I recently had the opportunity to attend the Cirque Du Soleil show “Quidam” billed as “A young girl’s escape into a world of imagination” Let me start by saying this now ranks up with the top visual experiences of my life. With no real idea of what I was going to see, my preconceived notion was that it was going to be an odd circus act. It is so much more than that. It’s a musical. It’s a play. It’s the very best in physical acting; slapstick, mime, dramatic. Then, of course, there were the superb acrobatics. The story is clear even as much is unspoken or in a different language. You experience a whole gambit of emotions and it ends with joy.

As this story unfolded I instantly thought of Coraline, a story by Neil Gaiman brought to film by Henry Selick in 2009. If I was to make comparisons, both are the classic “Alice in Wonderland” type story of escaping those unsatisfying aspects of your life and taking the trip down the rabbit hole. Another thought I had was that experiencing Quidam was like being thrown into a Tim Burton film.  If you have no connection with those examples, let me say that Quidam is full of beautiful and fantastically odd imagery and sounds. The live musicians provide a terrific support to the emotions of the acting. The stage design added additional drama with rotating floors and upper supports capable of extending performers out over the audience.

With all that being said, I think I have to say the acrobatics and amazing feats of athleticism were the highlight of the show. My favorites were the aerial contortionist on silk and what I guess could be called the statue, although every act was fantastic. And I use that word, fantastic, by its true definition as if conceived from the imagination; from fantasy.

Official website:

http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/quidam/default.aspx