Wintuk

Courtesy of Wintuk

Wintuk, a Cirque du Soleil production, is about a boy, Jamie, who was in a quest to find out why snow has not fallen in his city. He would be joined by Shadow Girl, a young girl who first appears a shadow; Shaman, a woman of great powers; Wimpy, a man who is scared of everything including his shadow. Together, they set out on a journey that brings them to Wintuk to find out why snow has not fallen on his city.

This is the second Cirque du Soleil production that I have seen (KA was the first) and I would say that the Cirque never disappoint. And if you have seen a Cirque production, you surely know that acrobatic acts and mind-boggling stunts are part of the show. The show started off with skateboarders, inline skaters and bike riders doing acrobatic twist and turns.

One of the acrobatic acts that I really like was the equilibruist who had to balance himself on a village clothesline in a quest to retrieve his pants back. It sure kept everyone on the edge of their seats as he perform a series of moves and turns that made you think he wouldn't be able to stay on the rope but he did. Another one that I like was the hoops act where the artist performed by combining contortion and hula-hoops moves that would make you think "how did she do that?"

Courtesy of Wintuk 

One of the funny acts was when the two thieves use Swiss balls (yep, those exercise balls) to bounce around with or against each other while pretending to do a classical interpretative dance.

The one that really caught my attention and made me really wonder was the rag doll act. During this act, the businessman and the thief fight over a life-size doll twisting and bending it to like impossible positions. And at the end, to everyone's amazement, the life-size doll was a real person.

Courtesy of Wintuk

The other acts were amazing as well. The juggling act started with four balls and ended up with eight (i think, i lost count). The Cyr wheel act where the artist spin and roll across the stage inside metallic ring should make anyone dizzy if you are doing the act. Then there was the Rola Bola to which the acrobat performs a balancing act using pipes, panels, globes and boards as they try to fix a broken light post. Wow, the last trick he did was just out of this world. And lastly was the Russian bars but with a twist, the bars where supported by the performers as the three acrobat/gymnast maneuver their twist and turns between three bars.

Courtesy of Wintuk

The animatronics was superb - where else can you see four singing light post complete with facial expressions. And the puppetry and costumes were amazing, the dancing dogs, the giant size swan-like birds and the ice monsters clearly capture all our imagination.

The music was live - yup, the band was separated with the strings on the left side of the theater while percussion was on the right. The melody and the tune selections worked really well with the stunts as well as the storyline. The right music always add that 'ump' in any story.

And the finale was just phenomenal. I wont say it here so as not to ruin it for those who are planning to see it but I would give you a clue - it would involve the entire theater.

Wintuk is on its final season this year so this is the last year to catch it before its gone - forever.

Wintuk website

PS. This is part of my Bucket List - watch all Cirque du Soleil production in the US - 2 down (KA and Wintuk), many more to go..