Helen and I saw Cirque du Soleil’s Varekai last night. Adjectives fail me - it was amazing, astounding, outstanding, wondrous, awe-inspiring, all of these things, only more so.
I’d be hard put to name my favourite part of the show - either as a linear facet that went all the way through (such as the music, the lighting, the costumes, the theme, or the choreography) or as a distinct set (the tumblers, the acrobats on the four-rope trapeze, the winged one working the net, the clowns, the two aerial artists on opposing then the same line, or the finale swinging frames). Everything was good and more than good. The crowd control was masterful - a lot of people moved in and out with a minimum of fuss.
I saw people in the souvenir tents looking at the clothing, the bags, the toys - trying to find something that would capture the magic so that they could take it home with them. My friend Matthew said that he could not buy the DVD after seeing the show because it would be a pale shadow of the original. Having seen it for myself I believe that he was right - that I could not take anything away that compared adequately to the original experience - although I might get the DVD of the show when it comes into mass distribution, as the memories will have faded then I guess. In a way it is, to me, like a holiday romance - a special place and time that I will not easily forget, yet cannot be recreated in the normal workaday world, except within the heart.
Cheers, Andrew
I agree wholeheartedly.
There were few words I could use to describe Varekai. A performance would begin and I would be just gob-smacked, staring at the performers, amazed and astounded, before realising that I hadn’t clapped in several minutes.
The only thing I felt I could take away with me that somehow represented my thoughts and feelings of the show was the music CD. I’ve been listening to it in the car most days since the show.