The very famous Cirque Du Soleil featuring the Varekai comes to manila and I'm one of the lucky people who got to watch it.
It was a gloomy Sunday. Few hours before the show, the weather seems to be uncooperative. My sister seems to be troubled thinking that the rain might get worst. Luckily, it stopped raining and we hurriedly drove to the venue. The parking lot was not full, considering that there will be a show. The Grand Chapiteau Tent was very visible from a far. Standing in the middle of Quirino Grandstand, the tent’s strikingly unique blue and yellow stripes are just impossible to miss. One by one we pass the first part of the entrance. I’m already seeing the tent’s entrance. When I got in, it was just another part of the tent where the guest can eat, shop and even have their pictures taken from the show’s photo booth. There were different groups of people around me of which are mostly families. I saw a few batches of dating couples and quite a number of groups of friends. Since it was still early, I was able to check out what is there to see. There were screens inside featuring the Varekai casts. I headed to the Varekai merchandises. They were selling shirts with the famous Varekai characters printed on it. I opted to spend my cash on food. I check what they have in the snack bar. People were lining up to get their munchies before the show starts. They were selling buckets of popcorns with different flavors, sodas in can, bottled water, bottled juices and hotdogs on bun/stick. As soon as we got our orders, we headed to the main tent.
Twenty minutes before the clock strikes 5 o’clock, the stage doors were announced opened. We climbed several steps of the metal stairs to enter the stage tent. It was easy to find our seats since everything was so organized. When I first walked in, I couldn’t believe that this huge space would actually fit in a man-made tent! The tent was fully air-conditioned and was well ventilated. The inside was well lighted. It was still a bit bright though, sort of similar to watching a concert in Araneta. As I sat comfortably on my assigned seat waiting for the show to start, a beam of spotlight was focusing on a man and a woman wearing a red coat just across the room entertaining and making fun of the audience. People around me started to look at them and laugh. Suddenly, the tent was fast filling up. The rain could have caused the delay. As the tick of the clock strikes 5, several people, dressed in all sorts of silly but nevertheless, equally wonderful costumes came out. And as part of their performance, they wandered around the stage and performed harmless tricks. I can’t help but look around at all the people watching. There were some serious looking men, some sweet couples, and at the corner of my vision, I can’t help but notice, a boy about the age of 6 walking towards his seat looking quite terrified of the performers that he didn’t even want to move and just stared at them while holding his father’s hand. The kid sitting behind me seems to also be scared of the appearing act. The boy kept crying and telling his mom that he was scared and wanted to go home. People inside the theater kept expressing their imagination until the light dimmed and live music was playing. Suddenly a white light appeared above the stage and a feather with Icarus, the lead, who was wrapped in a net, was slowly falling from the stage above. He performed the Aerial contortion while hanging from the net. He was very graceful in every movement that he does. This lasted for about twenty minutes and the second performance followed. The foot-joggling came next. They were joggling people while doing their acrobatic stunts. Then the three young acrobats twirl their ropes with metal cups attached to the ends. I have a feeling that these boys are from china. They look Chinese. I’m quite familiar with their stunts and that the Chinese acrobats are pretty good at it. There was a 25 minutes intermission. People started to chat and got up from their seats to go buy more snacks or visit the comfort rooms. I overheard the boys behind me, excitedly blurting out: “Pare, Pare!! Azkals 4-0! Leading daw ang azkals!! Bokya ang Sri lanka!” They were talking and updating their companions on the on-going soccer game lead by the Philippine team over the Sri Lankans. Authorized food vendors were going around selling popcorns and some drinks. The light and sounds started to change as the 25minutes break is about to end. People were back at their seats with their eager faces, excited on what will be the next performance. Came sliding down, was the trapeze with four young women performing a series of striking moves. Underneath them were two big men, standing on alert just in case something goes wrong. People were amazed when a handicapped performer in crutches danced to the sounds with his feather-like weight. Then came the lady performer with wrist strap on a metal hoop that suspends on air while she glides above the stage without any harness. I was astonished by the next performance. A quite petite woman with moves so graceful was balancing and doing contortions on canes that were affix on the stage. But the most highly praised act of the show was the finale. Men were being tossed up in the air. Somersaults were executed while trying to land on a swinging machine. Then multiple somersaults followed while still landing on the same moving machine. It was a terrifying and heart-stopping moment for most of the audiences including me. The screams filled the tent and the applauses were endless. Sadly, the show has come to an end. The performers were credited with a standing ovation plus wild cheers from a satisfied audience. As we headed out, I looked closely at people’s reaction, some were pretty hyped up, some were still in amazement, and some can’t seem to stop talking about it while some others seems to be itching their way out of the tent.
Based on my observation, Varekai and the story that’s behind it, was not really expressed to be understood by its watchers. One ends up focusing too much on the acrobatic stunts and the wonders of the performers that one tends to forget about the story behind. But in addition to that, I can see the perfection and the love of the performers to what they are doing. They are the masters of their talents. Overall, it was a good show and a must see. It’s not every time that the famous “Cirque du Soleil” visits and performs in manila.
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