of acrobats, jumpers, and dancers were highly entertaining. They carried themselves so well and smiled at everything, they seemed to really enjoy their jobs. The only scary part was when a dancing pair didn't catch the other during a series of flips. The woman cracked hard on the floor, I wonder if the man survived the night, for she could have killed with her eyes the moment she got back up! The teeterboard was a great way to end the acts with high energy and fun. Everything winded down with the Trickster and troupe waving goodbye to the Innocent and us. Cirque Du Soleil is certainly worth your time and money if you have the opportunity to go.
KOOZA!!
