So far, we have been to seven touring shows and one resident show. We plan on seeing some of the resident shows in Las Vegas this year or next. Some touring shows appear under a big-top that they set up in cities they go to—even large metropolitan areas like Washington, DC. In other cities they appear in arenas. The shows look just as good, but we prefer the big-top over arenas.

How many shows are there? Too many to list here! But we’ll give you a link to their website that tells you more about every show. The most resident shows are in Las Vegas, SEVEN (including a few special ones that are atypical—the tribute to Michael Jackson, ONE; the Beatles, LOVE; and Criss Angel’s magic show, MIIND Freak; and then there’s the adults only (hey, it’s Vegas) ZUMANITY, where costumes are skimpy (at best). They also have resident shows in New York City, Orlando and Riviera Maya in Mexico. There are TEN shows touring, currently.

What makes Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun, for those whose native language is not French) different from other circuses? NO animals—it’s all people. There are clowns, of sorts. There are lots of very talented acrobats—some performing feats you won’t see anywhere else, while wearing beautiful and unique costumes as well. Great music too. You might consider Cirque du Soleil something like a pastiche of gymnastics, Broadway shows and opera—but light on the Italian. Although some of the lyrics may be in Italian or Spanish, much of them are in an invented language—so if you have trouble recognizing them, that’s why. Other than Zumanity, children can attend the shows, but younger ones  may be less thrilled than watching more traditional children’s fare.

If a picture tells a thousand words, a video must tell a 100 thousand. So rather than try and describe them, we’ll add a four minute video of  Alegria, our first Cirque do Soleil show, uploaded to YouTube by the company itself. Alegria has now been retired, by the way.

All the shows have these things in common:

• Great music
• Great performances
• Great costumes

Typically there will be:

• Jugglers of outstanding talent
• Some type of aerial performance—high wires, trapezes, silken clothes descending from the ceiling which people will swing on, twist and turn, etc.
• Contortionists (always young females—six to late teens at the oldest)
• Amazing balancing acts
• Clown acts of two-three performers—with a mix of slapstick and sophistication, often adding in some audience participation
• Displays of beauty, strength and motion combined in unbelievable ways
• Varying special skill performances—moving within rings, flying hither and yon from catapult devices, trampoline tumbling exceptional heights

Finally, some shows will feature exceedingly dangerous performances, ones that by their nature cannot make use of safety wires fastened to waists. That includes the Wheel of Death, which is employed in Kooza (one of our favorites). Here’s a clip of that incredibly insane performance that looks far scarier in person at a performance. One performer fell from such a wheel during a performance of Zarkana—another retired show. He survived but did suffer injuries.