Cavalia - Review

Cavalia, you are expecting to be blown away? You will be! Cavalia has been developed by Cirque Du Soleil Co-Founder Normand Latourelle. The show has been around for many years now and has entertained 3.5 million people in Europe and North America.  You can't really compare this the Cirque Du Soleil because it just isn't the same but it does contain some of the same wow factors.

Cavalia is like a celebration to horses, it certainly shows how loyal, and how trained they can be. I couldn't help wonder what goes through the horses minds when they perform. It was quite obvious that they enjoy it. There were many, almost 50, beautiful horse in the show. Some were just majestic and gentle. Others showed the talents of the horses and trainers as they moved around the stage untethered. There was people standing and performing on and off the horses. Amongst all this there were acrobats, trapeze, trampoline and much more. There were times when you didn't know who to watch.

The costumes and music also play a huge part of the show. They are both incredible. All the music was live. The timing between the musicians and the horses was perfect. Obviously the costumes had to work with the horses, there were medieval costumes and of course cowboys. The medieval costumes reminded me of some scenes from Lord of the Rings.

Lastly, I should mention the set. It was magical literally, where did all the water go?  There was clever use of technology and a huge screen. At one point they used water (rain) and a projector to project a horse onto the rain, it was very majestic.

Cavalia is playing in a big top at the Entertainment Quarter until 16 June. Click for more info. 

The Gin Mill Social - review

The Slide Lounge on Oxford street went back to the 1920s last night.  It was all very secretive, just like the 20's during prohibition, we entered through the side door, we were greeted by a doorman who checked that we weren't their to cause trouble or that we were not the police.
The dress code was pearls or ties, but some chose to really get into the swing of it and were dressed in their best 1920 clothes. All the staff were in costume, this is make it a little difficult to see who was staff and who were the guests and very like a 1920's club the staff were having fun too, dancing and shmoozing with the guests. We were all allocated a table and were treated to a gin punch served from a teapot and drunk from a cup, very hush hush! Nobody would have guessed alcohol was involved!
A four piece band played for much of the night getting us all in the party mood.  A dancer and  magician were around for much of the night too, keeping us all amused while various courses were served. The food was amazing, much of it vegetarian which was great for me as I am a vegetarian. The main was meat however and I have to say it smelt divine (I was served an alternative!). There was a huge variety and some of it was very unusual, like popcorn served in a newspaper bag and pickled vegetables served in small jars.
We had to try some of the other Gin cocktails, well let's put it this way, the people next to us tried them all! They were very good.
The Gin Mill Social has been put together as one big dinner and dance party night where you can go with a group of friends and let your hair down and have a jolly good night out. It is fun if you get into the spirit of the evening.
The Gin Mill Social occurs once a month the next one is on 18 April - www.slide.com.au I would certainly go again.