Cavalia - Odysseo

Cirque du Soleil with horses...

Every day I take the subway in to work and we pass by Assembly Square in Somerville, MA. It is a construction zone, with the promise of new shopping and housing in our neighborhood. Recently, Ikea backed out of this development and before we knew it, signs went up advertising Cavalia Odysseo! with a photo of a beautiful horse but no explanation as to what it was. Gigantic, white tents followed and my interest was piqued.

Turns out Odysseo is a Cirque du Soleil-style live performance with both horses and acrobats, under a big-top. This big-top is 38 meters tall with a video screen the size of 3 IMAX theaters. A cool video of the site's erection can be found on their website here.  

I joined my friend for the show, as a birthday present from her husband. Much to our delight, he mistakenly purchased their Rendez-Vous VIP Experience tickets. And what an experience it was. Our tickets included access to the VIP lounge before the show and during intermission as well as a visit to the stables to meet the horses (and performers) after the show and a beautiful program guidebook.

We arrived early to take advantage of the pre-show buffet and bar that was included with our tickets - determined to get our money's worth! It looked like there were around 150 or so VIPs but the room didn't feel overly crowded and they never ran out of food. 

We were ushered to our seats just before 2:00 pm. The stage was dimly lit, its curtains displaying forest-like shadows. The mood was being set by an orchestra split high above either side of the stage and hidden by faux trees. When the curtains finally lifted they revealed the sandy stage, and then there were horses!

The show was a mix of high energy performances. The riders showed their tremendous skill with the horses, manipulating them around the stage and galloping along while shifting to unnatural positions. High energy acrobats impressed us with their amazing somersaults at great heights and often had the crowd clapping to their beat. And then there were the ethereal dancers that swung from great heights with their flowy dresses on their incredibly limber bodies.   

The show was about two hours long with a 30 minute intermission that included a nice dessert spread in the lounge. The end, a classic grand finale with all of the horses and performers on stage, seemed to come quickly. We were sad to see the horses go, they all has such great personalities as demonstrated throughout the show when one horse or another just did not want to do his expected dance move.

The end of the show, however, meant that we were headed back stage to see the horses and meet the performers.

As we walked through the stables, the horses were eating and getting their manes braided. They looked exhausted, not surprising after the performance they just gave. It was such a lovely way to end the show. Next weekend is their last performance in Massachusetts before they head to our nation's capitol.