Twice Mice

I saw my first Cirque du Soleil show in Las Vegas in February 2008 – Mystère – one of the seven Cirque shows in permanent residence there. It was magical – I loved the fusion of acrobatic talent with whimsical creatures and a spectacular set. When I heard that Cirque du Soleil would be touring Europe, I signed up in anticipation. When Cologne was announced, I hesitated. Could I really go all the way to Germany just for a show? Admittedly, it’s under two hours on the train, but still, it seemed a bit indulgent. I decided to try to act like a European, and buy the tickets as soon as they were available.

So on the 15th of January, I bought two front-row seats for the show on the 5th of June. It was a long wait, but this weekend we finally popped over to Germany to see the show.

It was fantastic. The story was a little confusing – a white bird loses his wings and lands in a forest inside a volcano. He then gives a feather to a lizard, who is captured by blue creatures. The white bird is then entranced by a shiny stretchy creature, and then they get married to the jubilation of fire animals.

However, the acrobats were astonishing, and I often found myself holding my breath in anxiety. As the acrobats soared over us, my heard leaped with their beauty and grace. The sound-track was created with live musicians and a singer. The singer would stand to the side of the action, spreading their arms as they seemed to narrate the actions in a mysterious tongue. Other creatures would also creep around the background, climbing trees or attempting to mimic the acrobats.

Being so close to the performers was great. They would frequently make eye contact with us, and I loved seeing their smiles when they landed a difficult move. After the show ended, they all came out to receive their standing ovation. The same performers have been touring since 2002, yet they still seem to have the energy of opening night.

Adrian Dennis/AFP/Getty Images

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This entry was posted on Monday, June 7th, 2010 at 4:49 pm and is filed under Germany.You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.