Cirque du Soleil in Munich: With "Crystal" it goes headlong into happiness

Created: 2022-11-04 2:56 p.m

By: Katrin Basaran

Having broken through the ice of a lake, the young Crystal ends up in a mirror-inverted magical world.

© Matt Beard Photography

Cirque du Soleil is making a guest appearance in Munich's Olympiahalle with its new show "Crystal", a masterpiece on runners that is as poetic as it is acrobatic.

Read our premiere review here:

duck your head!

Or even better: catch the snowball and throw it back on target.

With a fun snowball fight to the sound of birdsong and music, the Cirque du Soleil clown warms up the arriving audience for what is about to begin in the Olympic Hall: the new show "Crystal", a masterpiece on runners that is as poetic as it is acrobatic, which will take place on Thursday (November 3, 2022) Munich premiere celebrated.

"Crystal" runs until November 6, 2022 in Munich

For the first time, the Canadian world-class circus combines artistry with fast-paced figure skating, all embedded in an enchanting story: It tells the story of the girl Crystal.

Family and classmates find the dreamy teenager very strange.

Instead of romping around, flirting and giggling like her peers, Crystal prefers to be alone, draw or read.

"I don't belong here, I want to live in a book," she is heard saying before attempting to escape her confining home on the icy surface of a lake.

There she breaks in - and ends up in a mirror-inverted world in which she meets her much more self-confident self.

Mirror Crystal gives the girl a magic pen that she can use to reinvent her world.

This story alone, conceived by the artistic director of Cirque du Soleil, Robert Tannion, offers enough space for scenes that stage the imaginatively costumed trapeze artists, pole and rope acrobats, jugglers, musicians and clowns.

Ice skating adds a new dimension.

It gives the action an enormous speed.

And poses an additional risk due to the sharp runners for the artists, who glide admirably safely on their ice skates.

No wonder the audience goes from one murmur to the next.

Yes, here the proverbial jaw is constantly dropping, for example when ice hockey players throw themselves off ramps, some of which are almost vertical, in order to then perform crazy somersaults and twists.

Or when Crystal combines with an aerial acrobat to do adventurous swings, threatens to fall and is caught just inches from the icy surface.

One suspects, no senses, that the members of the approximately 40-strong ensemble must have great trust in one another.

Because whenever you think that the peak of artistic ability has now been reached, the next scene goes one better.

It's almost a blessing when the spectators are given a 20-minute break - it's not just the ice that has to be smoothed, the adrenaline

Standing ovations after the "Crystal" premiere in Munich's Olympiahalle

The ice also allows very sensual moments.

When Crystal dreams of being in a ballroom, interacting with her mirror self, or later returning to her own world, it's time for gliding, grand gestures, pirouettes, lifting figures, or even leaps and death spirals.

The ice dancers - it should be emphasized again that they are quasi amateurs on this terrain - find each other and impress with their enormous synchronicity.

At this point, the compliment also goes to the music selection, which ranges from their own beat and rock-heavy pieces to self-produced intensive versions of Sia's "Chandelier" to Beyoncé's "Halo" and rounds off the event.

Incidentally, the joke is not neglected either.

The clown mentioned at the beginning can also be seen again and again – his dreamy duet with a floor lamp is a highlight of this hitherto unique show that is as touching as it is comical.

Standing ovation at the end.

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Further performances

on Friday, November 4, 2022 (8 p.m.), on Saturday, November 5, 2022, at 4 p.m. and 8 p.m., and on Sunday, November 6, 2022, at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m.

In addition, Cirque du Soleil will be making a guest appearance in the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart from February 22 to February 26, 2023.