Cavalia's Odysseo Comes to the City of Toronto

I had the pleasure of being invited to the Sneak Preview of Cavalia’s Odysseo which premieres to Toronto’s public on Tuesday  15^th May 2012 and must I say this was a truly spectacular show.

I arrived at the Odysseo Big Top on Cherry St. in downtown Toronto, where the show is being held and was surprised by the size of the huge architecture which could be seen from a distance. This is the world’s largest touring big top standing 125 feet high with a seating capacity for 2,300 people. 

The White Big Top

The show began larger than life with fearless male acrobats coming out doing back flips high into the air, jumping and dancing creating a buzz in the audience. 

The show was like an opera theatre production with the inclusion of horses as a beautiful voice sang live as a harp and other musical instruments played somewhere in the background, mesmerizing the audience with a story being told without words. We were in a multi-dimensional world and you could not help but be captivated by the innovations of the stage production with every detail clearly designed to create a life-like forest, field, desert and even a lake with water filtering through the surface of the arena…it was magical.

The Dancers

The horses galloping through the staged lake

The Beautiful Waterfall

There were so many beautifully stage visuals, many reminiscent of Lord of the Rings, but it was when the western horses came galloping out with their riders clinging on with one hand while being turned upside down that I had to bite my lip in anticipation of one of the riders flying off but the expert Odysseo horsemen and women were so skilled that they made it look effortless and every gallop past was completed without incident.

Now that is skill !

There were 70 horses included in the show, all beautiful and impeccably trained; when running free, the herd moved fluidly around the arena as the acrobats and handlers worked with silent commands and movements. I felt myself drifting into a dreamland when a carousel came down from up above and acrobats danced up, down and around it bringing back memories of my childhood with a musical doll-sized merry-go-round.  It was all so enchanting and exceeded my expectations of what I thought was just a horse show.

Acrobats dancing on the carousel

Cavalia Founder and Artistic Director Normand Latourelle and the rest of the show’s creative team are to be commended for presenting such a magical, mystical show, and I would like to say a huge thank-you to them and The Rider magazine (www.therider.com) for allowing me to attend so I could share this with you.

Cavalia Founder and Artistic Director Normand Latourelle

I don’t want to give too much away as Cavalia’s new production Odysseo is an absolute must-see for all ages. The show premiers on Tuesday 15^th May and will remain in Toronto for 6 weeks so I encourage you to get your tickets NOW via their website (www.cavalia.net/odysseo) and go and see the show. Giddy-up!

NiccyGee x