Cirque on a budget…

So… last night I went to the first non-Cirque du Soleil circus show I may have ever been to in my life… I really don't think I've ever been to a Barnum & Bailey kind… It was a fun show. The troupe was called Cirque Eloise. It was much smaller than the big guys… the sets were less elaborate… there wasn't the live music of the biggies. But there also wasn't the expensive price tag! It was a lot of the same physical stunts… Guys balancing on other guys, holding themselves out straight from a fire pole, mega-juggling, that kind of thing. And those stunts got the least response from the audience… We've all seen that before, I suppose… ;) But there were other things they did… A woman balanced and twirled around inside a big hula hoop--which was a nutty thing to see… Kinda elegant in a VERY weird way. Then there was the men's version, with a bigger hula hoop (men!) and doing more strength and less elegant stunts in it. That was pretty cool. Their balancing/timing stunts were pretty impressive! The fire pole people running up and down were also fun… There were a few times during the show when the audience had a collective gasp… some of the stunts were that new and impressive! And freaky!!

And they had a cute storyline connected to the show--loosely, of course--just like Cirque du Soleil. The CS show I saw had a very loose story about a kid in a park who falls asleep and has this dream adventure… aka the show. The CE show--the actual show was called Cirkopolis--was like a play on Metropolis. It was all work-themed, daily grind kind of stuff. And there was machinery-like music playing, and gears and such on the screen in the background. So that was a fun twist… and relatable. Poor schlub with less-than-great job has this dream adventure… :)

The "clown" guy--the schlub--was really funny, too. And of course these shows use very little words--it's all pantomime. But he talked a little… And of course, was a perfectly respectable acrobat along with the rest of them.

It was all stuff I couldn't do!

Earlier yesterday--no class, as they were two-in-one Wednesday--I went out to lunch with CAPA and did a mid semester catchup assessment. The lunch was fine--at a London chain called Ask, which for some inexplicable reason is the name of an Italian pizza/salad joint. I've been doing pretty well with the restaurant experience here in London. I'm finding fabulous street food and fantastic veggie places. I also am working on these London chains that I'll never see again. Indeed, the only US chain I've been to since arrival is--you guessed it-- Starbucks!

Speaking of Starbucks, I'll give a little comment on the coffee cleanse 2015. I'm hating it!! I miss my coffee shops! And being sick this week has only compounded it. When I first get sick, I actually crave tea. But I've been drinking SO MUCH TEA… that now I'm dead sick of it! I am longing for a cappuccino! So I'm telling myself just to go one more week. And then I'll have filtered enough of the caffeine in my system out--and be ready to fill back up!! ;)

Tonight (Friday) is my SOAS London class. I missed last week because of my cold--so I'm really looking forward to getting back to it! AND then I got a Groupon for a Jack the Ripper walking tour of London. I'm super-excited about that, too!! (And I'll def let you know how it turns out!)