Cirque de Soleil’s ‘LUZIA’ captivates in HartfordDate: 7/9/2019 Editor’s note: Who better to review the new Cirque de Soleil traveling show now in Hartford, CT though July 22 than someone who practices many of the athletic skills for which the Cirque performers are known. Holly Woods of Pole Control Studios shared the following review:
HARTFORD CT – We pulled up to the Market Street – where the huge Cirque de Soleil tent is located – like kids going to a candy store.
It’s amazing looking at the circus tents from the highway and having those memories of the 1944 circus fire, but it hits my heart every time I pass Market Street and there is no tent erected to show the joy a circus can bring into town.
The new show is called “LUZIA” and according to the official synopsis, it “takes you to an imaginary Mexico, like in a waking dream, where light (“luz” in Spanish) quenches the spirit and rain (“lluvia”) soothes the soul. Through a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, LUZIA invites audiences to escape on a surrealistic journey through a sumptuous and vibrant world suspended somewhere between dreams and reality. Smoothly passing from an old movie set to the ocean to a smoky dance hall or an arid desert, LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity. Rich in awe-inspiring moments, LUZIA enchants by incorporating rain into acrobatic and artistic scenes – a first for a Cirque du Soleil touring production.”
It never fails to amaze walking into Cirque de Soleil’s display. It’s vibrant and full of delight. Coming into the tent after getting your ticket you have an opportunity to buy items from the merch tent, as well as food and beverages.
With ticket in hand and with nachos and hotdogs I go to sit in my seat with an amazing view of the round rotating stage. The first entertainer approaches and we are greeted by one of the beautiful “birds.”
I was instantly caught up in the lights and the sounds of the authentic guitar playing of the mariachi band member and the Mexican salsa dancers. It sweeps your imagination away to a world that you have to visit to believe.
In the first act there are bounding “birds” flying through hoops of different sizes, twisting their bodies in multiple ways to fit through the hoops at full speed like real birds.
I was blown away when the trapeze artist and the other performers began to perform in their flowing yellow costumes. The trapeze performer flying overhead created amazing shapes and lines. The audience was in complete awe as she flew around us.
Then the rain came down and the water was amazing. It was so beautiful, as it was part of different images and picturesque moments of everything authentic to Mexico.
Every story was told with such elegance and grace.
By the time we got to our intermission we were craving so much more and we were excited knowing that coming up there were pole dancers. We couldn’t wait to call out every pole move.
It was amazing to see your sport displayed and watch the audience around you. People dropped their jaws as they saw for the first time what we do in our immediate and advances classes.
There many beautiful displays of spectacle and showmanship, however my favorite aspect was how the show was pulled together by the comic relief.
Toward the end of the show there was a contortionist who bent his body into an amazing number of shapes. We were also impressed by a Hartford native who performed on the aerial straps, which are extremely tough.
In the finale of their show, they had a little mishap but in true Cirque de Soleil form, they did the trick all over again – just to show their professionalism they will perform each and every act to precision.
“LUZIA” was surely was an amazing display of culture, arial artistry and pure magic. I didn’t want it to ever end. It was a truly wonderful show.
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