Review: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL: CRYSTAL Dazzles Edmonton

"The ice is a mirror; I skate away but can't get away at all," the flame-haired Crystal muses. Determined to escape her daily life's routine and ridicule, the idealistic heroine leaps and glides over a frozen lake only to plunge beneath its surface, slipping through the cracks in space and time as colourful projections glow behind her.

So begins CRYSTAL, Cirque du Soleil's thrilling extravaganza of ice-themed dance and acrobatics. Combined with melodic voice-overs, luminous special effects, and a sweeping score brimming with original orchestral and popular music, the audience is whisked away by the whims of Crystal's imagination, defying fear and uncertainty as she embraces both the girl she is and the girl she longs to be.

At first, her vibrant new world isn't so different from her old one. An alternate version of her family clusters around a TV, jubilant schoolchildren clamber and romp on playgrounds, and briefcase-toting workers commute like a school of white-and-navy fish. However, this illusion shatters when she catches sight of her distant reflection above the ice, performing a duet with her airborne self as she begins to navigate the tenuous crossroads between reality and fantasy.

There's no shortage of awe-inspiring antics. Camo-outfitted skaters perform awe-inspiring tumbling stunts and breakdances, hockey players zip at lightning speed through a maze of jumps and a larger-than-life game of pinball unravels over the ice. A puckish comedian inspires laughter, puttering around the ice in a steampunk-inspired cart, showcasing infectious physical comedy as he takes a spill and he clumsily cobbles the cart together. Jugglers, tumblers, and acrobats abound, demanding the viewer's eye in an-ever moving and sometimes overwhelming tapestry. Each act is more mesmerizing than the last, offering a dizzying blend of traditional figure skating, ice dance, and acrobatics. Other noteworthy performances include a breathtaking trapeze number with Crystal and a burly suitor and a nail-biting stunt in which a gymnast balances upside-down on a teetering tower of chairs.

The romp below the ice's surface is both irresistible and beautiful, and it seemed to have lasted all of five minutes before the impressionable heroine finds herself knocking on the ice's underside. Both playful and poignant, it stirs the senses and creates a childlike wonder, rendering Crystal's tenacious journey from fear to fortitude relatable and enjoyable for all ages.

Catch the magic at Rogers Place from now until February 17!

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