Wintuk

My aunt likes to outdo herself each year when it comes to gift giving. This year, she bought tickets for my family, my parents and her family to see Cirque du Soleil- Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. Because of our circus background, we've always wanted to see Cirque du Soleil, but we always put it off because we couldn't afford it. Needless to say, this was a perfect gift for us.

Everyone enjoyed the show. My one complaint is that Madison Square Garden's WaMu theater had one centralized bathroom. This meant that as soon as that curtain closed for intermission you needed to start making your way over to the bathroom. The line moved mercifully quickly considering the length of the line, but I was regretting the bottle of water I had been sipping during the first act.

The show itself was spectacular. Very kid friendly with giant puppets and a young boy who leads us from scene to scene on his quest for snow. I just wish a nor'easter hadn't been forecast to arrive that night. I cringed every time he asked, "Where's the snow?"

As I watched acrobats and daredevils flying across the stage on skateboards, in-line skates and bicycles in the first scene, I wondered which of my kids would be the first to try something at home (it was Chase). Also memorable were two acrobats that bounced around the stage and off of each other on large balls, and the "tribe" that did Russian bar--aerial flips on a pole held by two men. Then there were the contortionists. I don't think I'll believe any of these young women have connected joints unless I see an x-ray. The rag doll, in particular, was very rag doll-like. There was also a young woman who did a perfect ballet arabesque while twirling a hula hoop on her toe behind her head (you really had to be there).

Sierra was enchanted from the first puppet dog that looked like it had wandered away from Sesame Street. If you love marionettes, this is the show to see. Things come to life when you least expect it and all were larger than life.

Sadly, there was not enough juggling for my taste. One woman juggled multiple balls and did some awesome ball bounce with up to seven balls. No clubs or other paraphernalia. I just would have liked to see more. There was also a balancer who did a scary stacked rola bola (balance board). He had cylinders stacked and rolling in all different directions and did a handstand balance on top of the whole teetering pile while foot juggling. I need to say that again. HE BALANCED ON HIS HANDS WHILE FOOT JUGGLING!!!! I know that only someone in my world can truly understand how impressive that is. I always wanted to foot juggle, it's like baton twirling a long cylinder with your feet, but I never figured out the technique.

And so I want to publicly thank Aunt Kathy for her excellent gift. We will remember this show for years!