Customer Reviews

Cirque du Soleil - Nouvelle Experience

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Typical of cirque du soleil, this show contains performances that make your jaw gape. The opening act of four girls who contort and balance, with or without each other, is so incredible you can't not react. Next, a group of acrobats uses a see-saw to fling themselves four thousand feet in the air while doing six hundred twisting flips in a micro-second to land on human stacks, the other end of the see-saw, or anywhere else they want to land...and precisely. The next routine allows viewers some down-time while a girl floats east and west on a giant swing while winding her body through all shapes to the accompaniment of peaceful music. Next comes the guy who does stuff on a tightrope that cannot be done, while the elderly director provides comic relief as he tries to mimic, and mostly unsuccessfully, his moves. I will not go through all the acts, but I have to warn you about what happens to you after watching the oriental girls who use their feet to do tricks with umbrellas: the little section of flesh between your eyebrows will be sore if you do not try to unfurrow them some time during the act. With all this praise it may come as a surprise to know this is my least favorite cirque du soleil show. I have four of their videos and I rate this one five stars because it deserves it. It's just that Quidam deserves a hundred. The other shows fall somewhere in between. If this is your thing, you will not be disappointed with any of them and I strongly recommend you buy them all. Oh, and be ready to laugh. You'll be doing a lot of it.

After seeing the videos of 'Quidam' (unbelievable) and 'Saltimbanco' (good, but does not compare to 'Quidam'), I expected to be disappointed. Leave it to Cirque du Soleil to not allow my expected disappointment. 'Nouvelle Experience' seems to be an ancestor to 'Mystere' which I have seen twice and will see every time I visit Las Vegas. The high bar and trampoline and 'see-saw' acts can be found in 'Mystere' and are just as thrilling in this video from 1991. As always, the spellbinding music of Rene Dupre enhances the performances. The highlight, in my opinion, is the hilarious clown 'director' scene with audience participation. I had to pause the tape several times until I quit laughing. Cirque du Soleil, et al. IS the most incredible entertainment force on Earth!

This DVD was good, but compared to other Cirque shows like Quidam and Dralion it seems a bit rough. The DVD was very dark at times making the artists hard to see and the single spotlight in the back was distracting. If you are a Cirque collecter than this is for you, if you are a novice Cirque fan I recommend one of their later shows like Quidam or Dralion.

This DVD has more acts to it than the Bravo TV special, and it's worth the purchase. Although some of the acts doesn't "wow" me like newer shows, they are better than "Cirque Reinvente", and the music is very nice. My favorite part is the "Film Scene" where one of the clowns acts out an old time movie with three audience members. Two complaints about the disc is that the video is dark at times, and the only extras are trailers for other Cirque DVDs. I wish there was a behind-the-scenes look, but there isn't.

This is some of the early work of Cirque du Soleil, which for a diehard fan may hold them enraptured for the entire show. But for most people, I think this will prove to be a pale comparison to some, most, or all of the newer shows such as Quidam or Dralion. But if you want to see how it all started, be sure to check out Nouvelle Experience, which was filmed in 1990-1991 and was one of the earliest Cirque shows, and is one which is no longer running.

One act which will make you laugh is the clown who gets people from the audience and will just have you laughing. This is one of the best clown acts I have seen in any Cirque show and is almost worth the cost of the DVD itself, though admittedly I am a diehard Cirque fan.

I am giving this 4 stars (probably deserves 5 because of the acts) but simply because I have seen so many outstanding out-of-this-world performances by Cirque, I must drop this down one star.

Nouvelle Experience was the first Cirque show I ever saw live (I've seen a total of 4 now). My wife and I were totally amazed at the spectacle of the show. We new (from newspaper reviews) that it was a "new kind of circus", but I think that definition is terribly lacking.

The video does a good job of capturing some of the excitement of the live show. The acts are covered well, with the execption of a couple of the arial acts where the stage lighting causes annoying flares in the camera.

I always recommend that people go see a Cirque show live before they see the video. Unfortunately, Cirque is no longer doing this show live. This video is a good reminder of what you experienced in the theater, but it is no substitute for sitting in the dark in sheer wonder.

You have to remember that this was not filmed for DVD. This show was filmed for VHS and was released first on VHS in 1991. So that's why it looks kind of dark and has not that many angles. The show is excellent. An earlier review mentioned there being a "high bar" act in this show, but there isn't. This DVD is great to have because this show is no longer performed live. All of the music from the great CD is in this live recording. I had seen "Nouvelle Experience" live, three times and this is the best version of it.

Sweet, artful and inspirational fun for the entire family. The children return to watch it again and again, delighted by what the body and mind, in league with artful creative imagination, is capable of doing.

The clown routine had me laughing until it hurt! The rest is just amazing. You will really enjoy it.

This is probably one of the better performances. Obviously seeing their shows live is the best, but if you missed it, this is the next best thing. The contortionists will amaze and awe you with their almost serpentine movements. The audience participation act will leave you laughing till your belly hurts. For the finale, the balancing chairs will amaze you with balance and bravery.

In other words, don't take our word for it. Buy it and experience the magic for yourself.