Precious Moments, People Moments: Fountain Watchers

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“If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.”
~Booker T. Washington

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When I exited the Bellagio into the hot darkness of a Vegas August night, I knew exactly where I wanted to go.  I had only one day in Vegas, and so  I had spent the afternoon at Circus Circus, dinner at a buffet, and the evening at Cirque du Soleil’s “O”.  The day wasn't done yet though—a fountain show was about to begin.

I'm not the only one who thinks the Bellagio fountains are one of the best things in town.  By the time I arrived at the water's edge, crowds had already lined the lake. As the water began to dance with the music, there was not a spot to be had with an unobstructed view, not even a decent partial view.

Then I noticed, just back of the crowds, a fence protecting a tree trunk. Experience has taught me that barriers are often the best props and playgrounds, so it didn't take me long to see this fence's potential.

Even better, everyone was in front of the view-obstructing tree trunk, intently watching the water, so I wouldn't block anyone's view if I improved my own.  Sold.

Up I went.

With my feet on a railing, my shoulder firmly against the solid trunk, I happily enjoyed my improved view as streams of liquid light surged to the music.

A minute or two into the show, the crowds were even denser, filling in more and more the space in front of my tree. As I glanced down at late arrivals searching for space, I noticed a braided head bobbing up and down—a little girl's frustrated attempts to see beyond the wall of bodies, heads, and mobile screens.  I could sympathize with someone far shorter than me desperately wanting to see the fountains. I crouched down carefully on my perch and tapped her shoulder, catching the mother's attention as well.  “Up here,” I said as I patted the railing by way of explanation and invitation. The girl gave me her hand, and in a moment was up in front of me. I moved farther around the back of the tree to make room for a younger sister to be boosted up as well. On my other side, an older brother (proudly) scrambled up on his own.

I had been happy with my vantage point, even a little pleased with the slight ingenuity and agility required to obtain it. As the show continued, I was even more glad about the little crowd that circled the tree in front of me. Six more feet had found sure footing above the ground, while three heads rose above the crowds to see something beautiful.

The music crescendoed then faded, jets of water sank down to mere eddies under the smooth surface of the water. The parents lifted down their children, ready to move on down to the next attraction on the Strip. Then, to my surprise, a hand reached up to help me down last of all—a father's simple thanks to a stranger.

With a few friendly words, we went our separate ways, but a tree, a fence, and a momentary friendship were for me souvenir memories as much as the bright city lights and fountain show.

Oooh, Ahhh, “O”

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Water flows,
Fire glows,
Wind blows,
And Spirit knows.
~unknown

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Water, air, fire—the essence of “O” is elemental.

Housed in a custom-built theater to accommodate the complex rigging for immense aerial props above and a giant circular swimming pool in the stage below, “O” never goes on tour.  And since this most popular Cirque du Soleil shows never goes on tour, I traveled the 500 miles to it.

I had fallen in love with the snippets of "O" I had seen on Worlds Away.  When I found myself with an airfare voucher that was expiring, on impulse, I decided to give myself a solo weekend doing circus in Vegas. Actually, I had booked my ticket not even really knowing just how popular the show was.  I didn't want to spoil it even by looking at the show information online beforehand. Almost as soon as I landed in Las Vegas, I had confirmation that my last-minute impulse trip was going to be worth it.

In the airport, around the airport, on the strip—"O" was advertised everywhere.

The Theater

The theater captured my heart even before the curtains opened and performers entered, first with the entrance gallery and it's "O" inspired sculptures:

Next with the classic theater—large enough to be impressive, but intimate enough that, as far as I could tell, there were no bad seats in the house.  After being on my feet for most of the afternoon at Circus Circus (standing was the way to get as close to the performance as possible), I was happy to melt into my red plush seat.

Source: jenchau on Flickr. O Show Theatre in Bellagio

As I slouched lower in my seat, I glanced up...and became enamored with the theater ceiling.  Actually, I decided that the soothing translucent blue and green fabric waves overhead were as intriguing as the pre-show clowns, especially since they gave glimpses into the rafters and rigging above.

Source: DaveC_1973 on Trip Advisor Event Review: Simply Sensational

After some pre-show fun, the curtains opened.

 "Opening" seems like an inadequate description: the red curtains that had been hiding the stage were released from the top, but as they began fluttering down, suddenly they were sucked away as if a black hole lurked in the rafters behind the stage.

Revealing...an empty stage.

I should say, rather, a stage bare of performers.  A red circle lay in the middle of the empty stage like a blood moon.  There was one more bit of magic to start the show: while the first red curtains were whisked away, the matching red on the floor parted like a standard curtain would.  Looking down at a curtain "rising" horizontally, I was half tempted to stand up in my seat and lean over to try to turn the world right side up...or perhaps to fall into the liquid moon that was revealed.  That liquid moon opened the show, and the primary element of "O"  took the spotlight: water.

Water 

The name for the show, "O", is a play on the French word for water, "eau", and water plays a major part throughout the show, even when other elements are showcased. It is hard to put into words just how cool the ambigious wet world of the "O" stage is.

Source: Murillo Ferrarez on LinkedIn "Ir ao circo me custou 532 reais….."

Yes, there's water there...but it isn't always an open circular pool of water like what was revealed when the curtains first parted. The stage can go completely dry, or be a half circle of water, a crescent, or a donut with an island in the center.  The amphibious stage pieces come up out of the water and sink back down in—all the way, or only part way so performers stand in ankle-deep or calf-deep water, or at angles to create ramps.

What is even more incredible than the stage changing, is that it is constantly changing throughout the performance.  The curtains don't come down for a set change in between acts and rise again to reveal a new configuration, the changes happen while acts are underway, and happen often.  There is a truly dynamic flow to "O".

Source: It's Las Vegas Time, "O" Cirque du Soleil Las Vegas

With the stage shifting constantly, synchronized swimmers in the water, dancers on dry (or semi-dry) stage, and aerialists in the air, there is a lot to watch in "O". With so much going on, there is a definite "blink and you'll miss it" quality to the show.  This is compounded by the fact that the pool actually has underwater snuba breathing apparatuses and exits out of view of the audience.  When any of the Olympic caliber synchronized swimmers (and many are in fact medal-winning Olympians) slip under the surface, they may or may not be coming back up.

And it isn't just the synchronized swimmers who may disappear.  When the giant flying carousel horses came down out of the ceiling with riders on them, I was mesmerized; when they dipped down to skim the water, I was enchanted.

Source: stage-door.com, Review of "O"

But, worried that I might be missing something else on the stage, I looked away from the floating horsemen...and when I looked back they were gone!  Just gone.  Vanished.  To this day I feel slightly bereft over missing the moment when they disappeared.  I don't know if they floated out of view to the sides or if those giant horses and their riders actually disappeared underwater.  I'll just have to go back and see "O" again someday to find out what I missed in that particular moment.

Air

The act I had been most excited to see was Bateau, the Air Boat aerial act.  Privately, I had been calling it the "Ghost Ship" act—and if ever the cursed pirates of the Carribean were impressed into service under a big top, I am quite sure that the full moon would create something like Bateau.

The skeletal frame boat is cool enough on its own to dance and act and play on as it rocks in midair, but it is made even cooler by supporting elements of both trapeze and parallel bars.  Actually, it made me feel sorry for gymnasts—regular parallel bar gymnasts never get to mount by jumping off a platform, catching someone's hands, being swung over water, and then being thrown up between the bars and catching them on their way back down.  It's worth a quick watch:

Fire

Fire isn't my element, but it wouldn't be fair to skip it.  The fire displays were pretty spectacular.  The fire dance was cool, and I loved the lingering rings of fire that managed to flicker on the stage floor even without fuel.  Even more though, I loved the fire clown—who casually read a newspaper while the other performer spun and swirled...and continued reading casually even as he was burning up himself.  Fire is an element of energy, of insatiable hunger, destruction, light, and movement...which is totally at odds with unmoving, contemplative perusal of the news.

Elements Combine

Even better than single elementals, "O" combines them.  If I had to choose any Cirque du Soleil show to work at, it would definitely be as an aerialist in "O" hands down. In part that's because I'm a wimp and like the idea of any mistake landing me in a pool rather than onto a hard stage floor.  Even more though, it's because I love the combination of water and air.  Appropriately, my one sport in high school was springboard diving—chlorinated aerial acrobatics with a wet landing.

The diving in "O" was another one of the welcome and unexpected little surprises that my trip to Vegas gifted me with.  In retrospect, it seems obvious that with a pool, swimmers, and acrobatics, that there would be diving. It's also clearly listed on the website that I hadn't look at.  Luckily I enjoyed my discovery "duh" moment too much to feel silly.

The actual high diving was a lot of fun—performed at a height double that of Olympic platform diving—but even more than the traditional diving, I loved the Russian swing diving.  Single Russian swing into a net or mat with spotters is impressive, double Russian swing to me looks a little scary precise (being launched off one platform and having to land on another Russian swing platform.  To a former diver, a water landing with a Russian swing launch just looks downright fun.

Source: Cirque du Soleil Auditions and Jobs for Divers

The "O" acrobat divers got to do all sorts of things that my coaches never encouraged.  They strike funny and awkward poses in the air instead of sticking to pretty, precise tucks and pikes.  Even more impressive, they stop their rotation at a full horizontal, plummeting spread eagle toward the unforgiving water surface.  Having landed horizontal, I know how much it can hurt, so when I saw the divers headed toward a full body water slap, I cringed--but I kept my eyes open.  I was glad I had when I saw the acrobats, at the last second, pike so that their hands and feet hit at the same time.  My coaches taught me feet first entries and head first entries, but not head and feet first entry. It's a little awkward looking, but it definitely made my list of things I would like to learn if I ever take up diving again.

Source: Jolly Diver, Diving Jobs at Cirque du Soleil

The sounds of "O" whisper farewell

Early the next morning after the "O" performance, I was back in the airport on my way home.  As I waited in a winding security queue, elevator music was playing from somewhere.  I wasn't quite awake, and I didn't pay much attention.  Then my heart started to ache in my chest, and I came to attention.  Looking around I spotted the source of the sound: monitors far across the concourse--monitors that were showing clips of "O" and playing the song Remous from the Bateau act.  A few seconds later a new advertisement came on, and the strains of "O" faded away, and my heart came back to me. It was a good way to say goodbye.

A Day at the Circus

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“The finest of pleasures are always the unexpected ones.”
~ Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

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When Delta’s servers crashed in August of last year, my flight was among the hundreds caught in the chaos and aftermath. Thanks to the training of a travel-savvy mother, plus the help of a wonderful (if slightly frazzled) Delta support agent, I managed to find a spot on a flight later that same day instead of having to wait two full days.  The catch was that it was a red-eye flight into Hartford, Connecticut instead of an afternoon flight to Albany, New York.  That was very preferable to having my visit to friends cut by two days, so I agreed to the itinerary and got myself a one-way, car rental—to drive myself a hundred miles to pick up my original rental car.  My original rental company gave me a prorated discount, which covered most of the one-way rental fee.  I missed a night in my friends’ guest room and breakfast in the morning, but I made it in time for lunch. We had plenty of time to hang out and catch up and still enough time at the end of my stay for me to play circus tourist. Really, I was one of the least inconvenienced person traveling Delta that week.  Things turned out alright.

At the time, of course, I had no idea that things wouldn't just work out ok, but that the mishap would gift me, more than a year later, a circus day that also had the tendency to turn out better than expected.  That story, that sequel, is what I want to share over my next few posts.

For my pain and suffering (which, admittedly, hadn't been that great), Delta gave me a voucher to defray the cost of future travel. I filed it away, and actually almost forgot about it. You can imagine my dismay when I wandered into my travel email folder and realized that my voucher would expire in less than a month. Expiring before any of the trips I had tentatively planned and also before the ultra-busy season at work was done.

In spite of the bad timing (which was, admittedly, completely my own fault), letting that much free money go to waste was unacceptable. On a whim, I booked a last-minute, one-day weekend trip to Vegas—my first ever overnight airline trip.

It was a trip I'd been considering for a while, ever since watching the film Worlds Away and seeing clips of the Cirque du Soleil’s “O” which is located in Vegas. I had been checking the list of performers at Circus Circus off and on, hoping for a wire walker—slack or tight—to round out the trip, but with an airline voucher fast expiring, I decided that it was better to go when the price was right than to wait for a performance roster that was absolutely ideal. The voucher very nearly covered the airfare, and I had a hotel certificate as well, so my only expenses would be my ticket to “O” and a Vegas buffet.

A short, uneventful flight (nap), a shuttle to my hotel, and an Uber to the Strip landed me at the doors of Circus Circus, tired but happy to have a whole afternoon of traditional circus acts as appetizers before the evening performance.

By the time I had taken my selfies at the entrance, made my way through the casino and up the circular ramp up to the second floor circus level, a show was about to start.  I was just in time to snag a standing spot to the side of the small open stage area that sits in the middle of the circus midway.

Iranian hand balancer, Hossein (Yosein-Chee) was the first act I saw, wowing with strength and precarious inversions (and the fabulous physique of an acrobat).

Even though hand balancing isn't one of the circus arts I've dabbled in (yet?) and I suspect even if (when?) I do, I will still prefer balancing on my feet, I loved the chance to see a professional acrobatics performance up close.  Hossein was a consummate showman.

When the act ended and the crowd dispersed into the Midway's carnival attractions, I wasn't certain what came next or even when.

A stage hand set an A-frame on the stage.

Next Show 1:15. Slack Wire.

I squinted across the darkened stage, not quite believing my luck.  For months I had looked and waited for a funambulist to come to Circus Circus. I had given up and come just because an airline voucher was expiring. I had glanced wishfully at the online roster of performers before leaving home—still no wire walker.  A piece of paper taped to a music stand by the miniature orchestra pit confirmed the billboard: Big Bear Lan of the imperial Chinese acrobats would be performing on slack wire in fifteen minutes.

The tiered seats were empty, so I sat down in a front row seat, thinking that I would settle in and save myself a good spot.  I got up again almost immediately—there was no way I was sitting still on a hard bench so very far away (twenty feet) when I could lean my elbows against the half wall right at the back of the small stage—no backstage pass necessary to watch the stage crew in between performances or the performers warming up.  That suited me perfectly.

A stagehand saw my odd plop-down-spring-up routine and asked if everything was alright. It was better than alright, but I had a hard time explaining just how fascinating it was to watch her and the other stagehand put used props in a plastic laundry bin and lay out the slack wire rigging on the stage floor. I was similarly tongue tied a little while later when I was taking pictures of the rigging—poles, joints, lock pins, snap links, anchor bolts, and wires—and a security guard wandered over and very kindly informed me that it would be more impressive when it was set up. They quickly got used to me being a fixture in between acts, and I had fun seeing a little bit behind the scenes—and I have some good ideas for designing collapsible slack wire A-frames now should the need arise.

The security guard was right though, the rigging was far more impressive after Big Bear Lan came out and finished setting up.  My slackrope is generally only rigged as high up on a tree as I can reach and tensioned so that the rope is only a few inches off the ground at the center.  The height of the professional rig both at center and at the anchor points was impressive.

What surprised me most though was how much more intimidating the simple frame made it seem.  There was a lot more nothingness to contend with than with a rope wrapped around a solid tree trunk.

Once Lan mounted the wire, my attention and emotions were divided—between a simple spectator's awe and enjoyment, and a technician's desire to understand how to do it myself. Which of the two thought processes predominated depended primarily on whether Lan was on his feet or upside down. While he was on his feet, my thoughts were, "hey, I can kind of do that!" or "ooh, I want to learn how to do that!"

His act had a lot of hand-balancing though, and for as long as he was upside down, I had no point of reference in my own training, so all I could think was, "wow."  His inversion tricks definitely deserved a wow.

While the ladder was probably my favorite, the other most impressive section of his act was when he went from headstand (which I hadn't ever considered possible) to a handstand...and then a one arm handstand!  Apologies in advance for the camera shake—I was watching the performance more than video equipment—but even my very bad videography skills can't negate how impressive that flow of tricks was:



After the slack wire performance, there were clowning, aerial straps, and trapeze acts.   I enjoyed them all, and I loved the chance to see professional performances up close.  I was always careful to stake out a seat or standing spot absolutely closest to the action.  I stuck around long enough to see all of the acts twice (especially my special gift slack wire performance), and then it was time to move on to my next circus destination: the Bellagio hotel and casino.  "O" had more pleasant surprises for me, but that's a story for another day.