HORSE NEWS FROM USA

CAVALIA

CAVALIA TENT AT SANTA MONICA USA

Karen Turvery

  Cavalia, a Cirque de Soleil style production directed by Normand Latourelle, is like a dream: beautiful white horses, music, Lord of the Rings-style costumes, emotional opera singers and people flying all over the place. A circus that travels around in its own tent, Cavalia is more about images than animal tricks and acrobatics. Here, the horses run free, they play and perform, they have an eye-to-eye relationship with their trainers.

As a Cirque de Soleil fan due to the fact that animals where not used.  I was keen to see how Cavalia was on the horses. The show is magical and takes you on an emotional journey in the presence of 32 horses.  The horses are magnificent and look so beautiful running free around the stage.

I was fortunate enough to have a personal tour and meet these beautiful horses and was kindly informed that no horse is ever used twice in the duration of the show.   Some horses run on for a few seconds and some are on for a few minutes and the horses looked very comfortable with their riders and the environment.

Karen Turvey was my personal escort and while I was accompanied by Maureen Rodgers we where very impressed the way the horses where taken care off.  In the show the horses are ridden bareback, saddle tricks, dressage, and of course my favorite Karen with her no fear roman trick riding.  By the way I have never seen a Lady ride with 2 horses in front and their reins in her mouth and then 1 foot on each horse standing on their back holding their reins making that a grand total of 4 horses, gallop and clear a jump; not on a very big stage mind you. (Karen you where amazing I was stunned at your wild riding and you had me on the edge of my seat.  You definitely are the wild one). 

French husband and wife team Frederic Pignon and Magali Delgado also star in Cavalia and many of their horses the Lusitanian Stallions are used in the show.  At one point one of the stallions did not want to leave the stage and Frederic was laughing and let him stay and made him part of the pair he was working with.  I have to say it is a beautiful sight to see a trainer not lose it at the horse when the horse decides to just be a horse in front of 5000 people at a show like Cavalia in LA of all places.

 To Frederic his wife Magalia, the very special Karen Turvey and all the acrobats and riders, producers and crew I take my hat off to you.  I did not see one person lose it at a horse and most of all, one unhappy horse for the whole 2 hour show and my time on the site which was until very late in the night.

Cavalia was beautiful and brought tears to my eyes as people are beginning to realize that it’s not about us; it’s about us understanding them,  the horses.  I can not tell you how happy I was that somebody else out there gets the fact that:

“THE STARS OF THE SHOW WILL ALWAYS BE THE HORSES.”

Tatiana Frazzica.

 Cavalia Santa Monica December 2004

 www.equineextremist.net