Grant Butler, The Oregonian
The horse-themed circus Cavaliabegins in a hush, with an ethereal female voice piercing the darkened big-top tent, creating a sense of mystery. Then a pair of horses gallop across the 160-foot stage, and a ripple of electricity runs through the awe-struck audience.
It’s just the start of the magical thrills of this 2 1/2-hour spectacle, which opened Wednesday in the Pearl District and continues there at least through early December, with further extensions a strong possibility. Cavalia uses complex staging and plenty of technical wizardry to tell the story of humanity’s interaction with horses. But even if it didn’t have all the razzle-dazzle, the show would captivate because the horses are so magnificent.
Cavalia’s massive scale is truly impressive. The show features 45 horses representing 10 breeds. The horses are all male, and 18 of them are high-spirited stallions — known for their temperamental nature, as well as their love of showing off. There also are 41 riders and circus performers, many from far-flung locales like Morocco, Kyrgyzstan and Russia. The whole venture occupies several blocks’ worth of space, with nine tents housing everything from stables and a cafeteria to souvenir stands, including the 110-feet-high performance tent, which is the largest of its kind in the world.
But Cavalia adds up to more than its big numbers. The show uses a loose narrative structure to explore the bond between man and horse, spanning from prehistoric times when horses feared nomadic tribes as possible predators, to the dawning of a friendship between the two species. That first connection was forever immortalized in the Neolithic cave paintings of France, which are used along with other images as projected backdrops for the action, moving the story into the Roman era and Middle Ages, showing how horse riding evolved over the centuries from dangerous bareback stunts to complicated dressage.
Woven into the riding sequences are acrobatic circus acts featuring trampolines, bungee cords and bounce boards that are rooted in the avant-garde circus worlds of Quebec and Eastern Europe. And when the riding and acrobatics intersect, Cavalia becomes truly mesmerizing. In one act, a lanky acrobat stands on the back of a fast-moving Percheron draft horse, attempting hand-springs and back-flips that seem physically impossible. In another, a performer balancing on top of a massive ball encounters a lone horse, creating comic tension when a dangling carrot may upend things in a snack attack. And an adrenalin-pumping act has three riders straddling multiple horses as they race around the stage, like something out of the movie “Ben-Hur.”
Cavalia
When: Continues various times through Dec. 4, with further extensions of the run possible
Where: White big top in the Pearl District, Northwest 12th Avenue and Quimby Street
Tickets: $34.50-$99.50 (adult VIP packages for $129.50-$189.50), with additional discounts for children and seniors at select performances; 866-999-8111 oronline.
Quieter moments are also compelling, like a carousel routine featuring a half-dozen Spanish purebreds with flowing manes and pristine white tails that are so long they nearly hit the floor. Finally, there’s an emotionally uplifting act where two aerial dancers float above the horses and riders like angels, suggesting a spiritual quality to this connection.
As with any live show featuring animals, some people may have concerns about how Cavalia’s horses are treated. A peek behind the scenes indicates they are well cared for. The stables span more than 16,500 square feet, and each horse has a stall measuring from 12- to 14-feet square, depending on the animal’s size. The horses also have a large, tent-covered paddock where they can run and warm up, and they are fed hay, grain and carrots four times a day, which is more often than at most boarding stables.
There’s further reassurance in what you see happening during the show. Experienced riders will tell you that there are certain things horses will only do out of love, not fear. While projecting human emotions onto animals may be presumptuous, there’s plenty of evidence of love going from the riders to the horses and they complete difficult tricks and moves, projecting a sense of trust.
And that only reinforces the show’s overall theme. The historic bond between humans and horses is undeniable. And seen through the prism of Cavalia, it’s undeniably beautiful.
