Alegría - Come un assalto di gioia

I was given the opportunity to go and watch a performance of Alegria, by Cirque du Soleil. I was sceptical in the beginning. I didn't know what to expect. I watched a couple of clips online before going. I also had the soundtrack of Alegria. My belief was that it will be a bunch of acrobats doing some not so impressive tricks.

It was 19.30 in Royal Albert Hall. Being my first time in Royal Albert hall I must say I was impressed. Not so much by the hall itself, but from the set for Alegria. They did a great job with everything. The lights, the colours, the forms. Although the play is called alegria, which could be translated to joy in English, the whole set was giving me the impression of something sad. I could feel sadness from everything. The lights were warm but with low intensity. Some torches were attached around the circle. They gave a nice light to the hall, and the shadows created by them on the ceiling were marvellous. The colours of the set were mostly colours of the autumn and the winter - brown, gray, dark green.

Before the show started, some of the citizens of this magical dreamworld were already on the stage, trying to entertain us with their jokes and to help us enter this dream. The lights go down. The musicians come inside the hall. The silence of the hall is filled with the beautiful sound of the drums and the accordion. The applause sounds like a wave that comes to take us in this dream. The dream starts...

The Nymphs and the Angels come on the stage. They are followed by the singer. She wears white. She sings "Vai vedrai" - go and look how life is. She is followed by the Fleur, who seems to be in charge of this world, or at least this is what he believes. At the background, while the singer in white sings, we see another singer. She wears black. She wanders around in the set. Like she is a part of this life, but not such a big part. She is always there, but she cannot take over. The singer in white dominates this world. Her voice is steady and breathtaking. She sings a sad song, but promises that joy will come soon. The singer in black makes some vocals, they feel like sadness. Sadness is always there, but hope/love/joy dominates our life. Sadness feels like it lasts forever, but it is only a small part of our life, to remind us and help us appraise the joy that life brings.

The story of two lovers starts. The singer in white sings how beautiful feels wanting and loving each other. How love makes us ignore facts of life and the elements of nature, and fight against them. The lovers, two aerialists, dance in the rhythm of this tango love song, in complete contempt of danger, wanting each other "between sky and sea, without gravity force, feeling the freedom", as the voice sings. A real tribute to love, and how it makes the world go round.

Sank in this dream, I lost track of space and time. The story of life flies in front of me. A celebration of life, love, youth, but also a reminder about the things that want to capture us and put us in an endless hibernation, in sadness and pain. In a world of darkness, we should be guided by the light, to bring ourselves to the joy of life. Even when we are in pain, life goes on.

Alegria, the theme song of the soundtrack is sang. All the artists are on scene. The audience applause warmly. The show ends.

Was it a dream? Was it something that I only felt? I felt hope in my sadness. I felt that life hasn't stopped. It goes on. I felt like I want to fly. I think I did so. Or was it just a dream? I often dream that I fly...