Shaolin Warriors, Blaisdell Concert Hall

I just got back from the opening night of the Shaolin Warriors performance at the Blaisdell Concert Hall. The show started at 7:30 p.m. and ran till about 9:30 p.m. There was a 15 minute intermission at about the halfway point.

Overall, I thought the show as interesting but not terribly original. If you've seen a kung fu-like performance by Chinese acrobats before, it'll probably be okay if you skip this show. While there were moments that were extremely jaw-dropping, those moments were few and far between. There was a lot of focus on the technical elements and not enough tricks.

I realize that the form and function of their martial art is a very important aspect of learning the artform. However, as a layperson, I found it to be quite boring. Give me the showmanship and the "wow" factor. It could just be that I'm from the YouTube generation, but I found myself thinking that I could be at home and have watched this entire performance condensed to a nine minute video and be perfectly happy. All the good stuff would've been captured in a video clip and the acrobatics would've been just as good . . . or maybe even better. Oh well, it was a good experience anyway.

Shadow Puppets Gone Wild

Just a quickie to tide you over. I've been sick as a dog these past few days and am just starting to feel like I'm recovering. Had to go back to work today because I could just feel it all piling up. Sad huh? Anyway, here's some cool shadow puppetry by a group called Pilobolus on the Conan Show. Is this modern dance, acrobatics or street art?

My Jungle Fantasy

Tonight my family and I went to see Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy at the Blaisdell Center Concert Hall. We had great tickets (second row balcony) for only $50. (It'd be double that in Vegas.) It was pretty fun and interesting for the little kids - very colorful, lots of moving parts and super artistic. The jungle theme was very cute, and I especially liked the emus and frogs. While the performance was still abstract like a lot of the cirque-type shows, this one was a lot more understandable and recognizable and I'm thankful.

On the flip side though, I was a little disappointed in the acrobatics and circus tricks. I'd seen many of the tricks before in some fashion or other . . . for FREE! For instance, one acrobat used metal objects of various shapes and juggled/spun them. You can catch something similiar at the Rio in Vegas.

Another similar act was the strong man duo. You know, one big buff dude and one smaller buff dude do amazing balancing and strength acts on each other. It's a thin line between strength and being, dare I say it, sort of a sissy. I mean, how can these buff dudes be expected to prance around to the music? They're just not graceful like the bendy acrobats and dancers. But, these guys did, toe pointing, wrist flicking and all.

Even the guy in the adult-sized hamster wheel is a trick that's been done before. Still, the artistry and talent of the performers can't be denied. If you enjoy ooohing and aaahing over circus acts, you'll definitely have a great time. Personally though, I prefer "La Reve," which is at The Wynn in Vegas.

Here's a sneak peek of Cirque Dreams Jungle Fantasy, courtesy of Cirque Dreams on YouTube.


Here's a snippet of the La Reve show, courtesy of TfZh on YouTube.