Awe inspiring Cavalia comes to Singapore

PUBLISHED August 13th, 2014 10:01 pm | UPDATED January 20th, 2016 02:31 pm

Cavalia opened in Singapore under the Big Top next to the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre on Tuesday, 12 September to a full house. And if the standing ovation and the rapturous applause was anything to go by, I was not alone in feeling entertained and in awe of this spectacular show.

Cavalia was created in Canada by Normand Latourelle, co-founder of Cirque du Soleil and runs in Singapore from August 12 to September 14, with both matinee and evening performances. The production has toured cities in North America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. ‘We are thrilled to announce our first ever Asian tour and it is an honor to bring this show, an idea that started in Canada, to a region which has such a great affinity with the performing arts and during the auspicious year of the horse as per the Chinese Zodiac,’ said Normand Latourelle, Founder and Artistic Director of Cavalia. ‘Having travelled the globe, the art of Cavalia is truly a universal language and we can’t wait for Singaporeans to experience its magic.’

The 30m high Big Top itself is a wonder. Its four white towers loom up like a Disney castle, surrounded by the Marina Bay Sands and the glass towers of the financial centre. It seats up to 2000 spectators and took a team of 150 personnel 12 days to set up. Inside, there is a 70m wide screen behind the stage (the size of an Olympic swimming pool) that is used to project various backdrops and special effects.

The show stars 50 horses and an international cast of 42 riders, aerialists, acrobats, dancers, and musicians. The four-legged stars were flown to Singapore on a chartered 747 aircraft and are fed on the best Granny Smith apples plus more. The sheer magnitude of the production and the logistics involved is truly mind boggling!

There is no one word that describes Cavalia. It is mixture of modern dance, performance art, gymnastics and an amazing mix of gravity-defying acrobatics – and that’s just the human performers. In fact, it’s the formula you would expect from a Cirque du Soleil production but enhanced, this time, by sections with horses. The show pays tribute to the relationship between humans and horses throughout history with special emphasis on the harmony and cooperation with each other.

The show started with some audience participation through a warm-up multiple-choice quiz, which gave us some facts about the show we were about to see. We learnt the ages of the 50 horses ranged from 20 years to 6 years. There were, of course, other facts revealed, but there are no spoilers here! You will have to go see the show for yourself! It was an effective way to gather the audience’s attention as well as to provide some education for those who, like me, have very rare encounters of the equine type.

I must admit, following the quiz, the show did start a little slowly and it took probably about 20 minutes for me to start getting into the show. But from then onwards, I was fully engaged. The riders, dancers and aerialists performed feats I wouldn’t have thought possible and all to the soundtrack of powerful and entrancing live music. Unfortunately, part of the first half was marred by the light emanating from a few mobile phones around me. A woman sitting directly in front of me spent most of the first half sending text messages, completely oblivious to what was happening on stage. (Why did you bother to come, madam?). The management will need to ensure that the ushers on duty remain vigilant and stop audience members using their mobiles during the show.

As with all Cirque du Soleil productions, the human performers seemed, er, super human. They were extraordinarily athletic, ridiculously handsome and/or beautiful, with sculptured physiques. An international cast, who made their acrobatic and aerial feats look so easy!

The sound and lighting was used to great success to support the development and beauty of this great show. The images projected onto the curtains, walls and floors changed with each act, from the steppes of Mongolia to grassy meadows surrounded by snow capped mountains to caves and more. There was even an image of a magnificent stallion magically projected onto falling rain. These were matched beautifully by appropriate music and sound effects.

But the highlight of Cavalia was undoubtedly the horses, which lent the show a fantasy element. At various points during the show, the four-legged beauties were allowed to run free, unbridled by harnesses or halters, in their full glory. It was a very rare sight for us city dwellers. The horses were beautiful. There were 11 breeds of horses used in the show, some with exotic names like Appaloosa, Lusitano and Percheron.

There seemed to be an almost uncanny relationship between the horses and human performers. This was demonstrated by the horse whisperer, who imperceptibly instructed six horses to move in tandem. I cheered with the crowd at the daring bareback riding and the exhilarating Roman riding, with its fearless performers standing astride two horses as they pounded around the Colosseum. Also exciting were the comical and dangerous escapades of trick riding as riders galloped across the stage in different (and very risky) positions in a display of risk and dexterity. At one point, the stage was flooded with water and riders galloped through this creating arcs of water (hopefully the audience in front were warned?). One rider took his horse through dressage-like movements on the watery stage. These acts highlighted the extensive training that these animals have undergone and the trust and control that exists between riders and horses.

The finale was dazzling with aerialists falling from the sky on bungee cords, trick riders tearing fearlessly across the space, acrobats doing impossible balancing acts, all effortlessly.

When it’s all said and done though, the show is about horses and it was they who stole the show. As Normand Latourelle, founder and artistic director of Cavalia, commented, “Here everybody knows it’s about them, it’s not about us. When you go to a traditional circus… when it’s time to applaud the trainer says ‘tada, it’s about me.’ Here, we always say ‘tada, it’s about the horses.'”

Cavalia is a feast for the senses – a must see piece of theatre that merges traditional equestrian art and modern production technology and the unique style of Cirque du Soleil.

(Cavalia opened on 12 August 2014. The production will be on until 14 September 2014. For more information, please visit http://www.sistic.com.sg and http://www.cavalia.net/en/cavalia-show-1
Please note that there will be no performances on 13th,19th and 26th August 2014.)