Quidam

Absolutey loved this, although I thought OvO was slightly better. The story follows a girl drifting through a magical dream and there are some pretty awesome acrobatics throughout the entire performance.

I can never get too much of Cirque du Soleil really I just can not. If you have ever seen the 2002 documentary series (don’t call it a reality show this was made for intelligent people not just mindless entertainment) «The Fire Within» you will know how hard it is to produce one of these shows. You gain much appreciation of the extremes that the whole cast and crew must put themselves through both physically and mentally. So ever time I see a Cirque show I’m really into it no matter how large a production or how small and simple a production it is.
Quidam is one of those smaller simpler productions just like «Kooza» was a couple of years ago. Although it did not feel like a smaller production due to it’s location at the huge Verizon Center. I miss the iconic yellow and blue Cirque tents they have a much more warm and cozy circus like feel as oppose to the cold and starkness of corporate Verizon Big Brother. Also there is the logistics of dealing with Verizon all by itself… well that is for another review along with dealing with the Metro going down there.
The show itself like all of the world of Cirque du Soleil has to deal with a some ones (in this case a child’s) imagination or dream world. Very much a twist and spin on the old Alice in Wonderland plot. Here you have a little girl, who is ignored by her parents she falls into the world of imagination. That is their overall theme and it carries well into Quidam. The cast pulls off all the stops and gives the audience a nice presentation designed for young and old alike. Along with the usual antics of Euro style humor the nonhuman like contortions and air soaring acts is enough to make you say… OUCH! Incorporated in the show were Diabolos or Chinese yo yo’s (now I want one after seeing that) in spectacular performance worthy of any act I’ve seen out of Taiwan or Hong Kong. Comedy that involves audience members in a slap stick kinda way, talk about interactive both funny and delightful. The German wheel gave the audience a good spin and the silk curtain dancer dazzled everyone. Hand balancing acts, skip rope acts that you make you wish you learned how to skip rope as a kid. Juggling and other acrobatic artistry as always make one say «Man how did they do that???».
Cirque never disappoints really always entertaining. There was one small instance where they miss calculated and a slight error was made on the finish of the human flipping but they took it in stride and made up for it in the long run no one was hurt except maybe their pride. I think the audience forgave them on that I know I certainly did. Overall a spectacular show a must see when they go to Baltimore and other cities.