Anyone NOT like Cirque du Soleil?

[LisaR]

We saw Cirque for the first time the other evening. The whole family had been looking forward to it. We were able to get the AP discount which made it even better! We bought tickets at the last minute and had excellent seats. It couldn't get any better...........and then the show started.

Maybe it was an off night but we were all disappointed. There were many, many mistakes (falls, missteps, drops, etc). Believe me, I couldn't do half of what those people do and I do understand how hard their job is but they are professionals. I really didn't anticipate that many mistakes.

Mistakes aside, I just didn't think the quality was that great. I took my kids to see an acrobat program this past fall at our local theater. The tickets were $7 each and they did much the same thing as the Cirque performers without any mishaps. They stacked chairs much higher in the local performance. They had the red curtain that they performed on like Cirque. They had the big wheels that they rolled around the stage on. I have seen local kids do better bike tricks than the first bike performer at Cirque. I have also seen much more confident high wire acts over my lifetime. The trampoline performers at the Lion King show in AK had much better jumping and somersaulting and they didn't even fall!

So, are we the only family to be disappointed in Cirque du Soleil? We wanted to love it but it just wasn't happening for any of us.

 

[futreWDI]

As a Cirque lover, I can't agree but I just wanted to let you know that I think the reason people love Cirque, isn't the acrobatics. I work in theatre so I have also seen Cirque Dreams, a semi-knock off of Cirque du Soileil. They do the same acrobatics as well but they don't have any of the other Cirque elements. Cirque is about the acting, the clowns, the costumes, the music, the automated stages, lighting, and all together theatrical experience. I worked in Orlando last year and got to see La Nouba 8 times and one or to of those times I didn't watch the main acrobatic trick, I watched other stuff going on onstage. The other touring acrobatic shows completely miss this. Another thing is that La Nouba is by far not the best Cirque show. The ones in Vegas are amazing. I wouldn't give up on Cirque forever, maybe La Nouba just wasn't your show

 

[JenGray]

We love Cirque too, but were not impressed with the show at WDW.
I did find myself looking at the guys and girls playing music in the columns on the stage. I also love the singing in every show... so I pay lots of attention to the singers.

 

[tinklvr64]

NO WAY...I love every Cirque I have seen I have been to atleast 6 different shows and love each one.

 

[mattsdragon]

Never been to it, and have no desire to see it. The adds look like everyone is wearing face paint. I don't do clowns.

 

[minie_meese]

I am a Cirque lover. I've seen La Nouba many times and 4 or 5 other Cirque shows a couple of times each. I've caught mistakes here or there but at one of the performances the acrobatics was not up to par and there were a number of mistakes. I came away from the off night feeling dissapointed and if this were my first time seeing them, I am not sure how I would have felt. I love all of the Cirque shows I've seen, and I am also a fan of good musical Broadway theater (Les Miz is my favorite) and professional modern dance. I've seen a few of the Cirque knock offs and some of them have decent acrobatics but for me the music, choreography, costuming and integrated show was lacking so I didn't enjoy them very much.

You may have unfortunately hit an off La Nouba performance and then maybe Cirque is just not for you.

 

[Laren]

Seeing the commercials on tv while we were in WDW was enough for me.

It's not my cup of tea. That's why it's great there are so many different things to do in WDW- don't feel bad that you didn't like it! Everyone is different.

 

[buckylarue]

I might enjoy La Nouba a lot, but I fear I'll never know; I just can't justify the cost (in $$$ and time) when there is just so much else to do! Maybe, if someone else was paying, and I was spending 2 weeks plus at WDW, I might just get a chance to find out. (If anybody wants to arrange a trip like that for me, be sure and let me know! )

 

[Dizzyworld]

I don't do clowns.

 

[clownboy007]

It sounds like you’re feeling guilty because you didn’t like a Disney offering. Please don’t be. I think you have very valid points and I like your honesty. Now I’m a former circus performer (and there are a lot of us living here in Florida) who now makes a living as a lighting designer so I tend to look at shows of any kind from a slightly skewed perspective. But please allow me to bore you with a few personal observations from the other side of the stage.

First of all, I’m of the opinion that La Nouba isn’t the strongest of the Cirque shows. I’ll also admit that I’m not a huge fan of Cirque and Cirque style shows in general because I feel like they tend to de-emphasize the skill of the performers in favor of the “look” and the “story” (which I’ve ever been able to understand). The shows are certainly beautiful to look at, they are technological marvels and without a doubt they have put new twists on the “circus arts”, introducing them to a whole new generation. But as an old-time circus clown once told me, they sometimes have “too much ‘artsy’ and not enough ‘fartsy’”, which I thought was a pretty good description. If you take a look at the souvenir programs they always feature big color pictures and biographies of the creative team and the performers get small black and white pictures at the back which bothers me. I’ve seen (and enjoyed) several of the Cirque shows but overall they’ve all kind of left me cold. I think it’s the makeup and bizarre characters and all the distracting background action that takes my attention away from the performers where I feel it should be…but again I freely admit to a strong bias in that regard.

I’m guess I’m so passionate about that particular subject because I’ve found circus performers to be some of the most honest and hard working people in the world. Befriend a circus performer and you’ll have a friend for life. I’ve sat through countless hours of rehearsals, late-night practice sessions and performances and believe me it can take years of hard, often painful, and usually thankless work to perfect an act before it’s shown to an audience. To make it look so easy night after night is something that never ceases to amaze me. Many of those acts involve split-second timing and being off by a fraction of a second, especially when you’re doing something 30 feet above the floor, means missing the trick and missing the trick can mean a career ending injury or even death. I’ve seen friends and colleagues fall from their rigging and it’s something that stays with you forever. (But I do agree with you that La Nouba’s high wire act is kind of timid…but I’ve tried walking on a wire that was just 2 feet off the ground and got dizzy so they’d have my respect if they didn’t do anything except stand on the platform and wave!).

Now, having bored you all to death with that, let me say it’s quite possible that the show you saw was “spooked”…an entirely un-scientific term I use to describe when a professional performer has a bad night and the other performers pick up on it which then has a negative effect on their performance as well. You’re right…these guys are professionals and it doesn’t happen very often. But when it does, it’s a lot like rolling snowball down a hill…it just gets bigger and bigger and bigger. You’ve heard the expression “you could cut the tension with a knife”? That a pretty accurate description of the backstage atmosphere on a night like that. Even animal performers seem to sense when people are uptight…it’s a very odd thing.

Honestly, I find Cirque du Soleil to be an acquired taste. It’s not for everyone and there’s nothing wrong with that. If we all liked the same things the world would be an awfully dull place! But I would suggest trying a different show some time without the kids…but not Dilerium (the arena show) or Zumanity (the R-rated Cirque show in Las Vegas) because they’re just completely different birds…and if you find you still don’t like it you can say you gave it the old college try and it just wasn’t your cup of tea.

Wow, that was long. Thanks for letting me yammer on!

P.S. to mattsdragon: If you don't like clowns, steer of clear of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal this year! Jack, the evil clown who is the primary character at this year's event, was at an event I worked the other day and he even creeped me out...and some of my best friends are clowns!!!

 

[ConcKahuna]

P.S. to mattsdragon: If you don't like clowns, steer of clear of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal this year! Jack, the evil clown who is the primary character at this year's event, was at an event I worked the other day and he even creeped me out...and some of my best friends are clowns!!!

Jack is creepy, but the rest of the clowns they have running around are just people in cheap latex masks. If they would take the time to actually do face paint it would be much creepier.


Back on topic, Cirque is odd. Instead of being just a show about acrobatics, it's a story told with acrobats. I dont know the exact intended story, but La Nouba always came off as the story of a bored cleaning lady daydreaming about a fantasic party. It's very abstract, but I love abstract art so I enjoy it.

Heck, I love Salvador Dali, and he's WAY more out there than Cirque!

 

[sandybobandy]

I too ama big fan of La Nouba.

Didn't the trampoline jumping into the wall amaze you? Maybe I'm easily impressed! lol

 

[Milobaby]

I thought I was the only person who didn't care for Cirque. Even the rest of my family LOVED it. I couldn't find 1 thread on this board about someone not liking it before I bought the tickets. Oh well, it's over and I don't ever have to sit through it again.

 

[Marty Joe]

When we go to WDW three things have to happen...

1) We stay at the Polynesian
2) We go to Cirque
3) We go to Ghiradelis

The way you (LisaR and others) feel about Cirque is the way I feel about Roller Coasters! I don't, will not, ain't gonna happen, no way, stop asking me, won't do them. I don't care if you stick Mountain, Splash, or Space in the name. I don't care if Steven Tyler himself begs me. Unless you have a Taser - I'm not going!

So lets make a deal - I won't bug you about Cirque and you won't tease me about coasters...

 

[IluvDonald!]

Our family was not super impressed with Cirque - I guess we are just not into that type of entertainment. On the other hand, we went with my sister's family, and they loved it.

Personal opinions I guess. But, we won't be going back.

 

[KYDisneyFanantic]

My family has enjoyed each of .the three times we've seen it. My daughter and son were completely amazed at the little girls and their talents. We will be taking my inlaws for a show in June!

 

[LisaR]

Thanks to everyone for their feedback.

I am honestly not sure what happened. I expected my kids (12 & 10) to enjoy the acrobats and DH and I to enjoy the "rest of the show." That didn't happen. At one point it sounded like a member of the band dropped an instrument! I just found the whole thing distracting.

I think clownboy007 was right. The performers had an off night and it just snowballed. I am a stickler for detail, so I thought it was just me noticing things, but my other family members were pointing out things after the show that even I had missed. The sad thing is, now that we spent all that money and it was a bust, I doubt I will ever be willing to give it another try. That was a lot of money to spend on something that none of us liked.

For what it is worth, we all loved the little girls and they had the least number of mistakes. I also thought the trampoline jumping on the wall was amazing but the constant stumbling took away from it.

Oh well. Plenty of other things to do at WDW so I won't lose any sleep over it. I just wondered if my family was the only one that wasn't impressed.

Lisa

 

[Dana49]

It sounds like you’re feeling guilty because you didn’t like a Disney offering. Please don’t be. I think you have very valid points and I like your honesty. Now I’m a former circus performer (and there are a lot of us living here in Florida) who now makes a living as a lighting designer so I tend to look at shows of any kind from a slightly skewed perspective. But please allow me to bore you with a few personal observations from the other side of the stage....

Oustanding! Thanks. I thought that I may be the only one out there who didn't like Cirque. I do love a good circus.

 

[daisax]

Freaks in leotards.

Every ad for a Cirque production (and I go to Vegas frequently and the ads are non-stop there) is like a live production of my worst nightmares.

What other people seem to find whimsical looks to me to be deeply disturbing and sinister.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Freaks in leotards.

Every ad for a Cirque production (and I go to Vegas frequently and the ads are non-stop there) is like a live production of my worst nightmares.

What other people seem to find whimsical looks to me to be deeply disturbing and sinister.