Spending a Las Vegas style Christmas is now possible without having to go to Las Vegas! The Araneta Center has brought to the Philippines, straight from Las Vegas, the first-ever “Le Grand Cirque”! They are being dubbed as the next ‘Next Generation of Cirque du Soleil”. Treat yourself and your family this Christmas and do something “new”! Feel the thrill of death-defying stunts and unbelievable acts as in a spectacular show that families can enjoy this Yuletide season.
Opportunities like this come only a few times in a lifetime so make sure you watch the first-ever “Le Grand Cirque” in the Philippines. This show will be running from December 25 until January 3, 2017 only at the Smart Araneta Coliseum. It’s a real treat for the family because all of the acts are very entertaining and everyone will definitely enjoy it, not just the children but the adults as well.
The Le Grand Cirque is a big-scale circus production featuring an electrifying show of acrobatics, aerial tricks, white knuckle stunts, and precision skills from world-class artists different parts of the globe. Oh and “CIRQUE” is pronounced as “SERK”. I mentioned this because I heard a lot of versions on how our fellow Pinoys pronounced it. hehe 🙂
I was lucky enough to be invited to a Blogger/Charity Gala show earlier (by Araneta Group) today to see what people can expect from Le Grand Cirque and everything just blew me away. Their performances are superb and there were a lot of breathtaking moments. I wanted to see “circus” talents perform live and this was my first time to watch this kind of show and I wasn’t disappointed. It lasted for more than 2 hours and we actually went home rather happy, entertained and we really enjoyed the show.
In case you’re wondering what the stage looks like, here’s what it looked like before the show:
Super cool huh? 🙂 I’m sure you’re excited and very curious about it.
Let me just walk you through some of the performances you might witness as their performances differ from time to time (since I compared their performance list to the ones published online). Nevertheless, the performances we’ve seen earlier were definitely very entertaining and perfect for the whole family.
My favorite “character” in Le Grand Cirque would have to be the first person who performed, the clown/mime. He’s the one who takes care of the gaps in between performances. Usually, this gap is filled in by a host but this host doesn’t speak yet he can communicate with the audience rather well because of his silly antics, facial expressions, and his smile.
At some points during his performance, he would pick someone from the audience to share the stage with him. Hilarity ensues afterward as that person becomes an instant clown like him. One thing is for certain, he can make people do silly things. lol 🙂 Children and even the parents were laughing so much (including me) that I must admit that I looked forward to gaps because of his authentic talent. Don’t get me wrong, each performance from the talented artists was excellent and very Las Vega-ish but the clown made me laugh a lot that’s why I couldn’t forget him.
I’m not sure if the guy in the orange shirt (see picture above) realized it while he was in stage, but he was wearing a toilet suction cup on his head. Just watch the show, see if he does it to another person in the audience and learn why or how that suction cup was placed on top of the smiling guy’s head.
He also made us laugh so hard when he tried to find a partner among the audience. He showed his courting “style” to the amusement of the audience and the person he picked from the crowd. He used wine, flowers, chocolates and a kiss to reel her in and everything was so hilarious. He’s like a Le Grand Cirque’s Mr. Bean.
The way he lights up the crowd is really remarkable. All the people who were near him explodes with laughter. Everyone loves him, and kids aren’t afraid of him (some are afraid of the usual clowns with the red nose and colorful hair). Just imagine a clown version of your favorite noontime show wherein the hosts can ask the audience to do anything. That’s what he seemed that time. Participation is a must. 😀 Trust me, you’ll enjoy it. Just look at the happy faces of the people in the audience.
Before you continue, if you want to be surprised, please don’t proceed anymore but if you’re curious like me and want to take a glimpse of the performances, be my guest, go ahead and take a peek.
Note that I didn’t post any of the videos I took because I want you guys to see them live and in action because pictures can never do justice to any of their performances. The pictures I placed here are just a reference and just a tiny bit of action of the whole performance. The images here are just a testament that we really enjoyed the show & I would definitely recommend this to be watched by everyone especially those who are still looking for activities this Holiday Season.
For the performances, here are just a sneak peek and just part of what you can see if you watch Le Grand Cirque.
1. SOLO TRAPEZE ~ A girl will seemingly just use a huge swing but she suddenly flips and does death defying somersaults that had everyone literally shouting. It’s relaxing at first then it became exhilirating to watch her perform.
2. CHINESE YOYO (DIABOLO) ~ A girl dressed in a Dragon suit leads a pack of cute ballerina-like girls. They then begin to balance and throw a huge yoyo. Their performance was mesmerizing and they make it look like it’s so easy to do it. Your kids will enjoy seeing them play with the yoyo. Since they seem to move in harmony, they look like they’re dancing.
3. HUMAN BALANCING ACT ~ This duo will perform electrifying stunts, amazing balancing acts and watching them is nothing short of amazing! Trust is key to a good performance and these two guys seem to have it in spades. Watch the show live and cheer them on as they perform. 🙂
4. AERIAL SILK ~ If you’re familiar with aerial yoga, you will find that this somehow looks familiar. But the big difference is, the aerial silk is hanging a few meters above the ground so one wrong move and you’ll find yourself in the hospital (if you’re lucky). This girl is really very brave and very talented. She did her routine effortlessly and fluidly. It was jaw dropping to watch her perform live.
5. HAT JUGGLING ~ A group of boys wearing the same hat juggles and balances their hats and they even exchange hats mid air! 🙂 Given that the hat was light and the accuracy is lowered because of the air pressure whenever the hats are thrown, I think these boys did a good job. I especially liked how they walked together while exchanging hats repeatedly.
6. REVERSE BALLS JUGGLING (BOUNCING) ~ Usually when we “juggle” things, we toss it up in the air, this girl does it in reverse which is more difficult because there is no saying where the ball can bounce to as opposed to just dealing with gravity and catching them after you thrown them in the air. The speed and accuracy of this lady is just remarkable. She’s definitely really talented and she’s really cute on stage. You just can’t stop yourself from cheering her on and holding your breath as she asks for more and more balls to juggle. 🙂
7. DRUM JUGGLING ~ Another juggling act but this time it’s a group of girls and they’re juggling DRUMS on their feet instead of their hands.
8. TRAMPOLINE ~ A group of guys use a trampoline to do somersaults and go back and forth from the “building”. Precision is a must so they won’t have to kiss the wall. They end up walking and running on air. This performance makes me want to try a trampoline. lol. They make it looks so easy.
9. JUMPING THROUGH RINGS/HOOPS ~ This is surprising but I honestly thought this would be a boring act but it turns out that it became of my favorites because of the way these kids performed. They just zipped through the hoops/rings without even a mistake. The higher it got, the more tense the audience became. I found myself hoping they would make it to the last and highest ring and remarkably, they did. The moment was intense and if you’d watch this live, you’ll definitely relate to what I meant.
10. AERIAL CUBE ~ First there was silk and now there’s this Aerial Cube. Two women will go up in the air and balance themselves within a cube while splitting and making yoga-esque poses. This is probably one of my top three favorite performances because I was really entertained and loved their performance. Las Vegas is so much alive in this act!
11. PLATE BALANCING ~ This isn’t your ordinary plate balancing, it also includes gymnastics and splitting while mid-air. I can’t understand how each plate stayed on those sticks and spinned without falling. It’s already burdensome just to do one plate, just imagine that these girls are balancing 4 plates each on each hand! 🙂
12. YELLOW DANCING LADIES ~ A group of ladies wearing golden yellow dresses and golden nails dance to a certain song as part of an intermission number.
13. CONTORTIONIST WITH CANDLESTICKS ~ A lady contortionist balances more than 4 normal candlestick containers while she does her routine which includes poses that would make you doubt whether she still has some bones in her body. lol 😀 The ending was perfect so if you’re watching this show live, make sure you don’t blink when she finalizes her move.
14. MULTIPLE HULA HOOP~ This girl is also amazing, she can do multiple hula hoops and still manage to balance them on her body simultaneously. I can’t even use one hula hoop. lol 😀
15. CHAIR FIGHT ~ This is literally a game of thrones except instead of throne, they’re just fighting for a chair. These two gymanasts seem to be fighting for a single chair. They try to outdo each other and they basically jump from each other’s shoulders and make somersaults. They also make funny impressions so it’s fun to watch them do their horseplaying.
16. BALANCE BOARDS ~ Boards of different sizes and shapes are placed on top of each other and this guy does what he can do best which is BALANCE while doing different kinds of poses. Of course it would look so easy to us but just try balancing on top of a board with a ball shaped thing in the bottom. lol 😀 This is very difficult not to mention dangerous since they don’t use just one different shaped board but multiple boards.
17. STRONG MEN ~ We’ve seen a pair of men balancing on a chair but these two are very different from the first one because they are balancing using only their bodies. They also jell well as if there’s only one brain controlling two separate bodies. These guys are amazing! No ropes, chairs or other props, just pure MUSCLE POWER!
18. RUSSIAN SWING ~ This is actually the last performance but I’ve reserved the last spot for my favorite performance for the night. The Russian Swing I think shouldn’t be the final act because it’s a little too monotonous. The swing becomes really high though and scarier if you’re the one jumping. It looks like a small version of the ANCHOR’S AWAY ride in Enchanted Kingdom except that you have to jump from the ship and land on a cloth to slide downwards. It’s actually pretty cool but I think this act shouldn’t be the final act though.
19. MAN PLAYING WITH FIRE ~ I really really love this performance by this guy! I thought he was a superhero or something because the way he swung the fire around felt like he was playing a role from Avengers or something. He has that “wow factor” when he performed and all of us were silently watching him and exchanging oohs and aaahhs as we watched him play with fire. He used different types of “weapon” but my favorite was the one that produced the most fire. lol 😀 I really loved this performance so yeah, this was my favorite.
So what are you waiting for? Le Grand Cirque will only be here until JANUARY 3, 2017 and after that, you need to go to LAS VEGAS to watch them perform live! The tickets are really affordable considering these are top notch performers. The highest ticket (VIP) is just PHP1,500! Imagine how much joy you can give to your family, especially your kids. Go ahead and book your ticket now via www.ticketnet.com.ph or you can call the hotline at 911-5555. I suggest you buy early because it’s important to get good seats for your family.
TICKET PRICES ARE AS FOLLOWS (in PHP):
Here’s a screenshot of the sitting plan as well as the price levels/ticket prices for LE GRAND CIRQUE:
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Disclaimer:
I was provided with a free ticket for two to view this show ahead of time (Charity Gala show) so that we can share with you, our actual experiences and points of view. No press releases were provided and I did this blog post according to my actual review and preference. I cannot guarantee that all the acts and performances I mentioned are the same for all shows. I own all the photos posted here except for the seat plan from Ticketnet and the event poster.