Unparalleled acrobatic skills, world-class singing, amazing dancing, lighting and stage effects prompted this response from someone in the audience: “Is that it?” There, that should have been sufficient to set off anyone who has seen a Cirque show. But allow me to fill in those of you who have not (Cirque devotees, bare with me).

You see, Cirque du Soleil has a certain type of magic. I’m not talking about that cheesy type of magic that Broadway critics are always blabbering on about anytime a new Disney-inspired musical opens in Times Square. I’m talking about after-the-fact magic. Cirque has something that makes you want to tell about it weeks and months and years after you’ve seen it. Sports fans know exactly what I mean. It’s like seeing a player make an amazing catch. The more amount of time that elapses between the catch and the telling of it, the more spectacular it becomes. It’s the telling of an amazing feat that years later becomes an impossible grab, in the air, one-handed, behind the back, in the snow. True, it’s embellishing the facts a bit, but that’s how the feeling of witnessing such an amazing feat is explained. And that’s exactly what seeing a Cirque show for the first time is like – the lights, the sounds, the dancers, the acrobats all coming together in an amazing barrage to your senses and leaving your jaw anchored firmly in your lap. After you experience this, a little embellishment is in order. So, I admit, I am the reason that our poor spectator was left wanting more.

It could have been anything the first time I saw Cirque, but for me it was the acrobats. When I saw them come onstage and get ready to perform, I thought, “They’re not going to do what I think they’re going to do. They couldn’t possibly.” But sure enough, they did. And I was left dumfounded. Since then, their amazing feats have grown a bit in my mind. Seeing Cirque again, and with another person this time, gave me the perfect opportunity to embellish the facts a bit. And that’s exactly what I did.

Unbeknownst to me, however, this Cirque show was not like previous ones. Called Delirium, it is more musical than the traditional acrobatic melee of previous Cirque shows. As their website says, “For the first time Cirque du Soleil created a show where melodies, musicians and singers are the driving force.” Impressive as the acrobatics in this show still were, they couldn’t help but be overshadowed by the music and the singing. The melodies ranged from driving drum battles to soft sonorous songs to straight up rock. The scenes in the show depicted stages in a dream, with each scene being lead by a different song. Unfortunately, nothing much can be said for the plot, progression, or sense of these scenes, which were loosely strung together. But that may have been the point. They were, after all, depicting a dream sequence, and all of us know that dreams are hardly ever logical. Indeed, Cirque’s own description of the show is vague at best saying, “Delirium is the quest for balance in a world that is increasingly out of sync with reality.” But vagueness aside (and let’s be honest, people have won Nobels for vagueness on the stage. Beckett, I’m looking in your direction.), this show was excellent.

So, in terms of the acrobatics of this show, and for one spectator in particular, I may have blown things a tad out of proportion. But nothing could have prepared me for incredible sounds and sights of Delirium. They were, to put it modestly for once, pleasing to behold. Cirque du Soleil has proved that you can please all the people all the time, just ask anyone who has ever seen them. Maybe you can’t absolutely astound them, but that hasn’t stopped Cirque from trying. And nor should it.

For more information on Cirque du Soleil, visit their website at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/CirqueDuSoleil/en/default.htm [tags]Cirque, soleil, delirium[/tags]