A few days ago, we previewed the huge new spectacular that plans on taking Valencia by hoof storm: Cavalia. That post had a… cynical tone, but last night we were lucky enough to be invited to the show’s opening performance. Suddenly, our snarky attitude has vanished.
Cavalia is pretty sweet. “Cirque de Soleil on Horseback” sums it up best, with phenomenal acrobatics (especially when in tandem with trick riding), beautiful music, and sets that are often breathtaking. There was more than one scene that might have come straight out of Lord of the Rings. In fact, we heard multiple exclamations of “¡Legolas!”
And though the Legolas lookalike is indeed dashing, the main attraction is the horses. These are majestic creatures, and you get a real sense of how powerful they are when you see large men doing flips on top of them. They’re fast, too — the stage was extremely long, allowing the animals to sprint across at full speed in some of the show’s most rousing action. If you’re into horses, we can definitely recommend Cavalia. You’ll love it.
And if you want to go, you might be in luck! We’ve been given some extra tickets to share with the readers of HolaValencia.net. We’re raffling off 8 tickets for Saturday evening’s performance (Nov. 29th at 9pm). It’s not El Gordo, but still pretty cool! If you want to take part, just send an email to mail-AT-holavalencia.net with the answer to the question below. Four winners will be chosen at random from the correct answers on Friday morning, and receive two tickets apiece.
The Question: How long does it take to train a horse for Cavalia?
(Just a completely unrelated note… the FAQ at Cavalia’s Website has a lot of interesting information!)
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Maybe … 6 months?
The show was just fantastic, we enjoyed it so much. It is increible the skill of the horses and the ability of the trainers to make them do all those stuff. However you can understand that when the horses were with the trainers they did all what they want, but was amazing when the horses appeared in the theatre just by themselves doing their performance … that must be difficult to achieved.
The performance itsefl was fantastic as well, following the same influences as cirque du solei.
Thanks guys!
What a show! We had great seats, center stage, seats 1 & 2 row M. Had a perfect overview of the performance, so much was going on sometimes that you didn’t know where to look up, down or sideways. My favorite was the flying number, the song, the music, the graceful way the girls flew away from their partners on horseback and then in unison danced in the air before rejoining them and settling back on the steeds. I never imagined seeing such a clever interpretation of the beauty of the four seasons acted out between horses and acrobats. Starting with a nymph in a pond that later vanishes, sunflowers blowing in the wind, autumn leaves falling, and actual snow to complete the fantasy. The western stunt riders and the roman riding were so fast paced and dangerous, the synchronized circle of riders on their majestic white horses were so fluid in motion. How about that girl on the trampoline she bounced back and forth at least 20 times, her head and chest upside down not moving at all and her pelvis and legs swinging back and forth. Talk about being limber! On the other hand talking about being stiff, the guy doing the pole number, holding on sideways 90º angle looking like a flag, before turning to a headstand where he dropped freefall catching himself 10 cm from the bottom. The show just got better and better ending in a fabulous finale. And how about the musicians, the cellist and the soloist, beautiful, beautiful music, added perfection for every performance. My friend Alli and I had a wonderful time and she’s asked me to say thanks to you guys too. It was the best bit of luck I could have wished for, thanks for starting of my Christmas season in such a nice way. All the best to you both and continued good luck with “Hola Valencia”,
Donna
It takes between 6 months and 10 years to train horses for Cavalia. I live in Mass, so interested in the Somerville raffle.
I saw Cavalia in Boston approx. 4 years ago, it was breathtaking. It takes between 6 months and 10 years to train the horses for Cavalia. I live in Massachusetts.