Cirque du Soleil Crystal :A Breakthrough Ice Experience

Yesterday, my kids and I got a one of a kind opportunity. We were allowed backstage at Cirque du Soleil's CRYSTAL, in Baltimore's Royal Farms Arena. Not only did we get to see how the show comes together from hair and costumes but also got to see the performers rehearsing amazing scenes...ALL ON ICE!

Crystal's various wigs that need to be styled for each performance.

Performer's shoes with nails hammered into them so they can walk on ice and not slip.

Crystal is Cirque du Soleil's first show on ice. The show has world-class ice skaters and acrobats claiming their frozen "playground" with speed and acrobatic beauty Cirque is known for. If you've seen a Cirque show before, this is totally new and different as the addition of ice defies all expectations.

Follow Crystal, the lead character, on an exhilarating tale of self-discovery as she dives into a world of her own imagination. Feel the adrenaline as she soars through this surreal world at high speed to become what she was always destined to be: confident, liberated, empowered. If you're taking young kids, there is an element of Elsa in Frozen in this show but very different. The show is divided into various dream sequences and segments.

PLAYGROUND is hockey game on the pond that turns into a high-octane romp on ramps where extreme skaters do crazy flips, twists and jumps at breakneck speed, until the ice turns into a giant pinball machine. We watched this practice and it was incredible but a whole other thing with costumes and rock music. My five year old son LOVED this.

BALLROOM was one of my favorite segments. Crystal falls in love and the couple performs a spellbinding aerial straps/skating pas de deux that blurs the boundary between ice and sky. The couple is interacting to Beyoncé's song Halo, one of four "popular" songs utilized and it's beautiful and romantic with an amazing level of aerial intensity.

In TEMPÊTE, acrobatics are mixed with skating in a fun, high-energy number where tumbling is interwoven with jumps, flips, spins and gliding on blades.

This show combines exhilaration with fun, romance and adventure. My group was made up of kids, Millenials, 40 somethings and grandparents. We ALL loved it. It's playing at Royal Farms Arena, in downtown Baltimore, through July 8th.

You can purchase tickets here: http://www.royalfarmsarena.com/events/detail/cirque-du-soleil-crystal