French Club Skates to DC to See “Crystal”

The French Club headed down to DC on Dec. 9 to see the French-Canadian group Cirque du Soleil perform their newest show, “Crystal.”

The show is the first of its kind, mixing the acrobatic stunts Cirque du Soleil is known for with ice-skating.

French Club advisor Stephanie Myers has taken the group to see Cirque before and knows how captivating it can be for students.

“They’re used to seeing circuses with animals and things, so it’s cool to let them see the acrobatic side that comes from the French-speaking world,” said Myers. “I think with Cirque Du Soleil it’s entertaining; it appeals to all different kinds of people; it’s not like a play where that only draws in certain kinds of people. This is more open to everyone.”

Senior Matthew Sharkey has seen Cirque perform before, but this show stood away from the rest.

“It was fantastic,” said Sharkey. “It told an awesome story where this girl fell through the ice, and then during her time underneath the water, what I can imagine would have been terrifying–a near death experience–she experienced a whole bunch of different things. Her life flashed before her eyes, and at the end she comes back above the ice after she finds her way, and breaks a whole through. She had grown as a person. It was a really powerful story.”

The show not only had flips, turns and lifts, but also a lesson about life hidden inside of the stunts.

“I learned that in life, what’s really important is relationships with other people…,” said Sharkey. “There were different things in the show, like businessmen and such who weren’t happy, just marching around doing whatever, but then when the girl found love, and when other people found love, that’s when the real magic started to happen. The coolest acrobatic acts were going on then as well.

Sophomore Virginia Good has seen past shows, but thought this was a little less interesting.

“I liked it, but I didn’t think the on-ice version was as impressive,” said Good. “Not that it wasn’t impressive; I like the acrobatics and the aerial tricks of the more standard shows, but overall, it was a good show.”

The French Club looks forward to many more Cirque trips in the future.