toronto stories

dreams of cirque

Apologies to those who are following and finding a lot of lag time between posts. September has been one of the best months weatherwise and I have been trying to squeeze out every last bit of sunshine. 17 days of beautiful skies... it was one of the best memories of fall I've ever had.

One of my friends organized a group of us to go to see Cirque du Soleil's latest show, Ovo. We bought tickets back in May, and finally the time had come to see the show. Imagine 2500 people crammed into a tent. The last time I saw Cirque was 4 years ago, shortly after I arrived in Toronto. I was not impressed with paying so much for a ticket to sit on crowded seats in a tent (think outhouses for washrooms!) However, this show impressed me much more than Corteo. The first act was my favourite. Some blue insect solo by this guy who was doing hand balancing and more on this windy "vine" and slipping and sliding his body along it. Beautiful to watch. I was mesmerized.

The other favourite scene was the spiders. Such contortionists. But so beautifully stunning while other insects climbed around the "web". The flying trapeze artists left a little to be desired. One person fell twice, not sticking his landing. Another also fell. I know people make mistakes, but this is Cirque, and I expected perfection. Alas, the music for the show was captivating and I was pulled into the drama so much that I felt I was living in a dream world. The theme was nature and insects, so they had a huge flower that actually opened and bloomed... and I swear they scented the air so that it smelt like a spa with some sort of flowery fragrance.

They redesigned the boutique area as well so that there was a cocktail area for people to nosh on munchies and their drinks alongside the merchandise. I cannot imagine them doing a show in the winter here - it's not possible with the snow and cold. Even last night was a bit on the cool side since the tent doors to the boutique were open.

I was still dreaming about the magic of Cirque all night and into today. That was definitely worth the price of admission!

posted by toronto girl @ 7:54 PM