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Thrilling horse-human relationship in Cavalia
Four-legged stars: Horses enter the 50-meter ring, roaming freely around to welcome the audience
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Four-legged stars:: Horses enter the 50-meter ring, roaming freely around to welcome the audience. (Courtesy of Cavalia)" border="0" height="242" width="510">Four-legged stars: Horses enter the 50-meter ring, roaming freely around to welcome the audience. (Courtesy of Cavalia)A thrilling celebration of the bond between humans and horses makes Cavalia more than just a circus show.
Taking place under a 2,440-square-meter white tent, Cavalia features equestrian arts combined with mesmerizing acrobatics and dance that involve 50 horses as well as 46 riders, acrobats and dancers.
The show itself is a chain of unrelated single settings tied together by the idea of a respectful interaction between horses and human beings.
As the curtains were raised, three white horses entered the 50-meter stage, roaming freely around to welcome the audience as a singer and acrobats opened the night.
More horses then came into the stage, galloping at full speed, and in many scenes they were left unfettered without bridles or halters.
As wild as it may sound, the four-legged stars were actually very well behaved and focused. The horse whisperer commanded them to stand on their hind legs, instructed them to run around him in a circle and made them stop and pose for the audience.
The horses even made the crowd laugh when a horse took an apple from the hand of an acrobat who was performing on a moving ball and another stole a handkerchief from a performer.
The bond between the horses and humans grew stronger when stunt riders began performing tricks on the horses: riders hanging upside down across the horsesâ sides and backs, standing on one leg, and jumping on a rope on the back of the horse.
As all acts were carried out with the horses racing from one side to another, it showed there was a complete trust built between the riders and the horses.
Four-legged stars: <)
Four-legged stars: Horses enter the 50-meter ring, roaming freely around to welcome the audience. (Courtesy of Cavalia)
A thrilling celebration of the bond between humans and horses makes Cavalia more than just a circus show.
Taking place under a 2,440-square-meter white tent, Cavalia features equestrian arts combined with mesmerizing acrobatics and dance that involve 50 horses as well as 46 riders, acrobats and dancers.
The show itself is a chain of unrelated single settings tied together by the idea of a respectful interaction between horses and human beings.
As the curtains were raised, three white horses entered the 50-meter stage, roaming freely around to welcome the audience as a singer and acrobats opened the night.
More horses then came into the stage, galloping at full speed, and in many scenes they were left unfettered without bridles or halters.
As wild as it may sound, the four-legged stars were actually very well behaved and focused. The horse whisperer commanded them to stand on their hind legs, instructed them to run around him in a circle and made them stop and pose for the audience.
The horses even made the crowd laugh when a horse took an apple from the hand of an acrobat who was performing on a moving ball and another stole a handkerchief from a performer.
The bond between the horses and humans grew stronger when stunt riders began performing tricks on the horses: riders hanging upside down across the horses' sides and backs, standing on one leg, and jumping on a rope on the back of the horse.
As all acts were carried out with the horses racing from one side to another, it showed there was a complete trust built between the riders and the horses.
'Trick riding is one of more difficult things for horses here; it's physically demanding on them, they are running fast, making fast take offs and fast stops,' Fairland Ferguson, one of the riders, said during a behind-the-scenes tour.
Riders also performed Roman riding where they stood astride on two horses. Later on, some riders added more horses to steer while they stood on the two horses, running around the stage and jumping over the obstacles.
But it was not just the horses that stole the limelight, the acrobats also received loud applause from the crowd as their magnificent focus, strength and balance produced human pyramids, stunning aerial acrobatics and bungee acts.
All performers were also very communicative, frequently inviting the crowd to clap along, turning the Big Top into a lively hall.
Performances were all done in front of a 60-meter digital background that was constantly changing to display remarkable scenes, bringing imagination to life.
Another fine visual treat was when a stallion seemed to have magically appeared in the stage as its image was projected onto falling rain.
Foam-made snow falling from above during a winter scene and the sand-covered stage that suddenly turned into a small lake where the horses happily galloped and splashed around.
All in all, Cavalia is a parade of beauty and brawn, of horses and humans, combined with sophisticated effects that can turn a commonplace night into a magical one.
The troupe is in Singapore, its first stop in Asia, performances run through Sept. 28 and it will next travel to South Korea.
Created by Normand Latourelle, one of the co-founders of Cirque du Soleil, in 2003, Cavalia has visited 64 cities across North America, Europe, Australia and the Middle East. The production involves 50 horses of 11 different breeds, such as Purse Spanish, Quarter, Arabian, Warmblood, Criollo and Paint. The smallest horse is 8 hands tall, a 14-year-old miniature stallion, and the tallest is 18 hands tall, a six-year-old Percheron.
'We never take a horse that is younger than five years old; otherwise they'd be too green for this kind of work. Ideally, seven years old is mature enough and we have to train them for four to 12 months, depending on the act,' choreographer Alain Gauthier said.
And the horses in Cavalia were all male, he added. 'A stallion in the presence of mares, even just the smell, will become very aggressive, they will be fighting more and they will have no concentration whatsoever on stage,' Gauthier said.
Each horse gives a roughly 12-minute performance. The rest of their daily activities include warm-up, grooming and massage.
'We do a lot of gymnastics, stretching with them, and yoga for horses, because we want them to be well balanced. We put more weight on one side during the show, so we want to keep the balance during the day,' Ferguson said.
