A grand day out

Last Saturday we had a "family day out" a phrase that can strike fear to the heart, but in this instance was really rather good. Silent One had bought his mother, sister and b-in-law, as well as our tribe, tickets for Quidam - the Cirque de Soleil show that is currently in the UK - at the Sheffield Arena. Sadly, girlchild was off in London finalising details for her tattoo ( I know, it is her choice, yadaa yadaa, but I can't help feeling a bit sick about it all even though she has promised it isn't going to be anything too ghastly - not sure I could make that distinction ! ) so we had a spare ticket that I forced upon my oldest friend.

The show was amazing - I loathe contrived fun, circuses and all such jolly things and yet every Cirque show that I have been to has reduced me to tears. The whole spectacle is wonderful, but there are also tiny incidental moments that stay with you for a very long time afterwards. The imagery that is simple enough to see without being clunky, the choreography that intensifies the sense of a story, the lighting that lets you see but still enhances a sense of mystery. The problem is the acts themselves would be done no service by trying to describe them and the small intimacies are just that, everyone would see them in a different way.

I have been to 3 of the shows, Saltimbanco, which has an Italianate theme, I saw in Amsterdam with no idea what I was going to and was utterly swept away - a sense of joy is the only way to describe it.

I went to the Royal Albert Hall last year to see Varekai which is based on the idea of a man searching through a forest for who he is, just as the inhabitants of the forest try to work out why he is there. It was mysterious, haunting and beautifully designed.

Then, Quidam, which seemed to be based on loss, being lost and the fear of separation from what you understand. Again, I was reduced to tears, and this time by skipping - no, there was no bullying in the playground - the sheer simplicity of it was astounding. My only disappointment is that is impossible for me to describe any of this effectively.

As that is the case the only thing to do is go yourselves, watch the faces of the audience as well as the performance. It is something you will never forget.

Normal service, ie.flippancy and random stream of consciousness, will be resumed as soon as possible