Cavalia OdysseO

Saturday, September 17th, Frank and I went with our friend Vickie to see the Cavalia show OdysseO performed in a big white tent near the 280 Freeway in San Jose. When I say big I mean BIG. The performance tent is called the White Big Top and is as tall as a ten story building. It is the largest of the nine tents total in the compound. Considering this is a mobile show, the size and complexity is quite impressive. The White Big Top is currently the largest touring tent in the world.

The performance was overflowing with graceful, impressive equine acts replete with colorful costumes and breathtaking staging. The horses are majestic and their interaction with the humans is very moving. I think the scenery was projected by a large state-of-the-art system, similar, I suspect, to the type used in the opening show of the recent 2016 summer Olympics in Rio. Horses paraded and pranced amid expansive, green, countryside vistas or up and down stark, brown, dune panoramas.

There were exhilarating acts where skilled, daring equestrians vaulted on and off horses and did acrobatic gyrations while the noble steed pounding along at galloping speed. Interspersed with the horse performances were acrobatics and tumbling that rivaled the recent gold medal olympic performances in height and revolutions and complexity all without the aid of spring loaded flooring. Indeed, Wikipedia sums up Cavalia as "a fresh mix of equestrian and performing arts, multimedia and special effects, innovatively integrating acrobatics, dance, aerial stunts and live music."

There were also graceful, gliding, culturally-artful aerial performances in the style of Cirque de Soleil with soaring graceful poses and flights wrapped in long long silk streamers. The similarity exists with good reason. The show was conceived by Normand Latourelle, one of the co-founders of the famed Cirque du Soleil. Pictures were not allowed during the show so these were taken from large canvas screens in the courtyard where spectators could roam during the intermission. I think Frank is imagining that the ethereal, beautiful, young woman is beckoning to him and he is welcoming her with open arms.

Per Wikipedia, Cavalia is a fabricated word, inspired by the Spanish and French words for horse (caballo and cheval) and the English word cavalry. In 2004 I had gone to see the show with my daughter Robin and my sister Maxine when it was touring near San Francisco. Then, if I remember correctly, it was horses only and focused predominantly on the relationship between humans and horses. The equine aspect is still what truly defines the show. The horses are statuesque and awesome. Interesting enough they are all stallions and gelding - no mares. We learned that training some of them can take as long as six years.

We did not have the opportunity to interact with the horses themselves but Vickie and I did interact with their images. This photo was taken within the darkened lobby of the performance tent. Note the striking similarity between Vickie's hair and the horse's mane. I am kind of partial to this subdued image.

Outside after the show we took a few more photos. Vickie poses beside the horses with the billboard freeway sign advertising the show in the background.

It was Frank's idea to have me imitate the pose of the young girl among the horses.

He also thought this rider and me had similar smiles. I guess we were just horsing around but we had fun doing it.

Tickets were expensive but I do not think there was a truly bad seat in the house tent. The show had a wide ranging mix of intense, action-packed acts and relaxed, museum-paced art-like scenes. The show was memorable, the physical prowess of the performers was awesome, the glacier scene at the finale was beyond beautiful.