In the depths of busy, urban London, hummingbirds, butterflies, and tigers were found lurking in the Royal Albert Hall. The abundance of creatures hiding and bouncing around were building the enthusiasm for the Cirque de Soleil show. After the animals’ visit, hearts were pounding in the audience as a man descended holding onto a rope with only his hand. For several moments gasps came from the audience as he continued with his breath-taking act.
On Saturday 20th February, I was lucky enough to witness Cirque de Soleil, Luzia at the Royal Albert Hall. I entered the auditorium to noises of animals which flooded the historical landmark. Whilst the sounds continued, I was forced to dwell over the staging for a couple of minutes, highlighting the vibrant flowers in the hedges which contrasted with the brown tumble track in centre stage. For the initial opening, two stunning hummingbirds came out and interacted with the audience particularly the children, causing the excitement and amazement to rise. They took the health and safety announcements to another level by flipping them, engaging the audience and treating the whole performance as an adventure around Mexico. This ideally sets up all the acts being surreal tourist friendly experiences.
To create a circus experience that was unlike no other, we were taken on the journey with what every trip needs: a tour guide. This tour guide’s interactions consisted of breaking that fourth wall by gesturing to the audience, which as the miming was obvious, made the whole room burst into laugh and distracted us from what was actually going on stage: cleaning, drying and bringing on new apparatus. A beginning scene for the tour guide was him falling from a plane and using an umbrella as a parachute, which caught the attention of the children. Furthermore, interspersing the comical relief of the tour guide with the juxtaposing tense and jaw dropping acts cleverly accentuates the talent contained in the performances further. Costume designer Giovanna Buzzi deserves incredible praise as the flamboyant array of colours that flowed throughout the otherwise wearisome Royal Albert Hall was a sight to behold. They were well made for all the performers’ acts and for drawing in the audience. The costumes conformed to the Daniele Finzi Pasca directed title ‘Luzia: A Waking Dream of Mexico’ by bringing the lively, outdoor atmosphere indoors.
The lighting emphasised the performance by enhancing the suspense but also creating a firmer idea of the scenes’ setting. The deep blue wash made the water and rainfall scenes seem darker and richer as it focused the audience onto the action. This rainfall stole the first half of the show as the performers dived in and out, splashing around and in one scene teasing the lion. It was so iconic in the first half that it had its own dedicated time where patterns were falling through the water that captivated the audience even more so.
The acts were a mixture of old-school acrobatics and modern adaptations, which created a powerful formation to suit their audience. There was a juggler who threw 8 batons whilst running frantically around the stage. He was followed by two freestyle footballers who were doing incredible skills like rolling the ball from on fingertip to another.
These performers were able to achieve amazing skills that only children could dream of. The talent of these performers was so immense that even if it went wrong the performers were able to laugh it off giving everything a second go or perhaps turning their mistakes into a joke so they were seamless- most people would not have noticed.
Personally, I also really enjoyed the music especially the live singer who was impeccable; their songs were able to fit the Mexican theme perfectly whilst also keeping each song individual to each act. I would implore you to see Cirque de Soleil if you want to experience astonishing talent or to create a life-long memory with your family. Grace Patrick watched the show and recommends it because “the acts were amazing. I particularly enjoyed the trapeze artist because it’s hard to do gymnastics let alone that high and on such a thin wire.”
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