After a very pleasant and mouth-watering steamboat, tonight was all about Cirque du Soleil. French for ‘Circus of the Sun’,Cirque’s latest production ‘Varekai’ was absofuckinglutely amazing. 5 stars, 10 stars, 100 stars I cannot decide.
About: Varekai means ‘wherever’ in the Romany language of the Gypsies. Icarus, the man with wings from the ancient Greek myth, would fall into the magical world of Varekai where the impossible is possible.
A little history; Cirque du Soleil is an entertainment empire based in Quebec, Canada, founded in 1984 by two street performers Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier. Which is now one of the world’s best circus.
When we arrived at the scene, what welcomed us were the many yellow and blue tents. Apparently, these blue-yellow-striped tents, also known as the Grand Chapiteau is their trademark which they brought to every performance.
Every show features original music and performances, where different acts are recruited from all over the world (eg China and Russia) and blended into their own styles.
(An interesting piece of information. During the show the performers were speaking in a foreign language I didn’t quite understood but understood. A little bit of English and something else. I later found out that it was actually an imaginary language called ‘Cirquish’ created by the company. How cool is that?)
At 5 to 8pm, bells started ringing and we were ushered into the tents where we quickly found our seats. 5 minutes later, a group of people meant to sit on the inside of the row came in. Being considerate, we decided to move two seats down where we would take their seats and vice versa. That was when I found myself sitting behind a lady on fire. Correction. Fat lady on fire. She was so fat she would’ve blocked me from any angle. And her bright red hair and bright red top wasn’t helping. However, the minute the show started I forgot she was even there.
Set in a forest made of more than 300 golden needle-like tree trunks and a suspended treehouse platform, magical ‘creatures’ dressed in the most colourful and unique costumes came crawling out and dancing to the music. This was when I wished I had 10 pairs of eyes. It was impossible to follow every single one of the performers. Some of the acts include:
Icarus falling down with his white wings and performed a mid-air act equipped with only a small net.
The three young boys whirling ropes into the air.
The four female trapeze artists-awesome!
The five men (The Santos brothers) who continuously flipped each other through aerial loops using only their feet.
The Juggling artist-Balancing two spinning large sized balls on top of each other, on a small stick held by his mouth.
Juggling about 5 ping pong balls using his tongue. His tongue. As in, lying on the floor and pushing each ball upwards
as they fall into his mouth, juggling them one after another again and again. !!!!!!!!!!!!
And my favourite: The two very athletic brothers, Kevin and Andrew Atherton who performed synchronised ballet, swopping through the air using elastic loops. Absoutely breathtaking.
And as expected, there was the Grand Grand finale. Men dressed in red manipulating two big swings where red confetti which filled the air then marked the end of the show.
NB: This does not even cover all the acts.
Cirque du Soleil gives a new definition to ‘circus’. I walked in expecting world class performances. What I saw in there was
many times more than what I expected. Jaw-dropping. The performances was what you would call perfection. Flawless. Their poise, their movements, was impossible made possible. It was almost not human. Another thing to note, what I saw on their faces tonight, was passion. So much passion. Imagine having to sacrifice your entire life for this. I couldn’t help but wonder if passion was really enough?
And I have to say, AUD80 was too cheap!! I would’ve willingly paid twice the amount for this.
Circus fan or not, Cirque du Soleil is a once in a lifetime experience. I will patiently wait for their new production next year 
And of course, there’s always the cam whoring moments after:
The night ended with a drive and a conversation where Noons would wear her newly purchased mask to Borders and demand the very first Harry Potter book tomorrow morning. Where if her demands were not met, she would permanently scar the children waiting in line. baha.
It was a good night. Best in a while. Every once in a while a little something called circus can still cheer one up, regardless of age.
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