Cavalia Odysseo

We received tickets for Cavalia Odysseo from friends and couldn’t pass up a date night downtown. The tents are located towards the water, across from the Gardiner. It was difficult to find a path across, but eventually made it a few minutes before the show started. Hint: Take Parliament Street. Parking is $ 20 if you park in their lot. I believe I saw some who prepaid for $ 15. If you don’t mind a short walk (or a long walk), there’s parking nearby for $ 10-​$ 12. We found a parking spot for $ 3 near George St and Adelaide St E.
Once you walk in, there is a lot of upselling. You can visit the stables for $ 20 for children and $ 30 for adults. There are also printed programs for a price. They also have merchandise on sale, but nothing has a price on it.
The show itself is pretty cool. I would say the show is 60% horsemanship and 40% acrobatics. Essentially like Cirque de Soliel with horses. It’s amazing how well-​trained the horses are. They will come to the riders when called upon, usually with a simple outstretched hand. What’s more amazing is that they can control over 4 horses at a time. Having said that, though, there were a few occasions where the horses ran off on their own and you can tell that it was unscripted because the riders will run after the horses. It just goes to show you how hard it is to do what they do. The riders do some crazy things, mostly around mounting and dismounting horses while they’re running.
The acrobats were really great as well. They definitely showed how skilled and how strong they are. There was a lot of jumping, back flipping, standing on shoulders, and balancing on poles and rings. The acrobats were definitely enjoyable to watch with or without horse involvement. We also enjoyed the music, which was played live. From what we can tell, there was a single, guitarist, violinist, and drummer. There may have been more musicians, but we couldn’t see them. The musicians were really good. I thought I was listening to a studio recording until I noticed them playing live.
Overall the show was really good and if you like horses then this is definitely the show for you. Prices are pretty high, but horses have to eat too! Don’t try to switch seats during the show/​during intermission because their ushers will come by and yell at you.

While the core acts are still excellent, I found this year’s edition to suffer from excess «filler» with acrobats and rodeo tricks. One would expect the focus of the show to be the horses and the special style of performances they can do. This was perhaps one half of the show. The rest was simple riding tricks that can be seen at any rodeo and acrobatics that are certainly below «cirque» quality.
A decent show, but not worth the price nor representative of the advertising.

I was pretty hesitant to go at first with all the mixed reviews… So I agree with a lot of Unilocalers (including those from Atlanta):
— There is no story to follow, so just relax and enjoy the show.
— Some dancers and acrobats were out-​of-​sync. I think that’s forgivable!
— It’s very difficult to get a 100% perfect show with animals, so they did a great job! During my show (Thurs Aug 30), there were only TWO horses that messed up. One panicked during the scene with 20 horses and its trainer had to calm him down. Another didn’t make the jump the first time. That’s it! I think that’s amazing.
— Be sure to eat before coming here. or pay $ 10 for two hot dogs and $ 4.50 a sprite
— Washrooms are clean here!
Firstly, I’ve never seen a Cirque show in my life. I can’t compare this show with Cirque’s, hence I really didn’t mind that the performers were out-​of-​sync. I thought they had a lot of energy though so that was really fun. The music was also really fun! African-​style drumming, a few lovely ballads, and a live band in the background with an amazing violinist.
OH the horses! They were phenomenal. I’m not a big horse fan… but I love animals in general. Horses poop as they jump around and the poor bare-​feet performers have to step on that. These horses are talented. They can lie down and get back up on command, they can walk for 80 circles and they still obey, they can stand still for the entire scene and still obey, and they run like the wind!!!
Overall, the performance was nice. I love how drapery and horses go together. I don’t regret going but the tickets were extremely pricey! Minus 1 star because there were some pretty slow and boring scenes. Oh and the girl who kept raising her arms to get the audience to cheer, she ended up not doing anything spectacular after the audience cheered so so so many times.

Overrated. Save your money for Cirque du Soleil; unless you’re a horse lover you’ll likely wish you’d had a nap at home instead. The best things about Odysseo are the human acrobatics but choreography, costume design and music are far inferior to Cirque. If you find dressage at the Royal Winter Fair riveting, this is the show for you.

I made the mistake of seeing Odysseo without having a particular fondness for horses.
The acrobatics weren’t nearly as excellent as Cirque du Soleil and the main focus of the show was definitely the magnificent horses. If you are interested in these beasts, then you’ll have a blast. But, if you are just looking for a fancy show, you are probably better off going to a Cirque performance or maybe catching a broadway show.
SPOILERS BELOW:
Choreography (of the humans) was often out of sync, and supposedly symmetric formations often had one or two stragglers. On the other hand, the horses were very cute, and their spontaneity provided some of the most endearing moments of the show. A horse stopping by to drink water from the lake was very natural, and although unplanned, it was sweet. Another horse getting lost on the way off the stage was also natural and sweet.
Going into Odysseo I expected to, at a minimum, see the classic formation of two riders side by side on a pair of horses with a third balancing on their shoulders. Unfortunately, even this staple of horse acrobatics was not included. Disappointing.

Magical isn’t a word uttered from my lips too often, but in the case of Cavalia’s Odysseo it’s a fitting description for something this otherwordly. Think Cirque du Soleil meets horsemanship along with acrobatic stunts, less clowns and more choreography.
The size of the Cavalia’s big top is gargantuan! I can easily say the stage area is twice to three times that of a usual cirque show! As usual the concessions are priced at a King’s ransom as two bottled waters and a large popcorn came to over $ 15!!! We attended a matinée show which means there were tonnes of kids and seniors so if you decide to take in a matinée, be prepared to wait a loong time to use the facilities!
The main draw of the show of course are the horses, which were stunning and of every breed and stripe from the fiery wide eyed Arabians (my favorite!) to the athletic Argentinian Criollo to the sturdy draft breed of French Percherons. Could there be a more beautiful creature than the noble horse? You can really sense a genuine and respectful bond between the horses and the performers. According to Cavalia the horses are trained in a manner that is slower and at leisure whereby the horses themselves enjoy the learning and performance experience. There were moments during the show when you knew a horse just didn’t want to co-​operate as Cavalia’s horses are allowed to have their improvisations humoured, much to the audience’s delight.
Hubby remarked that he preferred Cirque shows for their comically maniacal pace filled with action while laced with clownish humour but I imagine having this same pace would be problematic while incorporating horses. Odysseo by comparison is more so about grace and beauty, but it’s no snoozefest as there are some incredible feats of gasp inducing stunt and acrobatic work that certainly got my pulse going! Every last detail from the artistic direction, set design, lighting, live music, choreography and equestrian direction synthesize in a tour de force of awe inspiring amazement. I don’t want to give too much away but the ending sequence involves water and is so breathtaking, it profoundy struck something within me to the point that it almost made me cry!
As a whole the experience at Cavalia Odysseo was pure excellence. My only complaint is that the parking was really a mess! Thankfully hubby got impatient with the lot attendant’s lack of direction and decided to park nearby on Villiers street instead of the lot which was a success as we were able to avoid the usual chaotic queues that usually ensue after a big top show finishes.
Tickets for Odysseo range from $ 29.50 — $ 134.50 for regular seating, we were seated in the Gold section and had a pretty fantastic view. For $ 100-​$ 170 there’s the «Horse Lover» package, whereby one gets to visit with the horses after the show and for those who want the full experience including a meal, dessert buffet and a horse tour it’s $ 140 — $ 230 for VIP. The show is divided in 2 one hour blocks with a half hour intermission.
If you are a fan of ethereal spectacle and of the theatre then Odysseo is THE show of all shows! It certainly is one of the most visually stunning live performances I’ve ever had the pleasure to see. It will transport you to a world of picturesque splendour illuminating the beauty and majesty of these incredible creatures. Any lover of horses and the theatre will be in for a visual feast for the eyes and soul.