Cirque’s ‘Crystal’ leaves audience members spellbound
With a Cirque du Soleil show, it’s mostly the surrealism and whimsy that gets you! Surreal would actually be an understatement when describing Crystal, the firstever Cirque du Soleil show on ice and above. The show is currently being featured in Medicine Hat until May 27 at the Canalta Centre.
Opening night, this past Wednesday, ended with a standing ovation and with good reason. It indeed was a reallife Salvador Dali painting — strange, unusual, visually stunning — perfect.
Top-notch professional skaters and acrobats brought one hell of an ice show to the Hat, which included jugglers, comic relief and the ultimate night to remember. But, the phenomenon wasn’t just limited to the ice. The amount of athleticism in a Cirque show is second to none and the performers in Crystal are no exception. Performers are graceful, eloquent and seem at home in their new winter wonderland.
Since hockey and figure skating in Medicine Hat and in smaller rural southern Alberta communities are prevalent recreational activities for many, it is highly recommended kids and teenagers of all ages head to the Canalta Centre before the current incarnation of Cirque moves on, delighting audiences with each stop on the present tour.
As always, a Cirque show leaves audience members spellbound. Cirque’s sights, sounds, sets, design and overall aesthetic is the backdrop to each and every Cirque performance. In Crystal, the ice was a canvas, and the performers painted a delicate, but intricate portrait of the Cirque du Soleil brand.
Crystal contains within it a visual and auditory smorgasbord of epic proportions. From audience participation in the form of synchronized claps to the traditional French Canadian-esque musique, which included a violin, horns and an accordion – Cirque’s seductive and sensual sounds transport audience members to a fantastical, dream-like world of winter wonder.
Cirque indeed entertains. There are many Medicine Hat arts aficionados out there who have most likely checked out a Cirque show at a Las Vegas residency or a previous tour, but as another Canadian icon sang, “you ain’t seen nothing yet.”
If you see one show this year, make it Crystal because there can only be one. Crystal’s creative production is original, an unforgettable collaboration of many disciplines of sport and the big top within the backdrop of Cirque’s unique winter-scape.
“... a visual and auditory smorgasbord of epic proportions.”