This year's Cirque du Soleil returned to the Royal Albert Hall with a magical journey through Mexico. 

 

LUZIA beautifully transformed the heart of London into a colourful and vibrant display based off of an adventure of butterflies, water displays and 'surreal imagery'. However, links to the theme were surprisingly weak. While some could argue that the loosely tied together acts were intentional as it could have added to the title of 'A waking dream' it was hard to understand the connection between Mexico and people jumping from one swing to another, under the sea.

Another disappointment was the low level of originality. I felt there was a real loss of opportunity when the clown blew a whistle for what felt like a decade and when an act solely revolved around a tightrope walker impressing his date, which in my opinion was fairly outdated for 2022. But, if you are one for the classics, LUZIA is for you.

While LUZIA did stick to the comfort of a typical circus, like juggling, a few acts did have impressive flair. For example the heavenly aerial silks and the delightful patterns made by the rain feature. Unfortunately, points of the show where talent really  mesmerised the RAH with powerful beauty were sadly brought down by the contrast to other parts of the show, for example the tourist cactuses and the drawn out clown acts. Emma Blackie, 14, even described it as, 'honestly way overhyped'.

Overall,  Cirque du Soleil's LUZIA was a show of disconnected breathtaking acts and weak points, together creating a performance that I can't describe as unforgettable.