More of an appreciation thread than anything. Which performances have you seen? I was lucky enough to see QUIDAM in Calgary, AB back in July '04. short video of QUIDAM For those who have never heard of Cirque du Soleil, their website is here. I tried googling for a good description but couldn't find a quick summary of what Cirque is. It is essentially a circus, but throw out whatever image comes into your head when you think of a circus. Cirque is a worlds worth of difference from every other circus out there - no animals for a start, just humans. Each show they do tells a story (although pretty loosely) through a number of almost reality defying acts. The stuff they do really does blow your mind. Just click the vid link... If you ever get the chance to see them live, find the money from somewhere (seats are not cheap) and go - you will not regret it.
isn't this the really arty one that south park took the mic out of? or is it more like the vulva scenes in spaced?
I'm sure I watched a video once of them, I'm not a circus loving person or anything, but this was really impressive! <A88>
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirque_du_soleil Whenever I think of Cirque du Soleil, I think of the parody of it on the Simpsons.
when the storm hit? that was great when the acrobats made themselves into a kite and a gust of wind flew them up into the air and got them stuck in a tree. great stuff
I got free tickets to one of the last shows of Dralion (the one in the Wiki article pic), and thought it was really impressive. as a student I would pay 10-15 quid to go, if that's any indication of how i rated it. It's not poncy at all - the girls are really graceful and there are some crazy dudes juggling 10 balls and walking on globes etc. high-wire stuff is also excellent. I guess it's not to everyone's taste but i'm not into ballet etc but I enjoyed it, if just for the novelty.
Cirque du Soleil has become sonething of a tradition in our family. So far we've seen Dralion, Alegria and Varekai. My favorite so far would probably be Alegria, though I did see the video of Quidam (parents saw it live, bought the video) and enjoyed it immensely. I make it a point to buy a jester's hat each time we go Every time I see it, it blows my mind. Some of the performances are absolutely mind-boggling, it leaves me breathless each time. For Varekai, we were treated with the master juggler. After seeing his act, I now know why they call him the "master." The thing that really gets me going (apart from the visual aspect of the show) is the music. Every show is so unique and the music is just plain awesome. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but Cirques du Soleil rocks my world. Of course, my first choice of career when I was in high school was the circus, so that could have something to do with it. There's a show on A&E here in the states called Cirque du Soleil: the Fire Within. It's kind of a reality show that chronicles a show from conception to opening night. It was neat to watch them develop Varekai, then go see it live. -monkey
Saw Satimbanco when they were in Manchester and it was stunning. Would really recommend getting yourself a ticket if you have the oppotunity
ive seen one of their acts when i was at disney land paris years ago, it was really good i was well impressed with some of the stuff that they did
Saw Saltimbanco last night at Star City in bham! Absolutely amazing though the traffic was a nightmare! I think it's one of the smaller shows but I feel I'm going to be on somewhat of a mission to see them whenever possible from now on. Saw some of a show on TV over Christmas but I don't know which one it was...
One of my mates at work saw it on friday night in Birmingham and was telling me about it, sounded so cool, more like a sarcastic circus, although she said they were a bit mean to people in the crowd... Sounds kinda fun - M@
I worked on Varekai and I tell you, even if I got to see the show everyday, it never ceased to impress me. The show changes a lot over the days so even if you go 2 times, there's a good chance you won't see the same show. Every act was really a masterpiece of itself (except for one or two ). If you can work for CDS, even if it doesn't pay much, the experience itself is worth it! I also saw Saltimbanco, Quidam, Dralion and Alegria. Each was a different but equally enjoyable show. Highly recommended.
