Thursday, May 27, 2010

Cirque Du Soleil - Alegria

This week I was fortunate enough to win a pack of tickets to see the opening show of Cirque Du Soleil - Alegria at the Save Mart Center here in Fresno. I really had no idea what to expect, but I was excited because I've heard good things about other Cirque Du Soleil performances.
As we walked into the arena, I was immediately impressed. Only about a quarter of the arena was open, given it the feel of a theater. The stage was in the middle, cutting off about half of the arena, and the upper deck was closed off.
The stage was interesting, and as the first performers came out, I realized that what I thought was a flat backdrop was actually a sloped portion of the stage. Just a clever illusion with the angles. Very nice.
The music hit me quickly: this is the kind of stuff I like. I do enjoy musicals, and this had a very opera feel to it. Actually, at times I was reminded of some of the opera music in Final Fantasy VI (or Final Fantasy III as it was released on SNES). What a treat! So of course I had to come home and get the music.
The performers were all terrific, although two in particular stood out to me. One involved a performer with a giant metal ring, which left me wondering how someone even finds out they have that sort of talent! The other involved two contortionists. Do I need to say more? At times I found myself losing track of what was an arm and what was a leg, and whether the person was bending forward or backward. Simply amazing.
So I give this show a huge thumbs up! If I had the opportunity, I'm pretty sure I'd go and see this again. Maybe I'll save my money to check out a different Cirque Du Soleil show, but Alegria would definitely be worth paying to see again. I recommend you check it out if you get a chance to during the tour. Check out www.cirquedusoleil.com for more information.

As I said, the music in this performance was amazing. Check out the soundtrack here: Cirque Du Soleil: Alegria Soundtrack

3 comments:

Hous said...

I'd recomend Ovo. We saw it right around Christmas time. It was A-mazing. Also saw Kooza 2 years ago in San Jo. You should you tube the wheels of death.

Pook said...

I've only seen them do Quidam in So Cal. But I think I know what you're talking about with the big ring. They called it a German wheel I think. Thats some serious pelvis power. hehe

Jaime said...

Rie - Thanks for the tip. I do look forward to seeing other Cirque shows in the future!

Pook - Yeah, I looked it up after you posted that, and it looks like the German Wheel is what it was. That's some crazy talent there!