The Cirque du Soleil came into town for a series of shows at the Bank Atlantic Center, with their 16-year old  touring show, Alegría. I was fortunate enough to attend the opening night performance which was full of dazzling costumes and breathtaking acrobatics. Alegría, which means jubilation in Spanish, is described on the event website as a mood, a state of mind and that is a great description as the crowd absolutely adored the performance.

I have been to other Cirque du Soleil performances in the past and had pretty good seats but for this show I was front row center at stage level. Although that always adds to the excitement of the show, they cut the Bank Atlantic Center in half and every seat in the building was a good seat. The show started with a band of musicians who set the tone of the show and continued to add elements of drama and suspense throughout the performance.

Like most Cirque du Soleil shows, the emphasis is on the acrobatic performances with these athletic feats being broken up by comedic interludes with clowns and other characters, which in this case there was a ringmaster as well as slow moving, clumsy, overweight old birds. The clowns were actually pretty funny at times and usually I find the clowns to be pretty cheesy. The physical acts are my favorite part and they were fascinating. The trapeze artists soared through the air and were incredible. The contortionists folded themselves into positions that were unimaginable and they had plenty of feats of balance and strength.

There were two physical performances that I have never seen before that amazed me. At one point the floor opened up and exposed a large X-shaped trampoline that saw multiple performers flip and tumble in unison over, under and opposite each other. Another acrobatic act saw performers get tossed in the air and land on balance beams that were being held on the shoulders of other performers. As if this wasn’t enough of a feat, the performers started flipping from one set of balance beams to another. There is a lot more to add but the show is still in town and I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who may be attending a future performance.

The show itself lasted about two hours. In the sixteen years that this show has been on the road, it has been performed thousands of times and has been witnessed by over 10 million people. This was the first Cirque du Soleil show that I attended that I really didn’t understand the theme. This didn’t take away from the experience though as there was enough going on to keep me entertained. After seeing the show, I read on their website that the show was about the handing down of power over time. Whether you know the theme or not, it was still a highly entertaining show that the whole family could enjoy.

By Andy Vitale