On Sunday, the five of us (me, Berta, Abby, Mom, and Nana) went into Philly to see Alegria, one of the touring Cirque Du Soleil shows. This marks my fifth unique Cirque show, having seen “O”, La Nouba, Dralion, and Varekai.
The show was as good in performance as any of the other shows. All of the performers were the best at their craft. The “manipulation” act was my favorite. It was a single performer who started with one of those ribbons that flows through the air. She then started to do some amazing things with silver-colored hula hoops. My describing the performance is not doing it much justice, but at one point she had one hoop on her ankle (her foot extended outward), one around her waist, and two on each wrist. If you look at the picture I’ve included from the program (we weren’t allowed to take pictures during the show) you might be able to guess that she often contorted herself with hoops whirling about her ankles in that manner.
Otherwise, I think I have seen too many of these shows. It’s neat when you can be amazed by something new, and terrible when you’ve seen it so many times that it nearly becomes commonplace. I was disappointed not to see the russian bars act, since that would have been something new. The strong man act was new, but wasn’t too impressive. He did toss a few heavy weights around blindfolded, which I think I may become more impressed with if I let my impressions stew longer.
In this show, the contortion act went on far too long. As I was commenting to my mom, after you see her look at you with her head twisted backward between her knees, what more twisting does she really need to show you?
There was something else amiss in this show, too. I think that Alegria is the oldest show we’ve seen, since it’s been running for over 10 years. As such, it hasn’t had the benefit of tuning itself to the audience in its design. That’s odd to say since you’d think if it has been running so long that they would have tuned it quite well. But I think they architect the choreography and story well in advance, and don’t change it too much while the show is playing. The other newer shows have the benefit of seeing the strengths of Alegria and working with them.
Alegria’s theme wasn’t as strong as the other shows. Granted, most of the themes of the other shows are pretty obscure or simple, but I couldn’t follow a thread in Alegria. And their clowns… Usually, I don’t mind the clowns in The Cirque du Soleil. But I couldn’t fathom the clowns in this show. Some of the acts were simply not funny or understandable. Maybe I don’t get the French phrasing of their humor. Oh well.
Well, the trip was nice and in spite of any of my complaints, the show was well performed. It’s always nice to get out under the big top and see what new magic the Cirque Du Soleil has to offer.
