Cavalia

Cirque de Soleil meets

The Buffalo Bill Wild West Show

On Thursday night I bit the big bullet and accompanied Laurie and our friend Debi Murphy to Burbank for the Cavalia horse/acrobatic extravaganza!

This show is the brainchild of one Normand Latourelle from Quebec, Canada and has been touring to sold out audiences in North America and Europe since 2003.

For some deep, inner core, genetic and long forgotten in antiquity reason, women love horses . . . men, not so much.

Regardless of this psychological disparity, we drove an hour south to see what really did turn out to be a spectacular event.

Tony's Bella Vista Restaurant

We opted to leave Camarillo about four hours before the start of the performance in order to give ourselves some extra time in case of typical SoCal freeway issues and to have time for a leisurely meal.

The traffic was relatively light and we arrived at Tony's Bella Vista, an excellent Italian restaurant in Burbank, in just over an hour. A Birra Moretti La Rosa hit the spot as well as some excellent "Lasagna ala Roma."

We took our time and had a delightful meal while enjoying a couple of hours witty repartee.

Finally, it as time to go to the. . .

. . . Big Top

This is just part of the Tent City that houses the Cavalia show and all of their equipment. There were nine tents and the main one where the show is housed is the equivalent of a ten-story building.

It was really quite impressive indeed.

Laurie and Debi

A little wine before the show and they were ready for Cavalia.

Well, almost . . .

Cavalia Souvenirs

The first red flag was an easy one to spot, no prices were posted. This could get ugly fast!

Fortunately, the ladies only purchased two programs and one T-shirt between them. The stuffed horse you see here would have been a steal at only $78!

Poste Hongroise

That's French for WOW! The Roman Rider you see here would eventually add another team of two horses for her final jump.

There were a total of 49 horses (19 stallions and 30 geldings, no mares allowed) representing 11 different breeds. (What's a "warmblood?") The horses ranged from 19 years of age to eight months, to further melt hearts.

There are 37 artists, acrobats, dancers and riders in the show plus six incredible musicians and a singer. Had there been one, I would have purchased a CD of the Cavalia music in a heartbeat.

The show was made up of two fast moving, one hour halves, plus a thirty minute intermission.

As I alluded, I had a good time while the ladies had a fabulous time. If Cavalia comes to a town near you, it is definitely worth the investment.