Disclosure: My family was provided with tickets to Cirque du Soleil Amaluna in Boston, MA. Any opinions are my own.
I can not believe that up until last week I had never experienced a Cirque du Soleil show before. I’ve always looked into purchasing tickets when I’ve traveled to Las Vegas and New York, but frequently opted out due to the price. When we were contacted about attending Cirque du Soleil Amaluna in Boston, MA, which is one of the touring shows, I couldn’t wait to see it.
For almost a week I’ve been trying to think of what I could write in my Cirque du Soleil Amaluna review, and I’m still honestly speechless.
For the better part of almost 2 hours my entire family watched this show in absolute wonderment. All of us were utterly astounded and fascinated, completely sitting on the edge of our seats, captivated by the costumes, humor, set designs and the difficulty of each performance. Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, each performance continued to wow us, one after the other. I didn’t ever want it to end because for the first time in a long time, it was the only thing on my mind where I wasn’t distracted trying to check my email, post to Facebook or take a picture.
Amaluna is a touring show, so every few months the entire show packs up their props and tents then travels to an entirely new location. We learned afterwards that while traditionally Cirque du Soleil shows have featured 70% male acts and 30% female acts, Amaluna is the opposite. It features a 100% female rock band and 70% of the acts feature women, while 30% feature men. We also learned that many of the performers in Cirque du Soleil shows were asked to audition for the show after being found all over the world through YouTube. I loved the “girl power” in Amaluna, it was amazing to see how strong, versatile and imaginative women can be doing some of the most difficult things to their bodies and minds I’ve ever seen.
First, we kept wondering, is Amaluna family friendly? Absolutely 100%, without a doubt… yes. We tried to find a babysitter for our 4 1/2 year old and when that didn’t work out, even though the show was at 7:30, we crossed our fingers and brought him, hoping for the best. I couldn’t be happier that we were able to see Amaluna as a family, it is something I’ll never forget. While there was an act that included some brief thundering and lightning, and in the beginning there is a lizard that can appear in the audience, stealing and dumping people’s popcorn, our son, who is pretty easily scared never once tried to hide in my lap. He had dozens of questions during the show, but he sat on my lap, clapping, wowing and cheering along.
Other fun facts about Amaluna:
- The big top takes 8 days to put up and 3 days to tear down
- Artists do their own make-up prior to each show, which can take between 40 and 120 minutes
- Amaluna features a water bowl that weights 6,000 lbs, takes 4 hours to fill, and is heated to 98 degrees fahrenheit for the safety of the performer to reduce muscle cramping
- The carousel at the top of the big top, which we watched many performers climb up or come down from is 42 feet in the air
Amaluna is currently in Boston until early July 2014 before traveling onto Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, GA.
Disclosure: My family was provided with tickets to Cirque du Soleil Amaluna in Boston, MA. Any opinions are my own.