Cirque du Soleil: Varekai (2003)

I watched Varekai in Dubai in September 2016. It was good but definitely not up to the Cirque Du Soleil standards (it is my 3rd one that I watch). I liked mainly the costumes and there were some nice inspirational scenes but unfortunately the noisy boring clowns and the unpleasant music ruined the whole atmosphere. The last show with the double seesaw was impressive but other than that, it was deja vu in other circuses and shows. It would have been a good idea to take advantage of the theme to point out the deforestation and to drag the attention of the public and mainly the children on this essential matter. At some point we thought that Cirque du Soleil did another show in Dubai than the one in US and Canada, but after checking Varekai reviews, it turned out that many viewers were disappointed by the lack of creativity... Next time I will definitely think twice before attending a Cirque du Soleil show...

Varekai is much more than just a circus, it tells a story.There are no flaws in the performance, the acts were all done perfectly from the stunning hand balancing by Olga Pikhienko to the astonishing, gripping Icarian Dance.Olga Pikhienko is the best performer in the show, the lead female vocalist Zara Tellander also has a spectacular voice (sung Varekai 831 times)It isn't all perfect however, there will be parts that won't appeal to you but overall I think it will shock you. Not all the acts are brilliant and you can't expect that from anyone.Throughout the show there are no let downs, the music is wonderful although the sound on the DVD does not capture the energy behind it.The DVD does not quite capture the magic of seeing the show live. I have seen many Cirque du Soleil shows and Varekai is for me the best travelling show.It's definitely a must see show.

This isn't the first circus with a story I've seen, but its the best. No animal acts, clowns in minicars or individual stand alone performances, this sort of circus is highly stylized with a usually vague story, singing and music to blend one act after another.Some of the performers come from long lines of family acts, but there's also a fair number of Olympic caliber athletes looking to work their talent outside of competition. The acts are not all great, but are at least good and a few are exceptional. I thought it was pretty amazing that they are all done flawlessly in front of a live audience: Not one dropped prop, clumsy trip, dorky fall or wardrobe malfunction.I'm not often drawn to the artsy/pouffy sort of humor. It tends to be too French for me, and it just doesn't appeal. Not all things French, just their humor. Any sound effects resembling gastrointestinal activity are apparently the ultimate comedy. The least appealing parts of Varekai involved that same French humor, and knocks the score down a little. I enjoyed the other comic acts in the show, whether they were French or not.You can't beat a live circus show, but there are some advantages with watching this one on a widescreen. It was shot in HD format so it naturally takes in wider shots, and there's many angle shots, overheads and closeups that the live audience would never see. Colors are almost oversaturated but thats because so much of the circus is in bright primary colors. Varekai even has a DTS soundtrack and employs all the 5.1 system to good effect. The 2nd disc has some bio info on the performers and a short on getting selected and training for a live performance. The DVD set comes in a foldout box within a box, and gets an 8/10.

We just saw the Boston production. It was awful. Way too much of the artsy circus stuff...WAY too little of impressive acts. The comic relief was terrible (the performers were good, the MATERIAL was bad)There was one group in the first act that was interesting. The 2nd act was a little better. The jugglers were great. The large swings at the end were fabuluous. The woman contortionst was excellent but the overall production and pageantry was a snoozer. And you would thing they would know how to make a sound system work in their own tents by now. Were they actually singing words? who can tell?Dralion was a FAR superior show.