fivepuddles

Colorful costumes, unbelievable contorsion movements, sky high balancing acts, and enchanting music all intertwined into one incredible story. Sound familiar? The art of acrobatics and gymnastics has been around for centuries, and we all have a childhood memory of a classic circus with high wire acts and colorful costumes, but bringing it all together creates an artform reletively new. Cirque Du Soleil might come to mind, one of the first companies to combine acrobatics, contorsionists, circus settings and epic soundtracts into one theatrical performance. This is a style of entertainment that is only recently etching its way onto the world stage.

I had seen one Cirque Du Soleil show before, the travelling show ‘Delirum’ as it made its way through North America. And I was fascinated by the performance. Last spring while in Beijing, after seeing a chinese opera performance one night, I had the oportunity to go see the Beijing Acrobats the next night. I was completely blown away by the athletic abilities of these young adults and children performing on stage, easily on par with the stunts I had seen in Cirque Du Soleil.

Recently I attended Cirque Shanghai Bai Xi in Edmonton. This time, famous chinese acrobatic stunts such as the 10 people on one cicycle stunt and pole leaping were performed. The music was modern, many tracks were remakes of famous theme songs. It all went together well. The chinese shows have a refreshing distinct difference and feel than say Cirque du Soleil. But all are worth every penny to sit and watch it all happen live before your eyes.

So next time you have the opportunity, take in a show, you’ll be experiencing the evolution of theater, and leaving with a big smile on your face.