Cirque du Solei KA

While in Las Vegas for a Conference a co-worker won two tickets to see KÀ at the MGM theater. I quickly stepped up and volunteered to use the second ticket. I have wanted to see Cirque du Solei for several years. Three years ago I actually bought tickets for KÀ but was coerced to trade them in for David Copperfield tickets.

Even before we entered the theater the experience begins. The ticket takers are in costume and in character. The costumes were not specific to any culture or country. They were vaguely asian or mongolian. Once inside there are warnings against photography of any kind. The inside of the theater is very industrial. It could easily be mistaken for something out of Star Trek. There are multiple catwalks all around you. In the center of the stage there is a huge fireball erupting from several spots below the site line. The eruptions occur and seemingly random intervals. You can feel the heat even though we are 20 rows away.

Before the show begins the characters in full body suits appear around the catwalks on various levels. They are working in pairs performing small feats of acrobatics on wires right over our heads. Two characters affixed themselves to each end of a wire run through a pulley. One jumped off the railing and the other flew up as ballast.

As the main show began it immediately reminded me of Japanese Noh Theater. The actors wore elaborate makeup and costumes. Then the similarity ended. The stage began to move. There were actually two stages. Each stage was on it own hydraulic system allowing it to move up and down, rotate, and pitch completely over. The show went on including more costumes reminiscent of even more cultures such as inuits showing the travels of the main characters.

The show was unlike any other show I’ve ever seen. I have included a couple examples of the wonder but I leave the rest off this account so that the reader can enjoy the full experience. I highly recommend going to see this show if you have a chance.

While in Vegas I took about 500 pictures. Be sure to have a look at some of the samples below. I did not upload all the pictures. I just grabbed few from each set.