Cirque Dreams product reviews

Stunning!!! That is basically all that this reviewer can say about Cirque Dreams, to sum up the show in one word. The show started with a 'warm up act' of two identically dressed imaginaires bringing up to the stage various members of the audience. They tried in vain to get them to do a back flip. The audience were in stitches. This reviewer knew then he was in for a treat, and what a treat it was! Two hours of non-stop amazement. The lighting was superb, and the costumes were divine, complimenting the fantastic music. All this combined to create a mesmerising 'dream time fantasy':Hint look at the clock at the start of the show and then at the end of the show. The hands start and finished at the same time, thus indicating this all had happened in the blink of an eye.

Scenes that stand out for this reviewer among all of the astoundingly fast paced show are FLEXIBLE FACES OF TIME: (Biambajav & Biambasuren Janchivdoorj) These ladies twisted, tied and contorted themselves into numerous positions with an almost liquid grace that flowed from one position to the next.
A SPINNING LABYRINTH was amazing. UV light was used to great effect. A Spirograph on acid would describe it quite nicely.
WOUND UP IN KNOTS saw Angel Fraguada doing things with a rope that had people gasping in surprise.
THE MASQUERADE HOUR was entertaining, Mr Vilkousky managed not to fall off his stack of chairs. Had he more room and more chairs, I think he'd have gone higher.
RINABELLA'S WISH had the audience in stitches as members of the public became the bell ringer orchestra.

Other scene that stand out were THE ROBES OF HEAVEN, and HEARTBEAT OF THE SPIRITS. Robes had Maria Kvartalova and Sergey Parshin wow the audience as they flew over the stage "displaying strength and skill" on a length of silk/chiffon. Heartbeat had Sergey Parshin, Sergei Slarski and Alexander Tolstikov stun the audience as they balanced on each other "defying gravity" finishing the scene to an enormous round of applause.

The Imaginaires also brought an element of fantasy to the show adding extra visuals to a show that was bursting at the seams with things to look at already. Tying all the costumes, lights, perfomers and music together was Noemie Jane. She was on stage for almost all of the show; adding another dimension to the spectacle unfolding before an enraptured audience.

If you go and see one circus this year, then I Highly Recommend you go and see "CIRQUE DREAMS" and no other!

As the programme says "When the lights go out...it's not just a dream...It's reality."

Disclaimer: All quotes within this review are from the programme.

Once again, another show at the stunningly restored Regent Theatre on Broadway, in Palmerston North. We walked in, found our seats and parked up, ready for the lights to dim. Quietly, subtly, the show had already started. One of the main characters, the dream goblin (I think) started to wander around, razzing the audience members still trying to get seated. What a hoot! The pre-show progressed with random appearances of cast across the stage, and then the Flipping Dolls came out... and started grabbing members of the audience, getting them on stage, and tried to get them to do backflips! The reluctance of some audience members provided great entertainment.

The lights dimmed, the music started, and a haunting voice started singing in the shadows. The spotlight roved and found her, standing in a doorway, singing something that sounded like a real language, but just slightly off in some unidentifiable way. She sang a song that, though the words were unknown, still spoke to something inside me, told me the tale of the dreamworld we were being invited into.

But enough details... I would not want to ruin the show! Time for a few quick summaries...

The contortionists from Mongolia were astounding! with such effortless skill and graceful power, these two young women twisted and tied themselves into such shapes, I was spellbound. I was also silently sitting there with my legs crossed twitching in phantom sympathy. If any male tried these moves, he'd sing soprano for the rest of his miserable days.

The frame-twirlers... now they were seriously cool! Imagine a square hoola-hoop, with a center crossbar, made out of that plastic that glows under ultra-violet (blacklight). Times two (two performers on stage at the same time). Now hit them with a strobing blacklight, as they spin the frames. It was like watching a spirograph in 3d. Then they started the act with CUBES! (hollow framework, in silver) and that was astounding, because the frames seemed to defy gravity.

The robe acrobat was seriously cool too. With the contortions in mid-air, the controlled plummets towards the floor... scarily skillful.

THen the Dream Goblin came back to the fore, with members of the audience being selected and handed cowbells. 5 in all, each at a different pitch. He then 'conducted' a bell recital. For me, thise was the only low point to the show. Minor as it was, it gave me a headache. I don't enjoy discordant bells very much. However, it still remained a highly entertaining piece of the show, as the selected audience members were not exactly the sharpest tools in the shed when it came to following a conductors baton.

Then intermission. At this stage I met the tour manager, Lee, who was very informative and gave me a forewarning that the second half would blow my socks off. So I was half-way ready when the trapeze act came on stage. One trapeze, two young ladies performing, hundreds of stunned audience members. Their seamless performance and their trippy costumes... at times it was difficult to see where one ended and the other began!

The talented man in the double-rings showed great timing, strength and showmanship. I got vertigo just watching him! The balancing act, on an assorted collection of cylinders and a ball was also seriously cool. The man must have a gyroscope hidden in his head to stay upright and balanced on a stack of rolling, tumbling things such as these. His absolute mastery of his center of gravity was, simply, astounding.

Then came the strongmen balancing act. These three guys left me stunned to silence. Slowly, smoothly, hoisting each other up and down, turning a blind eye to gravity's charms... and making it look so effortless, to boot! The raw power of this performance was astounding.

Overall... it's official, I was blown away! With a cast of 17, their talent and multi-functional skills made it seem like there was at least 30! The set was seriously trippy... so much like a dreamscape! There was always a lot happening, which made it a little distracting at times... too much going on to focus on any one thing at a time. The soundtrack was AWESOME... so much so, I simply had to invest $15 in buying it.

With 7 more shows around New Zealand left in this tour, if you can still get tickets, you'll not walk out disappointed.

Three words OH MY GOD!, this show was simply amazing, the costumes, the sets, the performances, this show had everything. Right from the beginning you knew you were in for something different when they started selecting audience members to do various mini performances obviously intended to both warm up the audience and prepare them for a wild ride into one person's dream world.

With a brilliant blend of both humour and stunning performance, the Cirque Dreams team have come up with a winning formula. Combine this with a stunning soundtrack and extraordinary lighting effects, one felt as if they really were transported into someone's subconscious dream world.

Overall I cannot rate this show highly enough. I will most certainly try and see this marvelous show again, but failing that, will definately see anymore shows that the Cirque team bring our way.