10 Reasons to Love LUZIA by Cirque Du Soleil

I recently had the opportunity to see LUZIA by Cirque du Soleil. Here are 10 reasons my daughter and I loved it, and why I think you will too.

1. The Artistic Excellence of Cirque du Soleil

As with KURIOS, which I saw last year, LUZIA masterfully combines compelling music, clever set design, and imaginative costumes. All of these elements, combined with the masterful skill of the show’s performers, offer an artistic excellence not to be missed. If you’ve never seen a Cirque du Soleil show, add it to your bucket list. You’ll be amazed, inspired, and awed.

2. The Use of Water

What’s unique about LUZIA is its use of water. As we walked into the tent, a friendly usher immediately greeted us and explained to my daughter the meaning of the title LUZIA. It stems from the combination of two Spanish words: “luz” which means “light” and “lluvia” which means rain. The show beautifully combines the two.

For me, the standout moments that most stunningly used water were when an aerialist who was suspended from a trapeze spun through rain, and when shapes appeared in the failing rain, making art out of the water.

3. The Surrealistic Animals

The menagerie of surreal animals in LUZIA helped contribute to the magical, dreamlike quality of the show. The oversized horse and leopard body puppets caused me to whisper, “Wow!” to my daughter.

4. Hoop Divers

One of my favorite animals is the picaflor, or hummingbird. And the hummingbird costumes, complete with feathers and wings, the hoop divers wore were some of my favorite in LUZIA. These acrobats from San Francisco wowed me with their ability to not simply jump through hoops, but to do so on a moving conveyor belt.

5. The Cirque du Soleil Contortionist

If there was one act that made the audience audibly gasp, it was the contortionist. My daughter kept looking at me and saying, “He’s SO flexible! How does he do that!?!”

6. The Russian Swing Artists

We didn’t want to look away for a moment during the Russian swing artists act. It was amazing to watch them jump from moving swing to swing, often doing splits in the air as they did. It was one of my daughter’s favorites parts of the show.

7. The Juggler

Of all the performers, the juggler was the one I found myself cheering on the most. It was fun to watch as yet another pin would fall from the sky and he’d incorporate it into his juggling act. At one point, he juggled six pins!!

8. The Football Dance

I’m not much a sports enthusiastic, but I loved how the Football Dance combined art with soccer. It made me want to buy my daughters some soccer balls and send them outside to see what tricks they might be able to learn.

9. Live Musicians

Just as in KURIOS, LUZIA featured a vocalist and live musicians. I loved this mariachi band!

10. The Way Cirque du Soleil Brings Audiences Together

Watching a Cirque du Soleil performance brings audiences together. It truly is a community event. Side-by-side we hold our breathes as we watch an incredible feat undertaken. We applaud when the impossible becomes possible. And, if by chance, a performer isn’t successful at something he or she attempts (which rarely, if ever, happens), we all feel the need to cheer them on even louder and stronger.

What Do You Love About Cirque du Soleil?

Have you been to LUIZA or another Cirque du Soleil show? If so, I want to hear what you love about Cirque du Soleil. Leave you thoughts in a comment on this post.

More About LUZIA: A Waking Dream of Mexico

LUZIA takes you to an imaginary Mexico, like in a waking dream, where light (“luz” in Spanish) quenches the spirit and rain (“lluvia”) soothes the soul. With a surrealistic series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity.

For a list of cities, including dates in Atlanta where I saw it, visit their official website here.

[Disclosure: Tickets were provided for review, but all opinions are my own.]