As mentioned previously, we were allowed to take our seats at 7:45 pm. We got settled and at 8 pm they said that Avaia would start in 5 minutes.
Avaia starts off with some clowns. I’m not really sure what they were doing. They were seen often throughout the performance. At some points I understand that they were a diversion while equipment was being changed. But there were other spots where they didn’t really need to be there. They weren’t all bad, though. There was one part where the clown was crying, and he cried and some water came squirting out of his eyes (more specifically some tube around his eyes) and we got sprayed. It caught us off guard and everyone laughed.
Everyone I know who has seen Avaia says the same thing… too much of the clowns. Don’t worry though. The clowns certainly don’t ruin the show. It is still amazing. There just could have been a little less of the clowns.
About 10 minutes in you see horses for the first time. They come out several times for a slow lap or two, but that’s about it. It teases you for what is to come.
One of the first parts of Avaia is a great performance by 5 acrobats. They stand on each other and balance in all sorts of crazy ways. For instance, at one point there were 2 men doing handstands. Another man stood on their heads, and yet another man balanced on the head of the man who was standing on the heads of the men doing the handstands. Phew and wow!
One of my favourite parts was some amazing tumbling that was done on a trampoline that was the length of the entire ring. Men would bounce, cartwheel, and flip high, long, and fast. It was remarkable.
There was a group of 4 female contortionists who could bend in ways that just weren’t natural. One girl bent backwards in half. She then ended up crawling under her own legs! Ow!
The only slip-up of the entire evening was a woman who was juggling rings. Even then, it wasn’t a big deal. She started out by juggling 6 rings, and then 7. Everything was going fine until she tried the 8th ring. She dropped a couple and tried again. She had all of them going for a few seconds, but then finished up. I’m sure she was frustrated.
There was a scene where a man swung around the ring holding onto a strap or two. He twirled and flipped and literally “hung” around. There was one point where he ended up looking like he was crucified. That may be something that would offend people.
There was a brief scene were a beautiful grey horse came out and a couple of men did some tricks. It was neat, but again, it was more of a tease of things to come.
The last part of the first act was some contortionists/acrobats who performed atop poles. Three men stood with 30-foot poles balanced on their heads or shoulders. A woman climbed up each pole and swung in a couple of different positions. They moved quick and smooth and it was all quite impressive.
The first act was exactly 1 hour.
The one thing that stood out to me more than anything was the unbelievable trust the performers have for one another. There are some points where a performer’s life is literally in the hands of another performer. Yet they all performed virtually perfectly. Amazing!
Read more of our series on Avaia:
- Cirque Niagara Avaia – Background
- Cirque Niagara Avaia – Act 1
- Cirque Niagara Avaia – Intermission
- Cirque Niagara Avaia – Act 2
- Cirque Niagara Avaia – Observations
You can see some nice pictures of the tents/grounds, as well as a few pictures from inside in the Cirque Niagara Avaia section of the Niagara Falls Image Gallery.
You can also learn more about Cirque Niagara, Avaia, the creators, and the performers on the official Cirque Niagara web site.