We received free press tickets for this the 2022 premiere of Cirque Du Soleil’s Luzia at the Royal Albert Hall, London in exchange for this review. Words are mine. Pictures from the 2020 dress rehearsal.
My first experience of Cirque Du Soleil was back in 2017, when I went to see Amaluna at the Royal Albert Hall, and I loved every moment. Despite having been to numerous circus and acrobatic performances before, the combination of the extraordinary world-class performers, the stunning set and costumes and the dramatic music was unlike anything I’d ever witnessed, and I promised myself it wouldn’t be the last time.
Three years later in 2020, I was lucky to be invited back to the Royal Albert Hall for my second Cirque du Soleil performance; a dress rehearsal of the newest show Luzia.
Well, we all know what happened after that. But now, post-covid restrictions, Luzia is back for 2022 and we were so lucky to be invited along to the premiere where celebs were walking the red carpet (not that I actually recognised anyone apart from Boy George, but it was fun to watch) and the performers were all back on form.
We had fantastic seats right at the front of the stalls from where we could see everything that was happening on the stage.
We paid a ridiculous sum for a glass of wine each (London never disappoints!), which we decanted into a plastic pint glass, and took our seats ready to be wowed.
What is Luzia about?
Luzia is ‘a waking dream of Mexico’… It’s a performance filled with bright colours, rousing music, live singing and truly astonishing acrobatics. It is set in Mexico; at the desert, at a beach, in a jungle…
Amaluna in comparison was fairly easy to follow; it was a classic ‘coming of age’ story and in the same way that you can follow what’s going on in an opera even though when you don’t speak Italian, you understood anyway.
With Luzia, there isn’t much of a storyline and if you go looking for one, you might spend some time being confused, as I was when I first attended. However, this time, I knew what to expect and instead of wondering if I was missing something I just sat back and enjoyed the performance and it was absolutely wonderful.
The show is spectacular, the costumes and stage are vibrant and the overall performance is guaranteed leave you entirely spellbound.
What can you expect to see at Cirqu Du Soleil’s Luzia?
The performance begins with the ‘clown’ parachuting into Mexico from above. He then appears regularly throughout the show when the stage is being dried or equipment reassembled providing a bit of physical comedy.
Although I suspect that the clown is never anyone’s favourite part of Cirque Du Soleil (or of any circus for that matter…), he does a good job at keeping the audience entertained during the breaks in the show.
The stage set up is simply mind-blowing; the huge turntables which mean that where ever you are sat, you will get a great view of the acrobatics, a huge decorated canopy that extends down over the centre of the stage, metallic animals brought to life and the most breathtaking; a curtain of water which falls all the way from the top of Royal Albert Hall to the stage below, lit up with changing patterns and with acrobats swinging through it. It’s nothing short of spectacular.
Obviously that’s not what Cirque is all about though. It’s primarily the talented performers which seem to push the boundaries of human flexibility and endurance who provide a breathtaking and visually stunning show. Yes, there were a few minor mishaps with acrobats missing their marks occasionally. These things happen; part of me wonders whether some of it is done on purpose so that you appreciate exactly how difficult this stuff is. Maybe they should invite a regular Joe from the audience to have a go, then it would be quite clear how hard the performers train.
Special mention to the sequence with the cheetah at the watering hole (and the very strong acrobat man dipping his hair in the pool…), and the ladies in their hoops which is wonderful to watch.
The only notable difference between the 2020 and the 2022 show was the disappearance of the strong-man at the beach who balanced atop six sections of flexible poles; he wasn’t at the 2022 premiere and was replaced with a swinging acrobat instead. (I’ve since been told he’s back – which is great as he was a highlight for me the first time!).
I did note that there wasn’t the delicate aerial hoop work and the aerial silks which I had previously really enjoyed from the female-strong cast of Amaluna. It’s just a very different show, but no less amazing.
I must confess, the ‘lizard’ like contortionist Aleksei Goloborodko was way too much for me; I watched most of it through my fingers, again! The man seemingly has no internal organs, apparently he’s been doing it since he was four which I suppose is a more lucrative hobby than playing Paw Patrol but I’m fairly glad my son hasn’t shown an interest.
They way they take him off at the end in position is disconcerting. I get the impression that they have to spend the rest of the show unwinding him so that he can nip back on for the finale. Extraordinarily bendy and talented, but also a little disturbing!
If you can make it to the show, then you should go. It’s a wonderful experience.
The SeatPlan website
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