Saturday, March 23, 2013

Cavalia – OdysseO

Odysseo2This blog post is written by Jessica Cribbs of BurbankMom.com. I was unable to attend and was very happy that Jessica could go with her family and do a guest post. Thanks, Jessica!

The skyline in Burbank changed earlier this month as the world’s largest traveling show came to town to set up camp. Cavalia is back after three years with an amazing new performance, OdysseO. First of all, I’d like to thank Elizabeth for the opportunity to guest post on her site about it! She knew this was right up BurbankMom’s alley, so I loaded up the family in my minivan and headed over to the 8pm premiere with orders to report back.

The Cavalia tents, if you haven't seen them...or have no clue what they are, are gigantic. The Big White Top is 10 stories high and the stage itself is 15,000 square feet and features a real carousel and a magically appearing 80,000 gallon lake. The backdrop is the size of 3 IMAX screens. There are stables for all 67 horses, a warm up tent for the performers as well as paddocks for the animals to have time outside every day.

With all that being said, it’s not hard to imagine how spectacular this show was!

If you know nothing about anything Cavalia has done, think Cirque Du Soleil....with the addition of horses. Ok, so the horses aren't actually spinning on high ropes or performing acrobats, but they certainly perform and move you like the music or artists do. They are breathtaking.

The mind behind the show, Normand Latourelle, is one of the co-creators of Cirque Du Soleil. In an interview last week with Mr. Latourelle, he said to me that he had once done a show where he put one horse on stage with all of the performers and he noticed the audiences were watching the horse more than the people.

That’s when Cavalia was born.

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From start to finish, this two hour show kept me drawn in. I have a hard time even comprehending not only the insurmountable creativity it takes to think of every detail, but the hours of dedication it obviously takes to train the horses. They are just some of the most magical animals on the planet. They are strong, powerful, graceful, stunningly beautiful and so very intelligent. Consider me equine-illiterate if you will, but I had no idea that these animals were capable of such memorized choreography and elaborate training.

Can we talk about the human performers for a minute? I swear they must be from another planet. The men and women who grace the stage with trick riding, acrobatics, tumbling, spring stilts and pole dancing (Yes, I just said pole dancing) are so spectacular, they simply must be related to Superman. The human body is so brilliant, and paired with horses, choreography and music, it all becomes poetic.

Louisiana native, Anna-Laura Edmiston provides the vocals for six acts in OdysseO. Her voice is absolutely majestical, etherial almost...what a perfect cast. It took me a while to even notice the orchestra was playing live above us, including Anna and her voice.

This is way more than just a horse show. To me, it was a piece of art that was breathtaking and full of  innocent wonder. I sat next to my children with the same amount of excitement on my face as they expressed.

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OdysseO is a journey around the world. With every act, you are taken to a different place on our beautiful planet and you are taken there by horse. Fitting then, is the cast of people and equine that make up this show. There are 11 different breeds of horses from around the world and the artists are from at least eight different countries. The concept, the backdrop, the artistry, the choreography, the costumes and original score let you travel and experience the journey of man and horse as it should be...appreciated.

This is an absolute family must while it’s in Los Angeles!

OdysseO plays through Sunday, April 14th in Downtown Burbank, just off the I-5 freeway.
It’s conveniently located at 777 N. Front Street, Burbank, CA 91502.

For tickets and show times visit, www.Cavalia.net or call 1-866-999-8111. 
 

Jessica Cribbs is a wife and the mother of three and secretly loves the Valley. She is co-creator and producer of Expressing Motherhood and publisher of BurbankMom.com. Jessica also runs an annual charity event in the memory of her mother Rose, who lost her battle with breast cancer 4 years ago, called The Rose Run. You can also follow Burbank Mom on Twitter & Facebook.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I've never even heard of it, but it sounds amazing! Thanks for sharing this!