My days of backbends, flips and cartwheels are long behind me, although my juggling skills are much improved after the holiday season: I can handle a glass of pinot grigio and a heaving mound of cheese dip while maneuvering to the beef tenderloin at the end of the table. But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate a good contortionist now and then. Or a guy on a unicycle throwing a woman around like she was as light as a scarf. Or two guys racing around twirling double wheels like particularly adept and death-defying muscle-bound hamsters.
These are just a few of the acts you’ll see in the amazing show from Cirque du Soleil now in Atlanta – KOOZA. Just when you think you’ve seen the limits of what a human body can do, you’ll see those limits surpassed at any Cirque show. At KOOZA, one of the three contortionists actually has her legs walk in a circle around her head. I know! She obviously never has to wonder if her butt looks big in her jeans because:
1. Her butt is about as big as a bag of peanuts
2. She can look at it herself without even needing a mirror
Although many of the acts had me a bit tense, seeing as they were defying gravity, logic and the law of physics and all, the one that had me most on edge was the high wire act, when one guy balanced on a chair. On a pole. Balanced between two guys on bicycles. I gave up breathing until they were safely back on ground.
I don’t know how these talented people ever came to such a career and how they woke up one morning thinking it was a good idea to flirt with death for a job. All I know is that I’m glad they did. It makes for one entertaining show.
KOOZA is in Atlanta through March 1, before moving to Baltimore, New York, Minneapolis/St. Paul, Denver, Los Angeles and Orange County, California.
Girl on the Go tip: Ignore the guys directing you to the parking lot at Atlantic Station. If you follow them you’ll end up paying $10. We found our own spot and paid just $3.
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