Saturday 21 April 2012

Amaluna (and some thoughts after)



Tonight, I watched the latest Cirque du Soleil creation - Amaluna, at the big top in Montreal! :DD IT WAS AWESOME. I've always been an insanely huge fan of Cirque du Soleil and if anyone doesn't know what they are, they are probably the BEST and the BIGGEST circus in the world (well, to my knowledge at least) with traveling shows and resident shows in so many cities! I first saw Cirque du Soleil when they came to Singapore quite a number of years ago with their performance, Saltimbanco, and subsequently I was able to watch 'O' and 'Mystere' in Las Vegas when my family spent Christmas there... Such good times. :D Honestly, I went through a period when I really wanted to be an acrobat in Cirque du Soleil. I remember spending a few weeks trying to stretch daily and become more flexible but it soon became clear that I was probably not going to master a split anytime soon so I distinctly remember trying to figure out what sort of item I could do that wouldn't require the flexibility of a split. Truth be told, there aren't many of such items in the circus. ;p So, that was that. 


But tonight's one was really really enjoyable. It's called Amaluna and in a nutshell, it's all about FEMALE POWER!! The story is set on a "mysterious island governed by Goddesses and guided by the cycles of the moon" and the daughter of the Queen Prospera falls in love with a young suitor and they face a number of trials before emerging victorious. That's really a simplified version. But it's also about what the world might be like with females ruling it. >:D And the entire show comprised of a PREDOMINANTLY FEMALE CAST which is the first time Cirque du Soleil has produced a show like this. 


I'm just feeling rather inspired by what I've seen tonight so I figured I'd better type it out before I forget and the feeling of excitement peters off as it often does when the daily grind sets in. I was reminded greatly of the feminine strength and power. The female acrobats were simply INCREDIBLE. Some of them did stunts that I've only ever seen male Olympic gymnasts do and that really took me by surprise, especially since the lead female character did some incredible stunts on a pole that reminded me of the stunts they do on the pommel horse and she was pretty petite too! There was such incredibly strength and grace in her moves that really awed me. And all the other female acrobats were a combination of strong, sexy, vivacious... just plain TOUGH!! Furthermore, the musicians were ALL FEMALE!! There's nothing cooler than seeing a bunch of incredible female musicians playing the bass guitar, cello, electric guitar, drums, singing away...and one singer was even one of the gymnasts. There was so much talent among the female performers tonight it was plain INSPIRING. :))) 


In a way, it's inspiring me to take a healthier, stronger attitude towards life. I feel like I want to be as strong, not just physically like those female acrobats, but emotionally as well, in terms of my attitude towards life and towards other people. During their performance, they exuded so much confidence and power that it never felt like they were 'manly' (a word that some might cast upon them seeing how muscular and well-built they are), more that they were simply strong women who exuded strength from within. That's something to respect. 


Somehow it seems that so much of femininity has been shaped by media influences and there are so many, well, superficial things, that females tend to focus on. I'm completely guilty because I'm one who spends a ton of time thinking about clothes, fashion... outward appearances and even things that are most 'domestic' such as interior decoration and cooking. On the blogosphere especially, after reading the article from BITCH magazine, I have realized that a lot of blogs tend to be focused on 'lifestyle blogging', and to quote from the article, "what may be most frustrating about the rise of a particular stripe of lifestyle blog is that so few of them elicit the challenge to societal expectations of femininity one would reasonably expect in a medium so dominated by women". I've always thought of my blog as a 'lifestyle blog' as well since I'm really just sharing bits and pieces of my life but it does make me wonder if these bloggers should actually go further than fashion blogging which inadvertently cultivates a culture of materialism, greed and jealously. Of course, I know it all depends on the blogger and each blog is different and it's a choice made by the individual to blog about whatever she/he wants but at the same time, maybe it'd be a good idea to try to go more into promoting a healthier mindset among women. And I wonder what's the best way I could do that... :) 


I dunno, I guess it's just me feeling that I would like to do something meaningful for women in some way or another. Maybe next time I'll do some voluntary work or in some non-profit organisation advocating for women. Whatever the case, watching Amaluna reminded me of how strongly I feel about the feminine strength and how every woman should be strong, independent, powerful in her own way, on the inside and not just on the outside as is often emphasized in popular culture. 


Traveling and seeing things does this to you, I feel. It's such a great way to be exposed to new things, to be inspired, to have forgotten interests and passions rekindled. 


-- 


I shall start posting photos soon! Been doing soooo many things and I've only got about less than 2 weeks left in Montreal :(((( so I've been trying to pack in all the tourist attractions these few days. I really didn't do much in the first month that I was here in terms of seeing the usual attractions because it was too cold and I was too busy hibernating in my bed so now I'm feeling a little flustered because there are still so many parts of Montreal I'd like to explore before going. It's such a beautiful city. :D One of the places I'd like to live in in the future for a period of time, for sure. It was so cold today though, with a drizzle pretty much the entire day and just now when I was walking back, I'm pretty sure it was fine snow falling along with the drizzle. Brrrrrrr. 


P.S. I've been taking a ton of photos of the stuff I've been doing in Montreal on Instagram! :) In a way it's more convenient whenever  don't have my camera with me in the day and there's a nice street shot that I want to take etc. Have been updating a lot more frequently so it's a click away on the right hand side bar! 
xx