Rating: 
Summary: 5 Stars for the SHOW - 0 for the sound
Review: I rate the show 5 stars. Probably their best production. As always with Cirque - you need to see it live really. I have seen it twice. I note others who were bored by Mooky (the female clown) and the aerial straps, performed by identical twins formerly in the British gymnastic team... I have to disagree (with the boredom comments) - maybe because I have seen the show live. Mooky is certainly funnier live, and appears a few more times for a couple of seconds. Aerial Straps is one of the highlights in the live show - but it looks far less spectacular on DVD.HOWEVER: the sound quality on this DVD is appalling. There are constant volume changes (only on the main feature), which really detract from the overall experience. I think they should fix it and offer free replacement to us poor trailblazers who bought the original. Very shabby that they did not do a quality check before releasing the DVD to the unsuspecting public.
Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT - A MUST BUY & MUST SEE
Review: I saw this show first on the Bravo Channel and then I saw the live show in Pomona. I absolutely HAD to buy the DVD. First of all, the clowns were totally hilarious. My sides were hurting I laughed so hard. The acrobatics, Icarian games, balancing act, trapeze act, and aerial straps were beautiful, amazing, and striking. The DVD has spectacular footage and great camera angles. The sound is great on the DVD. Maybe even better than at the live show. If people were not getting good sound, they may need to adjust their speakers? There are interviews, the special "Fire Within," and other things on the DVD. 2 Disk Set. Well worth the money.
Rating:
Summary: WOW!!!
Review: I saw Varekai in Chicago, and it was completely mind-blowing!! My absolute favorite act of all time is Olga's hand balancing routine in Varekai. To describe the current incarnation of the act as merely being flawless would be to insult it. It goes beyond mere performance; it is MAGIC!
The Atherton twins' Aerial Strap act, the Russian Swings act, and the Icarian Games are also quite Spectacular. I do hope that Bravo releases their reality series "Cirque du Soleil: Fire Within" on DVD. It gives some inkling of the heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears that went into making Varekai.
Rating:
Summary: Varekai burns with tallent and excitement!
Review: I saw Varekair on Bravo, right after the Fire Within series finished. It was the premeir on TV. I have wanted to see the show in person, but the tour passed me by! The DVD is almost as good. With the most interesting compilation of music and unique performances, Varekai is not to be missed!
The plot of Varekai is a myth about a magic bird who falls from the sky and looses the ability to fly. He is helped by some very interesting creatures and animals who inhabit the strange place he has fallen into. The creatures perform different shows for him, but the real interest is in a beautiful caterpillar, who plays the female lead. The two fall in love, but the caterpillar is kiddnapped by the spider/arcrobats on the tripple trapeeze. When she is returned, she has changed into a mystical white caterpilar creature, and she has a wonderful performance for the magic bird before the wedding.
This show is simply amazing, with excellent lighting and cues, music, acting and performances. Don't foget about the "clowns" who are played by a very hunky magician and his assistant who I think are hysterical! One of Cirque's finest shows!
Rating: 
Summary: Spastic MTV style camera work renders Varekai unwatchable.
Review: I'm a fan of Cirque du Soleil. I consider the performances to be art and have seen several live. It is a shame the editing of so many of the Cirque DVD's completely destroy the mood and pace of the show. Everyone that sees Varekai (DVD)is annoyed by the headache-inducing constant (read every 2 seconds) camera changes, fades,
up angles, down angles,sweeps and slow motion inserts. JUST BACK OFF AND LET US WATCH THE FREAKING SHOW! What a waste. Buy the Quidam DVD and accept that Cirque once did a good job filming a performance but there were no more to be had.
Rating:
Summary: DETAILED review of what you'll see
Review: If you have never seen Varekai (Cirque Du Soleil's newest world touring show as of Dec '02), let me sum it up for you. Varekai tells a tale of Icarus, who falls from the sky, to be cofronted by forest creatures who inhabit the place he lands. He looses his wings during the fall. And the whole show there is a theme of survival, and never giving up. There is even a happy ending for Icarus! Varekai is filled with the most energetic and beautiful tunes. In Cirque Du Soleil tradition another excellent soundtrack put forth for the show. Varekai includes. . . Icarian Games - men juggle other men on their feet
Triple Trapese - 4 spider like women artistically share one suspended trapese
Juggling - everything from soccerballs to ping pong balls with his mouth!
Water Meteors - 4 Chinesse youths twirl ropes with balls on the end
Flight of Icarus - the opening arial act
Georgian dance - a rousing dance number
body skating - a large group of performers balance and dance around on "ice"
Handbalancing - amazing balancing with one hand, even one leg!
Acrobatic pas de duex - a sensual dance and balancing act by one man and one woman
handbalancing on canes - a dance number on crutches, it symbolizes Icarus' struggle
Areal Straps - 2 male twins fly high about the stage displaying strength and accuracy I beleive I have covered them all. I was lucky enough to see the show live in Chicago. And there is nothing compared to that. But it seems that this time Cirque has gone the extra yard. Unlike their previous DVDs you will actually get to see some of the pre-show goings on. Each show LIVE there is alot of stuff in the beggining of the show you do not see on the DVD. Like an opening number, interaction with the audience, SOME kind of way to open up the show. Cirque has outdone themselves this time by really giving the at home viewers an even better feeling of the WHOLE show. All in all, this is a show you can not miss. And you get to see even more than in their past shows on DVD! This is a MUST buy.
Rating: 
Summary: I may be the only one, but I was disappointed
Review: Judging from the other reviews, I guess I am alone in saying I didn't like this show all that much; I have all the Cirque DVDs and would rate this below several others in many respects. First, though, I'll say that I loved the DVD from a technical viewpoint. The photography was spectacular and the colors...many times while watching I would just sit back and marvel at the colors, thinking "Wow, is that beautiful!" The sound was also superb, especially in DTS (which I think is definitely superior to Dolby 5.1). The extras were interesting and the mult-angle stuff was well-done. What I really didn't like that much was the show itself. Complaints: too much time devoted to the clowns, whom I didn't find funny; too much emphasis on "drama" and trying to tell a story and not enough circus acts (they shouldn't forget "Cirque" is the first word in their name, which implies circus acts and not acting); and the acts they had were not that good. The juggler and the Icarian games were top-notch and rate with the best, but I too find aerial straps boring (and there were 2 acts like that, by the twins and the girl, and a third that was similar, the 4 girls on the platform), and the rest (balancing, etc.) we've seen before and by more exciting performers. I guess this was just too "artsy" for me; I'd much prefer they get back to presenting the top circus talent in the world, and more of it.
Rating:
Summary: Simply Sublime
Review: My sister surprised me with tickets to see "Varekai!" in San Francisco a couple of months ago, and even though I love Cirque du Soleil and have seen many of their shows I was still totally blown away.
"Varekai!" has many of the familiar trademarks of the Cirque; the juggler, the comedy relief, the girl doing insane balancing tricks on some sort of pole/stand/etc. But this time around things are distinctly more colorful. The sets are designed to mimic a tropical rainforest, and the costumes are a cross between the brightest insects and animals of nature and Venice at Carnival time. There is also a heavier emphasis on dancers, particularly Gypsy and Romanian dancing. The results are spectacular.
While the full impact of the show cannot be felt by watching the DVD (there was one stunning sequence involving waltzing fireflies that simply does not come across on video), it is still well worth buying. The comedy is hilarious (we can thank the Cirque for actually making clowns funny instead of vaguely disturbing) and the music several notches above past Cirque endeavors. "Varekai!" is my favorite Cirque show (I've seen all of them except "O") and I highly highly recommend buying the DVD if you can't go see the actual show. Three cheers for a job well done and for a circus that continues to provide innovative and enchanting entertainment.
Rating: 
Summary: GREAT SHOW
Review: Of course the show is FANTASTIC saw it tonight live in DENVER and the dvd is $35 at the show - so buy it here and save $ - and when you catch your breath - watch it again! The twins are amazing And you wont beleive the ending! I had front row seats and still cant beleive what I saw, felt and heard! This is the way the rainbo was meant to be seen! WOW CIRQUE at its VERY best.
Rating:
Summary: Out of this world
Review: The acrobats are amazing, costumes and music make you feel as if you were dreaming. As stunning as this DVD is - it makes you want to see the whole thing live, and as awesome as the entire production of the show, so is the supplementary DVD containing interviews with the artists as well as all the challenges and hard work that went into producing this masterpiece.
The drama of this performance takes place deep within a forest, in an extraordinary world where just about anything is possible. The story begins with the fall of Icarus (from Greek mythology), where a romantic interest develops between him and one of the inhabitants of this world - a caterpillar who by the end of the show turns into a butterfly. While they are attempting to be together, numerous inhabitants of this world attempt to stand in their way, though in the end they manage to get married and there is a big celebration.
The entire production, including all the creative elements is a fruit of teamwork, where each artist contributed not only acrobatic skills, but also creativity.
Beside the extraordinary acrobats, dancers and musicians, from all over the world, there are several humorous and very creative clowns - the one that introduces the show is in a way an overseer of the inhabitants, an inventor, and quite a character.
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