NOV 2013
at Cavalia’s Opening Night October 9 • National Harbor
Joie de vivre!
When it comes to “equestrian entertainment,” to say that horse people are a tough audience is an understatement. When it comes to something with mass-market appeal like Cavalia, we are downright cynical—and with good reason. T ose horse people that saw the original Cavalia when it played near Crystal City in 2004 were decidedly underwhelmed. T e long routines of horses running around in circles began to have the feel of a schooling stable show with costumes that never ended. T e 2009 iteration, also in Crystal City, was much more entertaining, even for crusty horse people. Perhaps not wowing, but certainly entertaining. So it was with some skepticism that about
100 Maryland equestrian leaders attended the opening night of Cavalia’s new show Odysseo on October 9. T e show, now stationed in Maryland at the new National Harbor on the Potomac River, was bringing an estimated $10 million in direct economic impact to the state and 150 part-time jobs. T is was an equestrian tourism happening that horse industry leaders could not ignore. T e horse folks dutifully fi led into their seats among the sold-out crowd, chatting and convivial during Cavalia’s multiple choice trivia quiz about the horses in the show, devised to whet the appetite. But once the misty
curtain rose to reveal a living tableau reminiscent of one of Stubbs’s “Mares and Foals” landscapes, not a whisper was heard. From that point
- Oliver K
André T éodore Géricault’s “Riderless Racers at Rome,” Rosa Bonheur’s “T e Horse Fair,” and Eugène Delacroix’s “Ovid among the Scythians.” With the use of light and a Imax-esque
wraparound video screen utilizing 18 projectors as a backdrop encircling a stage that rises three stories high, we are transported from the Mongolian steppes to Easter Island,
from
“I call you Horse … Men shall follow you wherever you go; you shall be as good for
Nordic glaciers to the Sahara. Woven throughout the Roman riders and vaulters and trick riders are tumblers, acrobats and aerialists. Who can jump higher, the horse and rider or the acrobat wearing the remarkable stilts jumping eff ortlessly ever higher? We travel, of course, to Arabia, to Eygpt. We hear the whispering Bedouin winds reminding us that Allah created the Arabian horse from the south wind, or the Drinker of the Winds, and other horses from the thunderclouds. We are transported back to Europe, where a
“It was excellent show, Cavalia’s best so far. Very fast paced, visually stunning – an amazing display of horsemanship.”
ennedy (President, , Capital
Equestrian Sports and Promotions, Inc; Founder & Organizer Challenge Horse Show)
on, the audience of hard-nosed equestrians found itself absorbed into living artscapes that traveled through time, through the eyes of the greatest equestrian painters, depicting the journey of the horse through modern civilization. Our journey accompanied by ethereal original scores performed by a live orchestra, discreetly tucked up and off to the side so as not to visually distract, while haunting vocalists occasionally appeared among the horses or aloft and away from view.
And while any equine artistic endeavor
must reference Stubbs, French artists and the romantic periods were the primary infl uence in this French Canadian production, with the horses and acrobats, riders and tumblers giving living interpretation to Jean-Louis
70 | THE EQUIERY | NOVEMBER 2013
full sized merry-go-round descends from the heavens, with fi xed and living carousel horses and more acrobats appearing in impossible ways among the carousel poles. Perhaps the most hauntingly beautiful act, however, was seemingly the simplest for the horses: four horses steadily tick-tocked their way around a circle, serving as the reliable metronome for four aerialists. Rising up in the area, surrounded by scarves, we see snatches of details from the
great baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens’ Triumph masterpiece, with magnifi cently robed angels descending from heaven and majestic horses triumphantly bearing those humans who have been blessed.
U.S.
Unlike so many horse shows,
in which the riders demand that show organizers demand that the audience be quiet, lest the horses be distracted, the Cavalia audience was encouraged to participate, clapping in time with the drumming rhythms of the acrobats, artists and hooves. And, of course, the audience enthusiasm act after act could not be quelled, fi lling the skyscraper tent with thunderous
-Gene Freeze (Owner - Words of Allah from a Bedouin legend
fl ight as for pursuit; you shall fl y without wings; riches shall be on your back and fortune shall come through your meditation.”
applause, which was relished by all performers, equine and human. For the fi nale, we follow a virtual waterfall down into a valley where an 80,000 gallon lake has magically appeared in front of the audience. T e entire cast of entertainers fi ll the artscaped hills, while the cast of over 60 horses run, seemingly at liberty (but we horse people see they are under perfect control), frolicking in the water lake, splashing the front row…and then, with a whisper and a wave…it is over.
After the show, this list of “who’s who” of
“The all new Cavalia Odysseo is a show that simply can’t be missed, no matter how far you have to travel to see it.”
, County Saddlery Inc.)
Maryland equine industry leaders gathered in the VIP tent for dessert and to marvel at what they just saw. It was not that they had just seen the most perfect piaff e, or a precision-perfect pas de deux, or a record-setting puissance. It was that we had just seen 64 horses and 49 artists perform seamlessly in a musical extravaganza in which we traveled around the world and through time in only two hours. It was that our eyes never knew where to look fi rst, as there was just so much to absorb. And it was the simple beauty of the eternal bond between man and horse. Did we want the stable tour? You bet we did. T e tickets are expensive; are they worth it? Unequivocally yes. Go. Take your friends, take your barn buddies, take your trainer, take your clients and go. Go to be entertained. Treat yourself to the VIP package with the stable tour. Make it your holiday gift for the next 5 years. Pay the extra for the stable tour because you are a horse person. Yes, it is a long night, and the stable tour makes it a really long night. No, you won’t get home until sometime between midnight and dawn. But it is worth it. Don’t say to yourself, “I’ll see the show next time it comes to Washington.” T e show might be back in fi ve or six years, or it might never be back. We don’t know, so go now. Don’t go if you expect to see perfect
horsemanship. Don’t go if you are a horse snob. Do go to be entertained. Do go to recapture that childhood joy of playing with ponies. Do it for the joie de vive of horses.
Planning to attend Cavalia? Send us your photos for Facebook!
800-244-9580 |
www.equiery.com
878004-131013
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