FlyingOver - Fly - Frédéric Chéhu - Photo used with permission.

“How are they doing that?” Claire asked, her eyes wide with disbelief as she watched the women flying above the horses. She gasped again. “How are they doing that?” she whispered to me.

“Do you really want to know?” I asked in return. “Or do you want to just see it for the magic it is?”

“I really want to know,” she said.  She’s four-and-three-quarters, after all.  She needs to know things.

So, I told her there were wires attached to harnesses, and that’s how the women on the stage were gliding like fairies over the horses and their riders.

As they spun together in the center of the stage, almost appearing to come together as one, Claire said, “They look like a butterfly!” The logical explanation did not diminish the magic of the moment in the least. “They’re beautiful.”

I couldn’t agree more.

At times, ours eyes were tricked into believing they were defying gravity, mocking it even at times. Sometimes the artists were defying gravity, or at least bending it a little to their will.

I still get shivers when I think about what we witnessed on the stage at Cavalia. In fact, words can’t describe it….but I’ll try: Cavalia is an equestrian show from one of the creators of Cirque du Soleil, and like any Cirque du Soleil show I’ve seen, I spent a good portion of it gasping and holding my breath.

The three of us were given free tickets to the premier on September 22 in Denver. Our seats were five rows back from the stage. Incredible! I do have a confession to make: Yes, I was given free tickets, but I’m not obligated to write about this at all, let alone give in a glowing review. I’m writing about this, because what we experienced at Cavalia can’t be described; it has to be experienced, and if you have it in the budget to go, go. Now.

Before arriving at the show, my husband said he hoped our seats weren’t too close to the stage, just as Claire was asking if we got to ride the horses. In fact, I have another confession to make: I knew I would love this show the minute I saw it was about horses. My husband wasn’t initially convinced. He’s not what you’d call “a horse person.” I knew Claire would like it too, and she was thoroughly impressed before it even officially started.

I was curious to see how they would work the horses into the routines, and I was absolutely amazed. The skill, training and genuine caring for the horses was evident.

Trick Riding - Lynne Glazer - Photo used with permission.

The verdict: As someone who appreciates horses, I thought it was a fantastic show, and I can’t stop gushing about it. My husband, who “isn’t a horse person” thoroughly enjoyed himself, but put it on par with other Cirque du Soleil performances (which, in case you didn’t know, means he loved it despite the fact that horses were involved.) Claire, on the other hand, loved it on a whole different level. Her interest in horses has dramatically spiked. She’s asked if she can take riding lessons to go along with her Ballet! I’m afraid we’ve created a monster.

I’m not sure which was my favorite part: Was it the moments when horses galloping at full speed sped by our seats as the performers showed off their tricks and skills? Or the image of the horses projected on what appeared to be a fine mist, giving a ghostly presence to the stage? Or the woman who calmed and controlled eight horses at once, just by a movement of her hand or a sound? Or the “real” snow that fell on the stage and parts of the audience while acrobat danced with rider, in blatant disregard to gravity?

Bungee and Rider - Frédéric Chéhu - Photo used with permission.

No.

My favorite part of the show was the look on my daughter’s face when she realized that magic really does exist.

…wires or not.

“Momma Clown?”

“Yes, Baby Clown?”

“Momma Clown, I can’t breathe!”

“Well, breathe through your mouth, Baby Clown.”

“Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

This is the Clown Nose Claire got from the Behind the Scenes Adventure with the Cirque du Soleil Kooza Crew. Oh, and…I never know who/what she’s pretending to be until she calls me the Momma version of it…luckily that almost always happens at the beginning of the skit.

These are also skills we saw first hand at Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza, of course, in the more literal sense!

And, speaking of Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza, yesterday, Claire and I had the opportunity to join some of the Mile High Mamas for a behind-the-scenes outing at the big tent.

Due to some miscommunications with the PR people, our tour wasn’t as extensive as we’d thought it would be with the kids in tow, but there were cupcakes involved, so Claire didn’t even know the difference.

Photo by Gretchen White of lifenut.com. Thanks, Gretchen!

The highlight of the outing, other than getting to see the costume room and one of the practice rooms of the performers was getting a chance to talk to some of the moms that travel with the Cirque du Soleil show. It was amazing hearing their stories and asking them questions about life on the road. Some of the moms are fourth generation circus people, and their way of life amazes me. Such a nomadic lifestyle has its own joys and challenges, and it was neat to hear their first-hand experiences.

When the tour was over, the kids got clown noses, and I opted to open the package up for Claire when we got home. And, I’m glad I did! I had such a terrible time getting it open, that I was just sure 23 clown noses would come flying out of that plastic container.

Two screwy-louie’s, one finger-nail file, and a butter-knife later, I finally got the Clown Nose Container open, and out popped the clown nose.

Maybe the circus life isn’t for me after all.

My husband and I splurged on tickets for that show, because we were there for our honeymoon, and we’d heard awesome things about it. Even the nosebleed seats (which we got) were $100 a piece. That was pricey, so I hoped we liked it.

I cannot even describe to you what happened in that theatre. We sat there, mouths agape, entranced, enthralled, and thoroughly entertained. The two hour show was over in what seemed like mere moments. We had seen the other side of a world we had no idea even existed.

People would ask us about it, and we’d stammer all over ourselves, searching for the right words, finally settling on, “Go.  Just go.  You won’t be disappointed.”

Since then, we’ve lusted after Cirque du Soleil tickets. Different traveling shows would come through Denver, but we just never had the chance to go.

Until now.

Due to a quirk of fate, and my contacts at Mile High Mamas, the Denver Post’s parenting blog, I was offered two free tickets to the Premier of Cirque du Soleil’s Kooza. When we recovered from the shock, I accepted and started planning a whole evening out of it.

Date-night in the middle of the week!?  Awesome!  I was able to use some borrowed babysitting hours from a friend, so we dropped Claire off there for her own evening of fun, and we headed to Denver. We had reservations at a wonderful sushi restaurant, and then headed to the show.

We even met up with some other Mile High Mamas during Intermission!
Above, we have Yours Truly, Amber, Lori, and Aimee!
Thanks for sharing the photo, Aimee!

Just like “O,” the magic that is Cirque du Soleil captured us again. But, unlike “O,” these seats weren’t nosebleed. These seats were practically on the stage! We sat in the second row from the stage. All that separated us from the stage was on other row of chairs. At one point in the show, we had to look straight up to see what was unfolding above us. That part did give me a slight kink in my neck, but I was trying so hard to breathe that it didn’t even matter.

Because we were so close to the action, I noticed things I’ve never noticed before. Every participant was a work of art. Each costume was intricate and gorgeous. Each face was painted so delicately and with such artistry, that it was amazing.

Claire and I have the opportunity to see more of this first-hand when we go behind the scenes this week with some of the cast and try on the costumes and makeup ourselves. Yes! It’s true! I can’t believe it either.

Anyway, back to the show.

I get chills just thinking about the things we experienced in that show. I would say, “The things we saw…” but it’s more than that. We didn’t just watch the show. The show became part of us, and we lived through it.

I enjoyed every last bit of the show, but two of my favorites were the contortionists and the Wheel of Death.

As punny as it sounds, I tried to wrap my head around the contortionists. At certain points in their performance, I lost track of which were their fronts and which were their backs. Nothing made sense anymore.

And, it still doesn’t.  I mean, look at this??  (And this is one of their easier poses…) 

Photo by OSA Images

During the Wheel of Death act, I gasped out loud more than once, and at one point, if you heard a woman literally scream out loud because she wasn’t paying attention when one of the performers grabbed on and flew up in the air, that was me.  Sorry to have startled you.  What can I say?  I was too busy watching the other guy hover in mid-air in the center of the other spinny wheel, hoping he didn’t plummet to the earth below to even see the other guy get ready to wrestle the laws of physics.

I was simultaneously afraid to watch and afraid to look away. In the end, I couldn’t turn away, but I did have my hand planted firmly over my mouth, so as to stifle the screams.

The things I saw still haunt my dreams, but in a good way.

Photo by OSA Images

Only someone who has experienced this show can know what I mean.

So, if you have a chance, you need to experience this for yourself. You will be thoroughly entertained. You will be amazed. And, odds are, your body will remember to breathe for you, so you should be fine…

In short?  GO.  It is WORTH it.  It was absolutely incredible.

In long?  Stay tuned, because I can’t wait to share!

In the meantime, here’s another sneak peek of what we saw…

Picture credit: OSA Images

For free. I know!  I can hardly believe it myself!

Next week, some of the lucky Mile High Mamas and I will get to hang out behind the scenes, try on makeup and costumes and even try a stunt or two.  I thought *that* was going to be the thrill of a lifetime…I had no idea I’d also be offered two free tickets to the premier!

That shriek you heard last week was me when I got the news.  My husband and I fell in love with Cirque du Soleil when we saw O on our honeymoon in Las Vegas in 2000.  Needless to say, we were both beyond thrilled when I was offered two free tickets to the premier!

I suppose I’ll take him with me.

I’m expecting to see a little of this…

Picture credit: OSA Images

…and a little of this…

Picture credit: OSA Images

…and a little of this…

Picture credit: OSA Images

You can expect a full recap of our adventures.

We are dropping Claire off at a friend’s house and making a nice date-night out of it.  I can’t wait!

Is it too early to start getting ready to leave?  I mean, the show only starts in about 10 hours.