My life is a circus.

Bosom friends!

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

Are you ready for the last few days before Christmas day? I know you can do it, hold on to your sanity for dear life and hope the eggnog will work its wonders to calm your nerves and soothe your souls.

Last Saturday I went to Amaluna the Cirque du Soleil show. The company is touring with this spectacle and they will be here in Miami until the 25th of January, so you still have plenty of time to get some tickets for this show.

I had a special reason to skedaddle to see Amaluna since one of the performers in it is a girl I once shared the stage with. Her name is Haley. We were part of the same cast once upon a time but we were working for a different company at that point. That was my last contract as a performer and even if I got injured only three months into the run this wonderful girl made a lasting impression on me.
Hubby and I were driving in Miami when I saw this huge billboard advertising Amaluna. When I realized I knew the girl photographed in the ad, I had one of my mini strokes. Despite the large amount of make up she was sporting I recognized those piercing eyes.
At that point I was on a mission: I had to get my paws on some of those tickets!

First of all I had to make contact with Haley.
Thank the Lord for FaceBook! Well I had to kind of stalk her for a minute but eventually she made contact too. I should have realized on my own that since they were premiering the show in Miami she was not going to have much free time, but I was on a mission and I felt like the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan, GO, GO, GO!
Holy Trinity's family (our other friend) was visiting from Germany and she thought we could all go together so I had a restricted time frame to get the job done. Luckily Haley's roommate works at the box office for Cirque du Soleil so she managed to get us amazing tickets with very short notice.
It's all well that ends well.

After I sent a few minatory messages to Haley she came through and got us 5 tickets for last Saturday's show.
We were sorted.
Amazing Grace,
how sweet the sound,
when Haley called me,
to tell me we had seeeeats.

On Saturday evening we got in our rental sardine can and made our way to the Sun Life Stadium where the The Grand Chapiteau (french lingo for Circus Tent) was located.
Getting there was very easy and hubby and I felt like two seasoned Miamians. We drove there not using any street-politeness and we kept honking for the lamest reasons. The Miami way of driving eventually rubbed off on us.
It wouldn't be us without a little parking anecdote though.
Once we got to the entrance of the parking lot we saw a sign that said Parking 25$. For sure we had at least 25 bucks on us. I didn't even think about it twice.
Well I should have give it better consideration.
When the guy selling the tickets for the parking asked me for the money, upon counting it I realized I only had 22 dollars and 75 cents in my purse. Wonderful. I felt like I wanted to peal my own skin off just to show how enraged I was with myself. Also I thought that the USA was pretty much run in a cashless way and Cirque du Soleil should have said something about the cash-only deal for the parking. I did not find any information over that on their web site! My bad, their bad, who knows...
All I know is that our only option at that point was to turn around and go to the nearest ATM to get the 2 dollars and 25 cents we needed to park our tiny ride. I could have easily smuggled it inside the Grand Chapiteau and pretend it was an over sized handbag. But hubby wanted to do things right.
By the time I got over my mini nervous break down and managed to get out of the parking space we only had 15 minutes to:
- get the money,
- return to the parking lot,
- find a spot for our rental,
- get the tickets at the box office,
- meet and greet Holy Trinity and her family,
- buy me a program of the show,
- pee,
- find our seats,
- check in on our FaceBook so that we could share our excitement with our friends (lingo for make everybody jealous).
I drove out of that place (and back to it ) like a banshee. Like a bat outta of hell, bosom friends.
I think I gave hubby some extra gray hairs.
Once we arrived at our destination we completed all our tasks and eventually parked our derrieres on our seats.
Mission: Possible.

Outside the tent.

Reasonable sized.

Classic circus.

This was our first Cirque du Soleil show (I know, we are a shame to our people) and I didn't know what my reaction was going to be.
All I knew right before the show started was that I was thrilled beyond comprehension. I was hot and bothered over the wonderfulness that I was about to witness. Hubby wanted to give me a Xanax to calm me down. Or perhaps hit me over the head with his chair. I've already admitted that I get inordinately animated over something I enjoy, just like a dog would. I own up it, thank you very much.

Inside before the show.

The only pictures allowed...

Chandelier.

Once the show started I felt transported to a familiarly foreign world. A place I am sure I have dreamed about (in one if my many flaming brain nightly productions), but never witnessed first hand.
Everything about it was over the top but elegant. Whimsical but emotional.
The performers were imported from outer space for sure. They resembled humans but they were able to do things only people from planet Kripton could do. Men and women made of steal equipped with tendons as strong as titanium. On top of that they were all good looking with bodies that made us all think My next year resolution is to join a cross fit club, or at least cut carbs out of my diet. For good.

This production took us on a magical journey that we could only indulge. Sure, some of the images were a bit out there and all the laws of gravity were highly disregarded, but none of the people in the audience cared for real or rational once the show started.

Amaluna invites the audience to a mysterious island governed by Goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon.
Their queen, Prospera, directs her daughter’s coming-of-age ceremony in a rite that honours femininity, renewal, rebirth and balance which marks the passing of these insights and values from one generation to the next.
In the wake of a storm caused by Prospera, a group of young men lands on the island, triggering an epic, emotional story of love between Prospera’s daughter and a brave young suitor. But theirs is a love that will be put to the test. The couple must face numerous demanding trials and overcome daunting setbacks before they can achieve mutual trust, faith and harmony.

I know it kind of sounds like one of those soft core porn romantic novels but trust me it's way classier than that. At least they don't have one of those hunky male models from the 80's (long hair and busting pectorals) pictured on their billboards.

Every single act was a spellbinding, defying gravity, exquisite piece of art but here below are my three favorite acts. Three because three's a charm, just like Amaluna was.

Miranda.
She is the main character in this production. Her number requires so much strength I am pretty sure the girl must train even when she is sleeping. It's mainly a hand-balancing act and it's done on the edge of a tiny pool of water resembling a wine glass. This Lilliputian performer dives into this pool many times during her performance and you wonder how she manages not to plow to her death considering the skimpy dimension of that Barbie sized pool. The control she has while balancing her whole body on one hand is uncanny. By the way she does all that while completely wet from the previous dips she took during her act. I can manage to slip on my bathroom's floor and crack my head open with way less water involved in the equation. I was sweating for the whole length of her performance but it was so worth it!


Balance goddess.
She is one of the many goddesses in this show but she is by far the most intriguing.
During her act she builds a huge structure out of what looks like a bunch of long, thin whale bones. The trick is that this structure is built on the sole principle of balancing each piece with the other. She puts bone by bone together until she reaches a considerable size. This ethereal structure looks like it's floating on air, it moves like a great mammal sailing through the ocean. It seems almost as if this construction is breathing and moving ever so fluidly under the control of its maker. Throughout her solo the music is very calming and her breathing is amplified by a microphone creating a rhythmic effect between the two of them. No singing needed for such an extra-human performance, only the breathing of the artist. I believe that is perfect symbolism to represent the modern women's every day life; always balancing 100 pieces and still obliged to make it look harmonious and effortless (modern women you are welcome).

Valkyries 
These three gorgeous ladies are the last act before the finale ensemble.
They are the benevolent masters of flight and appear when the Queen needs them most.
The Valkyries performance literally fills up the whole space inside the huge tent. They truly are masters of flight. They are the kind of women we do tend to hate. They are beautiful, they wear killer outfits, their makeup is striking as much as their sharp cheekbones and they are fit and blond.
There are three of them and they use straps to fly across the whole stage. The heights and speed they reach are unbelievable. On top of that once they are done with their incredible performance not even a hair is out of its original position. As I said they could be the women we hate. But they are Valkyries so we better watch out. Next thing we know we could find ourselves fighting a loosing battle.
My friend Haley is one of those flying superwomen and I almost burst at the seams with pride when I saw her stepping on a Cirque du Soleil stage. Just like a proper Italian mother, what can I say I learned from the best (my own mother).

Haley and I.

We left The Grand Chapiteau with our hands still throbbing form all the clapping. If I could I would have done even more to express how much I loved the show. I don't suppose throwing my underwear at them would have been standard so I opted for more queen-ish who-hooos  that I shouted out at the top of my lungs.

The Amaluna poster.

Cali half human, half lizard.

One of the Valkyries.

It was a wonderful evening and even an opinionated bitch like me was won over by the astonishing, breathtaking, overwhelming and stunning Cirque du Soleil's Amaluna.

Ciao for now.