Last week, I had a work outing at Cirque du Soleil, which is a circus producer of many travelling shows around the world. As of last week, they had their show Kooza playing in Toronto (as of writing this post, Cirque's run of Kooza shows have finished in Toronto) and I always wanted to go see the show, but I could never justify paying $150 for a decent seat. Luckily, because this is a work event, my company covered the Cirque ticket. Also, because this is a work event, I must go socialize with many of my co-workers at the event, which is (for an introvert like me) a complete nightmare. I decided to suck it up, because I do not think there would be a time where I would willingly go to a Cirque du Soleil event.
On a side note: It is nice to be a part of a company that will occasionally splurge on their workers with events like these. I have worked for some companies who were notoriously cheap in terms of their salaries and their perks/benefits.
Before we made our way to the big Cirque du Soleil tent for the show, we were all going to meet at a nearby restaurant for lunch. So, I made my way to the restaurant where I was immediately given a ticket for one free alcoholic drink, which already got me on high alert. Most of my co-workers are already here and already getting to drinking. I had immediate flashbacks to an unfortunate moment when I drank too much in front of my co-workers at a previous job. It was always jarring to me to see co-workers drink alcohol, because this was a social activity I associated with my friends or my cousins. I threw caution to the wind, ordered a Stella, and awkwardly mingled with my co-workers. I met up with the rest of my immediate team and I felt a little more comfortable now that the alcohol was flowing. My boss does not drink, so he gave me his drink ticket, and so I went to get another Stella, because why not.
I had a lunch of pasta and salad go with my guilt-laden pint of beer, and as soon as I could think to myself "What am I doing here?", we received our tickets, and we walked a couple of blocks to the big tent. When you show your ticket and walk into the grounds, you are met with a large outdoor concourse and a small tent with stands for buying overly-expensive concessions and merchandise (with even more alcohol). Beyond the small tent is the walkway to the seating area that nearly circles the stage, which I would estimate has a capacity of around 1000 guests. We got group seats right in the middle of the stage with an excellent view, as this Cirque show had a rather intimate setting. As the show was about to start, there were performers (dressed up as clowns?) going around interacting with the audience and making their own fun with the crowd.
So, what did I think about the show? I thought the show itself was great. I thought all the acrobatic performances were impressive. Obviously, there had to have been many hours of training in order to perform these crazy stunts. These acts of physical talent were broken up with silent comedic skits with a man with a crown and his two jester companions. There were moments where I visibly and audibly gasped at some of these stunts with a seemingly high degree of error, but these performers are professionals and perform these stunts on a semi-regular basis.
I would absolutely recommend going to a Cirque du Soleil show at least once whenever the show is in your city, even if the prices can get a bit crazy. Go experience the magic once in your life. As for the work event, it was a success! I currently work from home so I guess going out for work was a bit necessary.
More pics below:
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