Cirque du Soleil KOOZA – Portland, OR | Denise's Dish on Travel, Eats & Events

Cirque du Soleil KOOZA – Portland, OR

June 13, 2010

From the moment I spotted the huge blue and yellow big top near the Portland waterfront, I felt like a kid again. I oooooed, awwwed, and talked about it for weeks until one evening Keenan came home with tickets for Cirque du Soleil KOOZA….guess he picked up on my “subtle” hints!

Truth be told, Keenan was just as intrigued by the big top (or Grand Chapiteau) as I was. Last August we went to our first Cirque du Soleil show, Beatles Love, in Las Vegas and were blown away by the whole production (see my prior post about Beatles Love). After our amazing experience, we both couldn’t wait to see another Cirque show.

Our seats for KOOZA were located in the two hundred level which usually means a mediocre view but when the usher lead us to our seats we were pleasantly surprised to be seated less than a dozen rows from the stage. After taking a closer look at the 2500 seat Grand Chapiteau, the horse shoe shaped seating area didn’t seem to have a bad seat in the house although I must say that the one hundred level may be a little close for my taste. I would recommend trying to find a seat in the lower part of the two hundred level based upon our experience.

So you’re probably wondering what this show is all about? KOOZA tells the tale of an innocent lost soul trying to find his place in the world and it is said to “combine two circus traditions – acrobatic performance and the art of clowning.” The clowns were an integral part of the show with their hilarious antics and involvement of the crowd but the acrobats were hands down the best part of the show. The contortionists were utterly amazing and the acrobats on the wheel of death made my heart skip a beat. What an exhilarating performance! If you’d like to see a preview of the show, visit this site for the trailer.

We really enjoyed the show and left the big top with smiles on our faces. If I had to take a more critical look at the show I would say that the underlying storyline was a little confusing and the overall performance just couldn’t compare to Beatles Love. That being said, I would still recommend either show to anyone who gets a chance to go. I cannot wait to see another Cirque show so if anyone has a good recommendation, please let me know!