Yes, Virginia, there really is a Cirque du Soleil at Walt Disney World!
Written: Oct 27 '02 (Updated Oct 27 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Amazing, entertaining, and utterly unique!
Cons: I only got to see it once!
The Bottom Line: La Nouba is an incredible experience of acrobatics, entertainment, and fantasy. Step into this colorful dream world to experience amazing performances like nothing else you've ever seen!
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| diverpam's Full Review: Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba |
Everyone from 8 to 80 will love the incredible entertainment of Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba. While visiting Walt Disney World this month, I witnessed an amazing performance that combined athletic ability and acrobatic expertise with beauty and grace.
This is my write-off contribution to help celebrate Granniemose's 80th birthday. I selected this topic because I know Virginia would be amazed and entranced at the spectacle provided by Cirque du Soleil - La Nouba. Happy birthday, Virginia!
La Nouba is performed twice nightly in the custom-designed theatre located in Downtown Disney. I spotted the big-top shaped design of this round theatre at a distance and begin to wonder what awaited me there.
Our front-row seats afforded us a unique perspective of this colorful and entertaining show. Everything you might dream of doing as a child comes to life on this unique stage. The colorful costumes, flashing lights, daring feats, haunting music and funny clowns cast a spell of magic over the audience. We sat enthralled as act after act continued to unfold before our disbelieving eyes.
In this magical "waking dream" the circus world interacts with the everyday world in a startling contrast of colors, lights, and sound.
Even though there were many different acts performed throughout the show, there was very intricate interaction between many people occurring on various parts of the stage. The orchestra was perched high in the air, acrobats and a ballerina appeared and re-appeared at various times throughout the show. And a tall, hunched-over, character scowled as he drifted off and on the stage.
Prelude to a Dream
Clowns Balthazar and Sergei speak the universal language of comedy without ever saying a word. The brightly costumed and made-up clowns toyed with the audience and taunted each other, evoking our laughter and helping prepare us for the unexpected.
The shockingly luminescent performers inside the German Wheels rolled onto stage and literally took my breath away. One performer stopped directly in front of me -- talk about front-row seats! Covered in leotards and body paint, the performers had bright, multi-colored designs on their costumes and bodies.
These metal contraptions consist of two large hoops connected with bars. The performers stand inside, grasping the connecting bars and controlling the spin and direction of the wheels. They appear to effortless guide the wheels around the stage, interacting with each other and the going up and down on risers which periodically appear from within the stage.
High Wire
The high wire performers glide across the wire, perched high above the stage. Working without a safety net, at least these performers attach a safety cable. Not only do they walk across the tight rope, they also bicycle across.
Balancing on Chairs
A gaudily-clad and brightly-painted character appears and begins to balance on chairs. As he continues to add chairs to the stack, he climbs higher and higher on top of an architecturally impossible structure. As if that weren't a daunting enough feat, a section of the stage rises several feet into the air, moving his precarious perch to a height of at least 25 feet.
Cycles
The bicyclists appear and disappear on the stage, the stairs, into the audience and back again. They spin, they balance, they hop up and down stairs. They dangle dangerously off the stage and on top of risers.
Flying Trapeze
Of course, no circus is complete without the daring young men and women of the flying trapeze. I was relieved to see them hoisting a safety net before the half dozen or so trapeze artists began swinging from bar to bar, dangling from their knees, and twirling mid-air as they went from one bar to another.
Aerial Ballet in Silk
These taut young athletes wrap themselves in the red silk sashes suspended from the ceiling. They climb higher and higher, then gradually lower themselves by unwinding from the cloth. Then they fly gracefully and seemingly effortlessly around the stage, suspended only by the thin silk wrapped around their hands. The red silk flutters behind as the performers glide around the stage in the bright spotlights.
The star of this act, Yuri Maiorov, a 35-year old from Russia, landed directly in front of me on stage to take his bow. Even after his physically taxing performance, he was barely breaking a sweat and breathing no harder than most people would after climbing a few stairs.
Diabolos
The sweethearts of the show were four very young ladies from China. These tiny performers quickly captivated us with their skill in spinning wooden spools suspended on short ropes between two sticks. As a child who never quite mastered the art of a Yo-Yo, I was amazed at how these tiny girls managed to keep the large spools spinning as they tossed them into the air and passed them back and forth. Even as they balanced on top of each other or spun around, they could still keep the spools spinning and aloft. It wasn't until one of them stood near the edge of the stage that I saw she was just a little girl, with her two front teeth still missing.
Power Track/Trampoline
As the stage open up it revealed several long trampolines in a X-shaped pattern. Multiple acrobats jumped and spun, as others bounced on larger trampolines and walked up the walls of one of the sets. The coordination required must have been incredible, but they worked together so well it appeared to be effortless.
There was so much activity going on all over the stage, it was hard at times to know where to look. Someone would drop from the ceiling, appear in a spotlight, drop from the stage inside an opening, or walk across the stage at any point in time.
What Else Can They Do?
Just when I thought they couldn't amaze me any further, then something else would happen. I think this is a show you would need to watch time after time to capture everything and understand all the nuances.
I took it simply at face value -- it was an incredibly choreographed, athletically-challenging and acrobatic extravaganza for all the senses.
When everyone came on stage for the finale, I couldn't believe all the different people that had been woven into the performances throughout the evening.
Many people I spoke with had been there several times before. Others were like me, still awed from the experience of a first time Cirque du Soleil encounter. I was captivated by the show and can easily see why people return to see it again and again.
Ticket Information
La Nouba is performed twice nightly at 6 pm and 9 pm at the Cirque du Soleili Theatre in Downtown Disney. Tickets can be purchased at the box office or through the concierge at your hotel. We bought our tickets three days prior to a Thursday evening performance from our concierge and were treated to front row center stage seats.
The show is currently dark on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, but beginning January 3, 2003, Sundays and Mondays will be dark.
Tickets may be purchased from the box office up to six months in advance. Prices for adults are $72/$82 and children (3-9) $44/$49, plus tax.
Happy birthday, Virginia! You are one amazing lady and I'm sure you could even put these guys to shame if you tried!
Recommended:
Yes
Best Suited For: Couples
Best Time to Travel Here: Anytime
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diverpam
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Member: Pam
Location: Collierville, TN
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~~~~So many oceans...so little time!~~~~
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