Cirque du Soleil: Personal and Memorable

I said I would write about our experience at the much anticipated circus. It has been nearly two weeks, however, and still I have no words to describe it. In fact, we were just visiting friends over the holiday weekend, and I quickly realized that even the most perfect descriptions become just meaningless words, when spoken and not seen. Yet, actually seeing some of these acts blew our minds. I started thinking about the five small girls rotating drum-like disks on their feet, while lying flat on their backs. My biggest curiosity was the painstakingly long amount of time it simply must have taken for them to learn such seemingly impossibly feats! Those five girls and their rather large bag of tricks was definitely my favorite part. It was so close to the beginning of the show, and yet I knew right away that nothing would top it. 


The trapeze artists were something I'd always heard about, but never actually seen up close and real. How many of them miss-landed and fell to the net, surprised me. That alone made me realize just how complex and incredible their talent must be. I mean, this is Cirque du Soleil! It's a world renowned event! World class, even! 


But, most of all, it felt so incredibly personal. First, there wasn't a bad seat in the house. As soon as we walked into the tent, we were quite surprised at how little seating there was, so small, so close. We had two seats by an isle and in a row. Different bug characters (including a very cool one in stilts) passed through the isles and rows before and during the show. They shook hands with all the little kids, and a ringmaster-like character in the story had such a unique participation with the audience. The energy was enough to last us for months.


There was just one thing that was actually quite humous, yet so vexing (considering just how much those tickets cost). There was a girl sitting just behind my husband and I. She was probably about seven or eight years old. Old enough to know better, to know how to behave when an audience is so silent and that one could hear a pin drop. My little four year old girl has enough sense to know better than this one. I suppose, what my husband and I came away with, when the music wasn't too loud to drown out the noise of it, was:


"What is that, Daddy? What is that, Daddy? What is that Daddy? What is that, Daddy?"


After about the sixth or seventh time she had asked the same question with no response, the father would finally reply with an equally idiotic answer, "I don't know. I think it's a butterfly." 


To which the girl would then say something like, "No, that's not a butterfly, Daddy. What is it, Daddy? Is it a giant bug, Daddy?"

Oh, by the time that the intermission had come around, my husband and I had each given our own looks of complete disappointment and irritation. After the intermission was over, however, and we had discussed the little girl at length (and my shoe managed to step on an authentic piece of chewing gum, which I was never able to completely remove), we didn't hear another word. I didn't think my look had been that glaring, so I'll assume I have my husband's glare to thank. It's not that I mind a little talking here and there, but either answer the girl's question or tell her to be quiet!  

It was a beautiful and utterly memorable occasion. Every part of it, good and bad, brought the whole of the experience to a positively amazing level. I suggest you buy yourself a ticket or two, add a bag of popcorn, maybe a drink, and please, enjoy the show!

Lotus Asylum