Cirque du Soleil's "KA"

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A theater experience that defies the laws of gravity. That description got me curious about the show we were flying all the way to Las Vegas for. And so a few days after we saw Totem, I was in queue to watch my second Cirque du Soleil show this week: KA.

It's my first time in Vegas. Although I've seen the city several times on tv and in movies, it was still a different experience to be actually in it. For instance, the venue of KA, the MGM Grand, lives up to its name. The building is huge! Nothing about it is small: the golden lion statue, David Copperfield's intent stare, and Twin Brother's sideways glance are all larger than life. 

hello, giant kitty!
The MGM facade, as seen from Excalibur (across the street)
 
At its core, KA's story is about siblings who got separated and lost their home. Thrown into the "real world", they learned about life and love, ultimately fighting for the home that was stolen from them.

A usual story about going against all odds and succeeding, alright. However, Cirque du Soleil transformed such a stereotypical story into a jaw-dropping, gravity-defying spectacle through the use of high-tech engineering and amazing visual and sound effects combined with awesome feats of acrobatics. 

Watching KA was a wholly different experience from Totem primarily because the theater is much bigger; KA is being performed at the MGM Grand while Totem is under the Grand Chapteau (which is a giant tent). Because of KA's larger venue, I was seated further away from the stage. From where I was at, it was really easy to be amazed by the technical aspects of the staging: the movements of the stage, the flight of the acrobats, the light effects; however, these things easily distracted me from the story and the characters. I couldn't see the their faces as clearly as in Totem. 

Despite being far away, I was still amazed. What an awesome performance! I now feel bad that I missed out on Cirque du Soleil's Varekai when it made a stop in Manila a few months ago. Next time that this circus is in town, I'm going to make sure I'll watch it.

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