Cavalia's Odysseo—A Show Beyond Belief!

Tickets: cavalia.com or call 1-866-999-8111

By C. MacDonald

It's only fitting that the greatest, most astonishing, memorable human/horse show on earth opened yesterday (and runs through Jan. 7, 2018) under a 125-foot tall tent as big as a football field in Camarillo, Ventura County.

Cavalia's Odysseo, the largest touring production around, features more than 50 artists and 65 horses in the town named for and made famous by Adolfo Camarillo, who in 1921 started breeding a mainly Spanish-blooded horse known for its pure white color. It became known as "The Camarillo White Horse."

There's a statue of Adolfo atop his famed horse not far from the gigantic white tent (off US 101 at Santa Rosa Exit) where you will see many of Odysseo's talented, often white male horses of 12 different breeds from Spain, Portugal, France, Germany, Canada and the United States. The late Camarillo would have loved the stunningly beautiful creatures.

Odysseo is about performances of jaw-dropping awe, hold-your-breath trick riding, acrobatics of disbelief, and entertainers in astonishing sync, who continuously provide a "Wow!" which leads to thunderous ovations.

There are purebred Arabian horses that look like they're racing around on their own, then split up and do various things—all directed by the inaudible commands of their trainer, kneeling in the center of the stage.

You'll see:

• Several women, each standing on two parallel horses (one foot on each animal) at full gallop, and a male rider going from sitting upright to sliding around, then under and back up, all on a horse in full motion.
• There are even riders jumping off and back up on their galloping critter's backs.
• There's gravity-defying tumbling and flips by athletes, who should be in the Olympics.

You really have to see this show to believe it. And even if you see it, you probably won't believe half the things you see. The scenes are extraordinary on a 17,500-square-foot stage, which creates a 3D effect because of a rising 3-story tall hill made of 10,000 tons of rock, earth and sand, along with breathtaking backdrops made by 18 projectors simultaneously on a "cyclorama," three times the size of the largest cinema screen.

This show is literally bigger than big. It's hard to describe. It seems like a journey of joy, of emotions, of magnificent artistry and bonding between the two and four-legged entertainers (the latter stars live in a climate-controlled stable tent with showers).

There's even a full-size merry-go-round, complete with manufactured horses, which drops down from the ceiling and provides a spinning prop for some of the most amazing acrobatic air ballet you'll ever see. You definitely won't want to miss the finale when 40,000 gallons of recycled water inundates the stage, turning it into a place of playful frolic for the human and animal entertainers.

Plaudits to the spectacular horses and the diverse, multi-talented acrobats, riders, dancers and musicians from Guinea, Brazil, Italy, Russia, Spain, South Africa, Canada, the Ukraine, France, Poland and the United States.

Passionate, innovative Artistic Director Normand Latourelle, a pioneer of Cirque du Soleil, had stunning visions which helped make Odysseo larger than life. Director Wayne Fowkes, Set Designer Guillaume Lord and their team have created a whole new, exciting visual definition to the term, "horsing around." It's a show you will never forget!