Cavalia - How Circus should be done - in Style!

I took Oliver to Cavalia for opening night last week.  It's strange, because just a few months earlier was the first time I heard about Cavalia and it wasn't because I heard they were coming to town. It was from a friend who had seen it in Quebec last summer.  She showed me the program and raved about it. Later that week I heard that it was coming to Edmonton, so it seemed fitting that we should go. Based on her description I expected something like Cirque du Soleil but with horses and I thought Oliver was the right kid to take (especially since it was a school night and Gibson had gone to Mary Poppins). I think I made the right choice as Oliver seemed very happy to be there and I think some of the more sophisticated sections would have gone over Gibson's head.

It was really quite wonderful to watch.  Not a traditional play with a story, but a series of vignettes which demonstrate acrobatics, horse skills or a combination of both.  It's gorgeous and filled with sensory stimulation. It's definitely a complete package - acrobatics that make you gasp, horses doing tricks that leave you stunned, gorgeous sets that move and evolve like magic, falling leaves, rich music and costumes and a 'snowfall' that makes you laugh with joy.  It is truly how circus should be done - there is popcorn, candy and pop - but none of the dust and a level of luxury to the show that raises it to a new level. It's 100% spectacle - and although the ads I have heard for it talk of a story about horses and man through the ages, I found it hard to find that in it - but there were so many moments that made me catch my breath and Oliver was totally enthralled.  He wanted to buy the DVD so that we could bring it home to show Gibson, but alas they were sold out.

It's not something that we are likely to see very often as the tickets are on the upper end when it comes to price, but you can see where the money goes in the show as the level of production is very high and not a element seems wrong or skimped on.  Events like these are easily once in a lifetime kinds of shows.

#43 in my 2012 Theatre Goal

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