Cirque Italia, a traveling Italian water circus with a 35,000-gallon water stage and artists from all over the world, comes to West Dundee this week.
The circus takes place under a white and blue tent in the parking lot of Spring Hill Mall, near Kohl’s, at 1072 Spring Hill Ring Road, West Dundee. Performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 21; 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 22; 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 23; and 1:30, 4:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 24. Tickets are $10 to $40 and available at cirqueitalia.com/tickets or by calling or texting (941) 704-8572.
Cirque Italia’s “Aquatic Spectacular” show features a custom designed water stage that travels from city to city, visiting about 50 cities each year. The stage holds 35,000 gallons of water over which performers display their acts.
This year’s theme is a sailing adventure to Italian towns. The crew has transformed its stage into a large ship, complete with brand new Bellagio-style fountains.
The show offers a variety of acts from all over the globe, some of which include contortion, magic, archery, aerialists, and the always exciting Wheel of Death.
Each act will have a unique theme associated with it. The themes are based on port towns in Italy. For example, Venetian masks will be displayed when the show “visits” Venice.
For more information, visit www.cirqueitalia.com or check Cirque Italia’s social media accounts.
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The show is suitable for kids of all ages. There were a lot of families at the show and the ages of the kids varied greatly. There were babies, a lot of toddlers, and even teens in the audience. I attended with my 14 year old daughter and her two friends and they definitely enjoyed the show. Most of the performers are from other countries, which they nicely highlight at the end of the show, so they rely a lot on hand gestures which kids find very amusing.
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Get there early for the best seats. There are no assigned seats but rather tickets are good for any seat within an area. The circus has a round stage and seating is in a horseshoe shape. If you want the best head on view, with no pole obstructions, get there early.
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The tent can get hot so dress for it. The circus did a nice job of pumping air conditioning into the tent but it was hot and humid the night we went and in a small enclosed area, it gets hot.
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Food, drinks, and porta-potties available. You can’t bring any food or drink from the outside into the circus area so plan to have some cash for snacks or water. There was funnel cake, popcorn, snow cones, and other carnival type snacks available so no need to worry about making it through the show. Cirque Italia is in a tent located in a large parking lot so porta-potties are available if needed.
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Lots of photo opportunities. During intermission, guests are encouraged to get their photos taken with either the T-Rex (which is an amazing costume!) and/or the Mermaid. It’s $10 for a photo on the stage. All of the other performers are also available after the show in the entrance and they are willing to take as many photos as you want.