In 2005, Mom and I drove up to Pentagon City to see a show called Cavalia. As soon as we took our seats we began to feel the thrill of anticipation. Cavalia is a “homage to the poignant history and fascinating bond between human beings and horses; a poem written in the language of sound, image and extraordinary performance.” We were in a big top tent (similar to the traveling Cirque du Soleil tents), and we were about to see a show that infused equestrian arts with dance, acrobatics, live music and visual effects.
HORSES! ON STAGE!
That was all my brain could process from the minute the first horse — a young colt — thundered out from a side entrance and twirled around, loose in the soft footing behind a low retaining wall. All Cavalia shows start off this way, with the youngest horse allowed to run free around the stage — to get used to the lights, noises and smells of the big top — while all of the actors slowly joined him, providing a quiet yet riveting introduction to the show.
Photographs aren’t allowed during Cavalia shows, people aren’t smart enough to turn their flashes off and with all of the movement on-stage, you’d need a tripod and a fast shutter speed to get a clear image. I loved that show, and hoped (dreamed?) that I’d get to see it again, if only to improve my memory of the show so I could watch it again, any time I wanted to.
A few weeks ago, Jill called me. Her husband had bought her tickets to see Cavalia, but was unable to accompany her. Did I want to fill his spot and go with her?
DID I WANT TO GO WITH HER?! I offered to drive.
The novelty of seeing over thirty horses on stage — with tumblers bouncing off of trampolines built into the stage floor and dancers hanging from the ceiling, with musicians providing live accompaniment and riders showcasing not only their skills on horseback but on the ground as well — doesn’t wear off. And did I mention that, thanks to Greg, this time around we had FRONT ROW SEATS?! I was close enough to get pieces of dirt and manure thrown at my feet as the horses wheeled and galloped not more than ten feet away from me.
And this time (thanks to Greg, again), we also had “Horse Lover” passes which got us into the stable-tent after the show to meet the horses. But before we got to go back into the tent, one of the women from the show — Sylvia Zerbini — came out with a 5-year-old dappled gray gelding. As we understood it, this was one of the horses in training, and she brought him out to play and answer questions for a few minutes. Cavalia’s horses are trained under the premise of play, and Sylvia has a tremendous amount of patience. Earlier in the show, she worked from the ground with eight (EIGHT!) horses, untacked, with nothing more than a short whip (for reminders, but she never did more than slightly flick it or use it as an extension of her arm) and a combination of vocal and hand commands.
AMAZING. She had them galloping in a large circle around the stage, and then she simply twirled her body around in a gentle pirouette — AND EVERY HORSE SPUN IN A CIRCLE. As I said before — AMAZING.
After the show and after a little bit of play and allowing him to smell the stage, she asked this guy to lay down, and then to lay on his side, and then to sit up. Once he did those things for her, he put his front feet up on the edge of the stage to say hello, and then took a bow before exiting to stage right. He was very attentive to her, and she never raised her voice. It was simply wonderful to watch.
After Sylvia and her gelding left the stage, we were invited as a group to explore the stable-tent and to photograph the horses (without flash), but not to touch any of the horses. Most of the horses were already hosed off, re-braided (to keep their long manes from getting tangled), and fed. It was interesting to see the layout of the stables, which were also housed within a big top tent, and I became attracted to all of the different textures and colors: braids, dapples and the seemingly sun-bleached mane of a buckskin named Hawk.
You can tell a lot about a horse from his eyes, and I find that the deep gaze of an equine eye holds a vast pool of gentleness, wisdom, trust, acceptance and love. So while in the big top, I also tried to reprise my earlier photographic work from college by taking photographs of Famoso’s and Palof’s eyes:
Cavalia the second time around was just as amazing as the first, and I feel truly blessed that Greg and Jill both thought of me. It was such a treat to be able to experience HORSES! ON STAGE! again… and this time they were selling a DVD, which of course I purchased. Now, I can watch Cavalia anytime I want to and share the experience with my other friends who haven’t gotten to visit the big top in the city!
One Wandering 