The touring extravaganza “Cavalia” is a gorgeous multimedia spectacle, short on story but long on feats of acrobatic wonder and galloping, nuzzling, dancing horses.
This synchronized swim of the equine world, the Rockettes of the horse set, combines the styles of a couple of familiar eye-popping programs — Cirque du Soleil and the National Western Stock Show’s dancing horses — into something new.
Billed as “a magical encounter between horse and man,” the show walks a tightrope between parading highly trained animals for our enjoyment and quietly reveling in the bond between horse and human. Depending on how you feel about horses as opposed to gymnasts, you may wish the focus was less circus and more equine bonding; less stunt riding, more horse whispering.
The production — from Normand Latourelle, co-founder of Canada’s Cirque — boasts 50 gorgeous horses of a dozen breeds, 60 artists and a changing background of digitally projected images on a 200-foot-wide screen.
At the top of the show, a video shows the birth of a colt, who then struggles valiantly to stand. Two rescued colts from Colorado meander the stage/field. Horses take the stage free of humans, then two-leggeds and four- leggeds gracefully run together.
With musicians and a vocalist providing Enya-like New Age rock music, the production creates a dreamscape to celebrate the beauty of human-and-horse bonding.
Vague themes — horse drawings on cave walls, medieval ladies on horseback in the woods, Chinese warriors racing across the plains — are loosely conveyed. There is no attempt to articulate big ideas. Bring your own narrative. And while a near-spiritual connection between man and animal is staged before us, the emphasis is on tricks.
The gymnasts, aerialists and trapeze artists are impressive, but the best moments are the earthbound interactions of horse and human.
The interspecific communication is best exemplified by Sylvia Zerbini (known within the company as a horse listener, rather than whisperer), who miraculously directs 10 Arabian horses in circles and chorus lines of marching, running and pack movements, using only body language and occasionally speaking the horses’ names.
A human doing a flip on a balance beam is one thing. A human doing a flip on horseback is another. But a human directing traffic as horses race in formation, lining up and circling in unison — that’s an incredible group effort.
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or jostrow@denverpost.com
Rarin’ to go?
Tickets for “Cavalia” — staged under the big top in the Pepsi Center parking lot —are $54.50 to $99.50, with additional packages up to $189.50. Senior, student, child and obstructed-view pricing available. Shows daily, except Monday, with matinees Saturday and Sunday. Go to .
