Cirque du Soleil
On Sunday, Adam and I went to see Cirque du Soleil's Totem show at Marine Industrial Park in South Boston. I've never seen Cirque du Soleil before, and the last circus of any sort I've been to was in Brooklyn 11 years ago.
I was begrudging the $80-a-piece ticket price (we got excellent seats even though two higher price seat categories were available) but only until we settled down in the Grand Chapiteau (as C du S calls its bit top--because that's the term for it in French?).
C du S design people sure know how to create an atmosphere! I guess the use of fog machines was less impressive than the projection of running water--and later other surfaces--onto the stage. There were other special effects as well. It was all ridiculously gorgeous!
The acts themselves were also impressive and beautifully choreographed.
To be honest, I tend to cringe inwardly when watching acrobats and other people with special physical skills perform. They always have a pleasant (or act-appropriate) expression on their faces even though they must be physically miserable and desperately focused on not making a wrong move!
I couldn't even begin to use a 7-foot tall unicycle (for the purpose it's intended), and there these people were throwing and catching bowls on their heads while riding those things...
As for acrobats on trapezes and other contraptions, well, it's pretty uncomfortable for your naked limb to suddenly be grabbed by your partner's naked limb and instantly have to support your entire body weight. So stop looking so peaceful and pretty while you're so uncomfortable! The knowledge that you might be a fraction of a second away from a fate that would lead to massive fractures and internal injuries can't help either... (OK, I know that they practice ad nauseam before tour--and possibly during?--but when they first start working on a stunt they've never done before, the risk of never making it to the tour must be non-trivial.)
Anyway, it was all incredibly pretty. Definitely worth the money we paid.
I was begrudging the $80-a-piece ticket price (we got excellent seats even though two higher price seat categories were available) but only until we settled down in the Grand Chapiteau (as C du S calls its bit top--because that's the term for it in French?).
C du S design people sure know how to create an atmosphere! I guess the use of fog machines was less impressive than the projection of running water--and later other surfaces--onto the stage. There were other special effects as well. It was all ridiculously gorgeous!
The acts themselves were also impressive and beautifully choreographed.
To be honest, I tend to cringe inwardly when watching acrobats and other people with special physical skills perform. They always have a pleasant (or act-appropriate) expression on their faces even though they must be physically miserable and desperately focused on not making a wrong move!
I couldn't even begin to use a 7-foot tall unicycle (for the purpose it's intended), and there these people were throwing and catching bowls on their heads while riding those things...
As for acrobats on trapezes and other contraptions, well, it's pretty uncomfortable for your naked limb to suddenly be grabbed by your partner's naked limb and instantly have to support your entire body weight. So stop looking so peaceful and pretty while you're so uncomfortable! The knowledge that you might be a fraction of a second away from a fate that would lead to massive fractures and internal injuries can't help either... (OK, I know that they practice ad nauseam before tour--and possibly during?--but when they first start working on a stunt they've never done before, the risk of never making it to the tour must be non-trivial.)
Anyway, it was all incredibly pretty. Definitely worth the money we paid.