Last night I was lucky enough to be taken to see the Cirque de Soleil’s Kooza at the Royal Albert Hall by my friend Susan as an early birthday present. I’ve never been to the Royal Albert Hall before and I’ve heard so many great things about Cirque de Soleil that this was a bit of double-whammy of joyful things for me.
I am terrible at booking anything cultural in advance but it was so lovely to have something exciting to do in the middle of the most depressing month of the year. It was freezing and frosty last night and as we made our way up to the hall it felt more like Christmas, the Christmas weather we missed amongst all the rain.
Every time I find myself in South Kensington I decide that I don’t spend nearly enough time there. No matter how nice the part of London in which I live is, it feels insignificant and ramshackle in comparison with this opulent display of Victoria and Albert’s devotion to art and culture.
The V&A, the Natural History Museum and Science Museum compete in both grandeur and the impressiveness of their collections. The newly designed pedestrian-friendly Exhibition Road with it’s diagonally striped paving sweeps up towards Hyde Park and of course there is the elegant curve of the very un-English Royal Albert Hall which always takes me by surprise, peering out from between enormous red brick mansion houses. This area almost feels to grandiose for London, too planned, it feels more like it should perhaps be in Vienna.
The Royal Albert Hall is beautiful inside, all red and gold and surprisingly cosy. We had a loggia box, a small box of eight seats just above the stalls. For such a large venue it is amazing how intimate it actually feels.
I didn’t have any preconceptions of the circus at all and didn’t really know what to expect. I’m not sure if this is true just to Kooza or to all of the circus’ performances, but last night was a very traditional circus. It was back to basics: there were clowns and acrobats, bicycle riding tightrope walkers, trapeze artists and unicyclists, stilt-walkers and magicians, all set to dramatic music.
The troupe is made up from artists from all around the world and one of my favourite acts was the Mongolian contortionists. Three women dressed in gold catsuits, so limber that it was at times impossible to tell which way up the artists were, back to front or upside down. It was hard to see where one woman ended and another one started.
There were also of course death defying stunts and the most impressive was the wheel of death – two metal wheels powered by two acrobats who were jumping and spinning around them, giving true edge of your seat excitement. (I notice on their website that they are recruiting for wheel of death artists so if you fancy a change in career…?)
I came out of the show feeling excited and stimulated. I’d had a bit of a stressful and disappointing week one way or another and it was a real reminder of the restorative power of culture.
I would heartily recommend anyone to see this show, it was just fantastic and one of the most impressive things I’ve ever seen. To witness what people can do with that level of dedication and belief is awe-inspiring and I felt rather envious as it must be such an incredibly rewarding and satisfying profession.
Ahhhh, great pre-birthday present. Delighted you finally made it to the Royal Albert Hall. It is one of my favourite places to see shows, opera, classical concerts and gigs. I’ve been going for over 25 years and yet every time it takes my breath away.
I’m a huge fan of Cirque du Soleil and yes, the first time is the most magical one… I’m so happy they are back at the RAH (where I first saw them when they first came to London). I hear the new show is gone back to basics, something I would enjoy!
Culture will cure any malaise:-)
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I love Cirque de Soleil! In ballet class growing up, we used a lot of their music in our performances and normal classes (I actually have the Mystere CD and love it. but I’m weird), and I’m so happy you had such a good time! I like the more traditional circus aspects of their performances, and yes, at one point in my life I totally did want to run away from home and join them. You sound like you had a lovely time, and if that bottle of champagne you instagrammed is any indication, it truly was a fun evening. I’m sorry you’ve been feeling drab about the winter! Think of it this way: you get to accessorize with fun hats and gloves!
On my second trip to London back in 2005, I stayed a short walk from the V&A on Cromwell Road and was stunned at how posh the neighborhood was. The hostel we stayed in has since closed, I’m assuming because it wasn’t classy to have a hostel right smack dab in the middle of Kensington, haha. We were right across the street from a Sainsbury’s. Don’t know why you needed that particular bit of information, but there you go.
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the rah is one my 3*6*5 list & we already have a performance booked for the end of the year! can’t wait! glad you enjoyed some cirque… i’ve seen 3 of their shows now… two mind-blowing performances in vegas & one so-so performance back in melbourne… i think i like the over-the-top ones best (custom-built stages, etc), but i can definitely appreciate the skill involved even in the pared-back shows… those performers are amazing & it must be such a surreal lifestyle they lead… “off to work to take the wheel of death for a spin, have a nice day honey!”
& yes, agreed, such a nice way to splice up a gloomy january!
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Wow, Royal Albert Hall is impressive! Going to see Cirque de Soleil in such a beautiful venue is truly a great birthday gift. (I think Susan should win some kind of Best Friend award.
I’m glad you got out and enjoyed yourself/some culture after a difficult week.
I assure you, it’s a beautiful, moving song. During our first dance, I just remember my husband and I looking at each other and saying, “I don’t remember this song being so long.” With a room full of people watching just the two of you dance, it was a looong song. 
Sorry for the tangent! In sum, Cirque de Soliel is awesome and don’t pick a long song for your first wedding dance. 
I have seen a handful of the Cirque de Soliel shows, O (the water show in Las Vegas) is my favorite. We actually used one of the songs from O for our first wedding dance. (Gosh, that sounds so cheesy.
Theresa recently posted..{at this moment: what matters most}
PS~I really need to stop using so many happy faces/emoticons.
Theresa recently posted..{at this moment: what matters most}
I love the Royal Albert Hall. So glad you have made it there. The backstage tour is an interesting thing to do if you get a chance. And doing at least one prom at some point is a must too! Go for one of the more popular ones if you’re not overly into classical music (we went to the Desert Island Discs prom last year and it was fantastic).