Yesterday, I went to see Cirque Du Soleil's Wintuk at Madison Square Garden. I had very high expectations for this show, this being my fifth time seeing Cirque and having been so impressed by the quality of all their other shows. Furthermore, my and my mom had been wanting to see this show since last year, and the anticipation made me want to see it even more. In addition, the advertising for Wintuk was heavy. I remember going to the Museum of Arts and Design a few weeks ago and seeing a Wintuk bus with dancers in full fledged white poofy costumes, resembling what looked like snowballs of some sort. They later were frolicking in the street, mingling with people passing by. I was actually interested in seeing this show, despite the fact that the theme or story of the show wasn't very clear to me except for the fact that it was a winter themed show. 

In a nutshell, I was very disappointed with this show, and it was not a successful Cirque Du Soleil show at all. Its no wonder that so much money was spent on advertising. First of all, I could not tell you what the story of the show was even about, because there was no clear plot, unlike all the other Cirque Du Soleil show I've seen in the past. All I know is that the story was set in a city and then suddenly they were in a deserted winter village where the native people were being attacked by huge snow monsters. The problem in this inter wonderland was that snow was not falling, and somehow the main character's goal was to find a way to let the snow fall. It seemed like the plot of a story created by an amateur children's storywriter. The stage design itself made me feel like I was inside a terribly created children's show. The show was set in a city where the people were actually the people in the city, except they were all dressed really oddly, the lampposts had faces, and they talked and moved, the police traveled on bike and birds as tall as the snow monsters randomly appeared. The construction workers did acrobatic moves and the robbers of the town also kept appearing randomly. I just didn't get the show, and it was not pleasing to me at all.

As far as the circus aspect goes, it was probably the most disappointing part of the show. If there were 4 acrobatic acts in the entire spectacular, it was a lot. The one acrobatic act that impressed me the most was when there was a female acrobat dressed as a rag doll and was being carried around by two men. They were both attempting to get her to sit upright, but she would not. In the process, the two men twisted her legs around, carried her, threw her, dropped her, pushed her and throughout the entire act, it seemed as if the person really was a rag- doll with absolutely no spine. This act was very well done and probably the most memorable out of the entire show. 

At the end of the show, the boy finally unlocked the mystery behind why there was no snow, (I'm not sure what the mystery was or how he undid it) and thousands of paper snowflakes flooded the entire theater, leaving the little kids in complete awe. Me and my mom later joked that the snow was the best part of the show. Truthfully, it was more than obvious that this show was not ofcirque quality. The lack of a clear plot and other elements of a normal cirque du soleil show, like much more acrobatic acts, was more than evident. However, I am aware that the Madison Square Garden theater is small and might have not been equipped well enough for a circus performance. Still, this show was not worth my money or my time. The show, unlike other cirque shows, was truly meant for little kids who would love the show simply because of the talking lampposts and the snow at the end. Unfortunately, avid cirque show goers like myself cannot be fooled as easily. And a message to Wintuk: keep advertising, you really need it.