I was lucky enough to be invited to a blogger workshop with the Cirque Eloize iD cast as well as an evening at Foxwoods to see the show. All opinions are my own and they didn’t make me promise to write nice stuff (or anything at all, actually). 

We live really, really close to Foxwoods which happens to be the biggest casino in the whole country. It’s less than 20 minutes from our door to their’s and less than 10 minutes from that lake where we have the summer membership, although it feels like it’s on a different planet. It means we get a lot of cool shows and concerts only a few minutes from our house rather than having to drive an hour to a “real” city. They also have a California Pizza Kitchen, an arcade and they do fun stuff like set up an ice skating rink in the winter, so even with kids we go to Foxwoods pretty regularly.

Last Friday, E and I left the kids with some very helpful friends and went to the Fox Theater for what I was told was a “blogger workshop” with the cast of Cirque Eloize. It turns out by “blogger workshop” they meant “get right up there on the stage” and “take as many pictures as you want!” and “do you want me to balance on that chair again so you can get a better video?” and even “sure, come jump on our high-powered trampoline!”

I kept wondering if I had forgotten to sign a liability waiver at some point, because surely they don’t just let people do stuff like this?

This was one of my fellow bloggers who made the mistake of saying she wanted to volunteer:

And THIS is the CEO of Foxwoods, who came down to welcome us and said he had personally asked Cirque to come after seeing their show in Canada.

The show is called Cirque Eloize iD and it’s a combination of contemporary circus meets b-boy hip-hop (so very So You Think You Can Dance) meets West Side Story. That doesn’t sound like it makes much sense, but it absolutely does.

I cannot believe I just posted pictures of myself jumping on a trampoline on the internet, but how often in real life do you get to jump on a super high-powered trampoline? It was so much fun. I’ve definitely added “trampoline” to my list of things in my dream home.

Their trampoline tricks were just SLIGHTLY more impressive than ours:

In theory I know how to juggle, because I read Juggling For Dummies as a teenager. But juggling bean bags in my basement 16 years ago didn’t do much to prepare me for the stage. I think I did better than most people though (and by most people I mean my husband). Embarrassing video evidence:

The cast couldn’t have been nicer or more friendly to all of us. Considering they do 8 incredibly hard, physically demanding shows a week I was so impressed they were willing to take time out of their schedule to hang out with us and tolerate our questions. Did you know there’s a huge kid circus program in Minnesota? The only American in the cast was from St. Paul and said he got started just by going to a circus camp when he was seven. Most of the rest of the cast member we met were either French or French Canadian. Did you know you can go to circus college and get an actual four-year degree in circus? I’m pretty sure if I knew that was an option I would have signed up immediately – although the guy who did the bike tricks told us he actually has a degree in marketing.

After the workshop, E and I actually had time to pick up the kids and leave them with a second babysitter (because 3 kids is a lot of kids to leave with someone for 8 hours) and then come back for the BEST sushi we’ve ever had. Every single thing at Red Lantern was delicious, but if you go I forbid you to leave without trying the lobster rangoon and the ronin sushi roll.

Pirate Punch OBVIOUSLY comes in a pirate themed cup.

Mine was a sake sangria, because I can’t have sushi without sake but I am a 33 year old mother of 3 and doing straight sake shots is just a really poor choice.

Dessert was a caramel banana bread pudding. E told me we couldn’t have dessert or we would be late for the show, but how can you not order caramel banana bread pudding? He fully admits he was incorrect and it would have been a crime not to eat this.

There’s a no photography rule during the actual performance (and my photos would have been incredibly inadequate anyway) but here are some of the professional stills Foxwoods sent me so you can see how totally different that boring gray set looks during the actual show.

The show was amazing. Super amazing. I am kicking myself for not bringing Evan and Caroline, because even though it was 2 hours long the time completely flew by and I am positive they would have LOVED everything about it. Besides the bike thing and the trampolines and the juggling there was all the other stuff you think of when you think of Cirque, including a contortionist and a girl who hung by her toes from a spinning hoop. I’m a little sad they didn’t let us try any of that during the workshop (because in my head I’m incredibly graceful and flexible and would be a total natural at hanging from scarves or hoops). Which is probably exactly why they didn’t let us try it.

If you’re anywhere in the area – I mean area very loosely, since Foxwoods is a resort with plenty of hotel rooms and plus if you come to Connecticut you can come over for dinner – I highly recommend the show. Cirque Eloize iD is playing at the Fox Theater from now until August 30th, and you can follow that link to see showtimes and buy tickets. Thank you again to Foxwoods and Cirque Eloize for inviting us!

Tags: circus, cirque eloize, cirque eloize id, Connecticut, fox theater, foxwoods, foxwoods resort casino, fun stuff, hosted, things I love