Saltimbanco!

Gaz and I went to Cirque Du Soleil's Saltimbanco performance last Thursday. It was my first time watching Cirque du soleil after so many years' hype about the circus with a difference.

Saltimbanco is actually an old production which was revived for CDS's Australia tour. 'Saltimbanco -from the Italian "saltare in banco", which literally means "to jump on a bench". And jumping they did, besides swinging, juggling, lifting, balancing etc.

The act opened up with about 20 performers all heavily made up, wearing colourful overalls jumping up and down on the colourful stage. They went around the ring and shook hands with the audience, giving hi-five's and saying hello in gibberish. They beckoned to the first row in the audience to follow them around the other side of the ring, and then ran to the newly emptied seats and congratulated themselves on their cleverness. So cheeky!

The talented performers entertained us with a good balance of audience participation, humour and serious acrobatic skills. I particularly like the boleadoras act. A boleadora is an instrument made of a weight attached to the end of a cord. The weights bounce off the ground and make sounds. Invented in Argentina, the boleadoras were used by hunters in the pampas or plains. I just loved the flamenco influence in this one, and there were times when the duo's boleadoras twirled impossibly fast and dangerously close to each other.

There was a 20 minute intermission in between during which we ventured closer to the ring side and got better seats there. Many other people did the same too, as it was not a full house - can't blame people for not wanting to venture out on a weeknight in the rain and cold!

We got home at around 11pm and I only got to bed around 12am. I was so knackered the next day!!