An Unforgettable Family Night out with Cirque Du Soleil’s ‘Crystal’

As our kids get older, their interests become more apparent and it’s really quite fun seeing what each of them are into. Some of these interests stay for only a short time, but some stay for the long-haul and it’s intriguing to see which ones fall into which category.

For our daughter, ice skating and high speeds have been something she has enjoyed from an early age and continues to enjoy doing and watching. And our son has been into anything that can fly for as long as I can remember, so when we saw Crystal coming to Spokane we jumped at the opportunity to take our kids for a fun family night out.

We really didn’t know much about the show before going other than we expected to see ice skating mixed with flying bodies, but we were left picking our jaws off the ground after witnessing stunts we didn’t even know were possible to do on and above ice, especially while not even being harnessed a good majority of the time.

Crystal is a coming of age story about a young girl trying to make sense of her world. Crystal, the main character, is unhappy with the robotics of her home and school life and is searching to find herself in her own creative way. While out ice-skating one day, she falls through the ice (and the way this is shown is truly breath-taking) and enters an underwater, distorted reality of her own life. It is here she dances with her darker alter-ego, though it is this ego that shows her how to step outside of her comfort zone, and this, combined with her love of writing, is how she navigates this new world and discovers who she really wants to be back in reality above the ice.

Now, this is all pretty deep stuff and most of this our kiddos did not catch on to at all, but with something exciting, funny, thrilling or entertaining happening just about every second, they really didn’t need to be able to follow the storyline to keep their interests held, as they were hooked.

Once Crystal discovers her passion for writing she is able to create a playful world through the written word, and one of our kids’ favorite scenes is when Crystal writes about two jugglers, one of which is a clown who we learn to be an imaginary friend to Crystal. During this scene, we see some pretty incredible juggling skills combined with choreography and acrobatics. Now, one of the reasons our kiddos were so into this is because their dad often grabs three oranges and is known to start juggling throughout the house, and he was hilariously put to shame by these two talented jugglers.

After the show, we asked each child what their favorite part was and for Gwyneth, our eight-year-old daughter, it was seeing the performers flying through the air, which was continually happening leaving us wondering how they could possibly do such a thing without always being strapped in. But with such precision and strength, they executed each move flawlessly prompting all of us to wildly hoot and holler from our seats.

For Calvin, our six-year-old son, it was during the hockey scene when the skaters went flying through the air while doing all sorts of flips and tricks off of tall ramps as they flew around the rink. He also really enjoyed the balancing act when one performer positioned himself on top of several chairs, in which Cal deemed something he thought he could also do and would like to try. Ummmm…. maybe someday, buddy! But I like your confidence!

And my friends, I think I missed my calling. The scene that took my breath away and left every hair on my body on end was when Crystal was swinging from a very large, and very high swing to the song, Chandelier, by Sia. Now, I already picture myself ever so elegantly swinging from a chandelier when I hear this song, but to see someone flying through the air while flipping around on this giant swing made me feel something; like perhaps this is what I should be doing in my next lifetime. It was just incredible!

My husband and I love the messages behind this show as it dabbles in empowerment, trying to see things from a different perspective and to follow one’s passion. The artistry in every scene, the strength in each performer, the incredible special effects and the passion and enthusiasm beaming from each individual left us in awe as we devoured this performance and we deemed this one event we were very glad to have exposed our children to.

Whether going as a group of friends, a date night with a loved one or as a family-affair, Crystal is sure to please. Friends, I highly recommend you go see this show here in Spokane until Saturday night. And for the rest of you, check out the calendar to see if it’s playing near you. You won’t regret it!