Inn of the Wandering Dragon

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a performance of Cirque's new show: AmaLuna. I have written about other Cirque du Soleil performances that I have seen, along with Cavalia (which shares a similar flare). I have gushed in the past about how beautiful the shows are, with the fantastic costumes, music and acrobatics. AmaLuna is no exception and this show contains some truly beautiful and memorable performances - but that is not what I am writing about tonight.

You see, I attended the show with a good friend and her kids. We both agree that this is an experience to be enjoyed and remembered.  Thinking back to attending theatrical productions with my parents as a kid - such as Cats, and a gorgeous puppet production of the Hobbit -  I remember how entranced and amazed I was by it all. The live music, the costumes, the stage elements... I fell in love with all of it - because to me all of it was real.

I am not talking about just a child's vivid imagination here, with which a good production becomes a means of escape into fantastic worlds (although that is pretty amazing in it's own way). As illustrated by the child sitting next to me "Wow! He is really strong to do that" (refering to an acrobat climbing a pole with only his hands - and every single back, chest and core muscle the human body contains). This is not the CGI or animation you see in TV shows and movies. This is real people performing and showing us what kind of amazing and incredible things the human body can do. This is real costumes created, sewn and used to convey characters in colour and flow of movement.  This is live music being played right in front of you with the sheer joy of the musicians who are creating it as you feel the vibrations move through you. Someone - many someones - made all of this!

Just to be clear I am not knocking the film and tv industry here. It takes a lot of people a huge amount of time and work to make what we see on the screen and I think they are a collection of amazing artists. What I am saying is that what they create is still removed from us. It is a projection on the screen.

In comparison live theater is a truly viceral escape into another world - a very real, very magical physical world of which we are all a part. You feel it. You smell it. It is in our face, a  reminder that we can step away from the computer screens and the tvs and that we can create and experience something incredible.