Performances by the Canadian circus troupe, Cirque du Soleil, are more akin to concerts as they feature dramatic lighting, rock music, avant-garde acrobatics and inventive juggling. Some of its stars juggle ping pong balls, flinging them into the air with their hands, feet and even their mouth. Then they move on to juggling huge hats which are thrown out like frisbees into the audience.
Just when you think it couldn’t get more daring, it does, and the acrobats lie on their backs pumping their legs up and down to spin their colleagues who are balancing on their feet. Other performers have even included children who catch a spinning top on a rope between their hands. The team tosses it to each other and passes it back-and-to whilst somersaulting.
As each act betters the previous one, there’s an epic sense of build-up and thanks to some cutting-edge AV, Cirque doesn’t drop the ball. At the start of Crystal, one of its newest stadium shows, it’s common to see spectators look on in awe. Crystal is full of the death-defying stunts that Cirque has become famous for but the difference is they are all performed on a rock-hard ice rink.
Barco projectors beam images on to the rink which precisely follow the skaters ©Olivier Brajon Breathtaking balancing acts There’s no room for error as trapeze artists zip through the air high above the icy surface. Another scene involves an acrobat dressed in winter woolies constructing a precarious platform of chairs stacked to over 20-feet.