Superhuman

I am a fan of basically any type of entertainment spectacle, from sports contests to film and TV to concerts. I like when people demonstrate extraordinary humanity and push the limits of our own experience. But if I had to show an alien just one event in hopes of proving our survival worthiness, I might take it to Cirque de Soleil. It has everything: music, dance, comedy and unbelievable stunts. Performing feats of strength and concentration with potentially lethal risks, these performers bring you onto the precipice with them, jarring your nerves and repacing your heart. At times, it is almost unwatchable and yet simultaneously unblinkable, with tense moments stretching out to make the audience hyper-aware, like the moment before a car accident, when time slows to a crawl and you are completely powerless to stop it. Even when the situation is not dangerous, like a juggler, the focus is singular and intense, but when the element of death actually enters one’s consciousness, it heightens the tension unbearably. Here is the Wheel of Death act. Totally ridiculous. Fortunately, they have some brilliant physical comedy to lighten the mood between these heart-stopping acts. Cirque de Soleil (I saw Kooza at Randall’s Island) is the best circus experience–I’ve never been into caged animals–and, for my money, is the best spectacle on the planet.