The House of Dancing Water

It was spontaneous and very exciting indeed. Our trip to Macau was booked two days before I scored some tickets in one of the most anticipated shows staged in Asia, Franco Dragone's House of Dancing Water.



The House of Dancing Water is the main attraction of the City of Dreams and is the brainchild of veteran Vegas show maker, Franco Dragone, a well-known director for previous Cirque de Soleil shows. If the Venetian had Cirque de Soleil's Zaia, well, the investors of City of Dreams (COD) had to be more ambitious. Hence, they embarked on staging the most expensive show in Macau.


Our tickets was in the B Reserve Section and cost us MOP680 each. That translates to roughly P3,500 which is still cheaper than the disappointing Manila staging of Varekai. And believe me, once you enter the theater, you know that this is ticket will be worth every penny.


The show opens with the rise of a ship from underneath the stage. That's a 30 ft contraption submerged and raised up to open the show. Divers perform and jump off from the ship's spires. Photography is prohibited, but I just couldn't help a spectacle like this not captured. So most of my pictures are not clear or blurred.


This is not your ordinary show. I have watched the Impressions shows in China and the feel is similar. Really count on the Chinese to produce these spectacles. There is still a story to be told, so once the opening sequence commenced, the water disappeared as a new stage was raised. Yes, that's instant draining. 


The main characters were introduced at this point. The cave like backdrop is a projected wall, 3D mapped and in high definition. Water started to flow back in, like it was alive. Water was indeed part of the cast.


They used water for rain, fountains and even snow. I wasn't able to get a shot when snow fell. It was the most dramatic staged snowfall I have seen. The show was clearly Asian inspired as well, created mostly from Chinese inspiration.


The show was still inspired by Cirque, so just imagine the circus but with water. One impressive performance was the human chandelier. Acrobats defied gravity and artistically swung and swayed to mimic a glittering chandelier. There were several other stunt acts, some of which are not unique, except that they were done on water. There was still the trapeze, the Russian swing, and a lot of diving. But this segment probably took me off my seat.


Out of nowhere, the stage was set for a motorcycle stunt performance. 5 motorcycle bikes whirred and whirled on air. The thought of just having a motorcycle act is just wild, but the audience got a shock when the lead character was the one driving the bike. Bravo indeed.



The show lasted 2 hours, and it was ALL WORTH it. I was expecting great but this was out of this world. Being in the events business, I was so inspired to create events of this scale and ambition. The energy created by the music, illusions, performances and dazzling display of lights is very unique and amazing. The House of Dancing Water is a definite MUST WATCH. I suggest you to book your flight to Macau asap, or stop by when you are in HK. It's so good, I still want to watch it a second time, and a third time, and a fourth time. It is definitely the greatest show on earth.




TICKET PRICES
Book online through the their website.


Cat1 - VIP 
Adult - HKD1380 

Cat2 - A Reserve 
Adult - HKD880 
Child - HKD620* 
Student, Senior, Macau Resident - HKD790* 

Cat3 - B Reserve 
Adult - HKD680 
Child - HKD480* 
Student, Senior, Macau Resident - HKD610* 

Cat4 - C Reserve 
Adult - HKD480 
Child - HKD340* 
Student, Senior, Macau Resident - HKD430* 

Comments

  1. KukiSeptember 20, 2011 at 8:43 PM

    Wow, nice review. The first time I watched a Cirque show was 6 years ago in Vegas. I watched O at the Bellagio and it had that similar water component in the show with the draining stage, etc. But from your review, the House of Dancing Water seems to have outdone the Vegas show. I agree, a must-see.

    ReplyDelete

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