Despite a couple of apparent close calls somehow Tyro managed to keep the best Christmas surprise I could ask for a secret for over a month! 

For years now Ive been dropping not so subtle hints about my desire to see Cirque du Soleil perform live. While there are regular performances across the European continent and a permanent Las Vegas troupe its pretty rare for them to come to New Zealand and unfortunately for me the time they chose to was very close to us immigrating to the UK so wasnt something that was in the budget. Typical then, that the time they come back to London is once again the month we pack up to head home. I had resigned myself to not-again-this-time when a Christmas card came my way which contained a note telling me to be home, ready to go in my best outfit, at 4pm SHARP on Tuesday 15th January....... Ooooo but what could it be!? Not someone known for my patience, it was extremely frustrating having to wait 3 weeks to find out what was in store. But the wait was SO worth it! 
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My surprise evening started with dinner at a yummy Thai restaurant in Kensington and a bottle of delish kiwi wine, but I still had no idea what the rest of the evening had in store for me. After dinner Ty said we were going for a walk. Now, I was in a pretty dress and high heels....not exactly a winter 'walking' outfit but off we went along High St Ken. I was so busy focusing on trying to ignore the blisters that were appearing on my toes by distracting myself with inane chit chat that I wasn't paying attention to where we were going, when suddenly I looked up and saw a big Kooza poster on the side of the Royal Albert Hall! Oh my gosh are we going to Cirque?!?!??! A little squeal of excitement and my blisters were all but forgotten! Yus! Stoked! Best boyfriend ever! But the suprises kept coming... We went around to our gate and were ushered to our seats - 5 rows from the front!! Wow!

Kooza tells the story of The Innocent, a melancholy loner in search of his place in the world, and is apparently a  return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil. It combines two circus traditions - acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The feeling of being at the 'circus' began from the moment we sat down with the popcorn merchants walking around and the slapstick clown giving away "Ballooooooons". When the show began however I couldn't take my eyes off the stage - come intermission I had to remind myself to shut my mouth! It was incredible! I wish we were able to take photos  as some thing's really have to be seen to be believed... the bendy contortionist lady who effectively break-danced upside down had me wishing for even an eighth of her flexibility and the sultry tango dancers would have been mesmerizing enough without the man also being on a unicycle!

How someone decides that stacking 8 dining table chairs on top of each other and then performing a handstand on top of them all, or strapping their legs into a pair of stilts before being catapulted 30 feet up in the air to perform a triple somersault is a good idea is beyond me, but my heart was in my mouth the entire time!

The experience was taken to another level by the in-house band and two beautiful singers who created a luxuriously exotic atmosphere. Our slapstick clown was back in the second half displaying his true colours - a master scam artist and wiley pick pocket who would steal the jacket off your back in no time (or watch, tie, and wallet as one unsuspecting audience member found out!). While the poor guy was trying to work out what had been taken I was so preoccupied by the show that I forgot to eat the chocolates Ty had brought us to enjoy.

Dessert was supposed to follow the show but unfortunately everything was closed by the time it finished but lucky me came home to a massage. *happy sigh* what a brilliant night! now the only problem I have is working out how I'm going to trumps this next year!