O the show at Bellagio Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas; Read Jetsetters Magazine at www.jetsettersmagazine.com

“O”, Cirque Du Soleil at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino, in Las Vegas, Nevada is a fluid theatrical gift from the goddesses.

	"O" features 17 world-class swimmers

This stirring experience resuscitated my spirit and quenched my imagination’s thirst for divine beauty. It is an aquatic tapestry of surreal romantic theatre inspired by the elegance of water’s pure form. The images, performers, sounds, sets, costumes, lighting, and makeup submerged my senses into an innovative and breathtaking master piece that shown with illusory splendors.

At the heart of the production is a large 1.5 million-gallon pool of water center stage that emerges and disappears supplying the 85 cast of characters with a set that is liquid beauty. The fluid choreography of 17 world-class synchronized swimmers provided the necessary link between the elements of fire, earth, air, and water, and pushed for me the creative envelope of what beauty could be!

As I watched the performance unfold before me I gasped in astonishment! I realized that “O” was a true visual for what I imagined divine beauty to be. There was the Duo-Trapeze, performed by two aerialists who danced in the air with a single trapeze. Their breath-taking maneuvers and feet-to-feet catches emulated the beauty of harmony and complete trust.

The aerialist in the Solo Trapeze was a gymnastically challenging routine that mesmerized me. The spectacular dismount at the end as she flew threw the air and dove flawlessly into the water validated that beauty can be found when the elements of air and water are linked together as one.

The faces of "O".

Then the beauty found in strength and fearlessness emerged when a team of talented acrobats performed atop a floating raft in the Barge act. There were eight world champion women who had a background in sport acrobatics. They combined innovative gymnastic performances with the traditional circus act of banquine and the balletic prowess of adagio. The Olympic divers and the synchronized swimmers blended their skills with this act that validated beauty is discovered by balancing fearlessness with strength.

The momentum of energy built as the stage transformed itself into a performance of FIRE. I watched with a deep fascination as the performers incorporated the rage of fire from ancient folklore with the precision of the martial arts. As the water purified the performance the stage merged into one brilliant scintillating visual. Passion controlled by beauty.

	Weightless beauty.

As passionate as the evening became, there was immense pleasure in watching the beauty in celebration. It cast a spell over the entire theatre during the Russian Swing sequence. A church bell atop a large swing signaled for the party of life, love, and death to begin. The divers created a swinging movement and trajectory of flight that moved them from the initial point of ground level to the highest point of 32 feet. I held my breath as I felt the divers’ momentary weightlessness at zero gravity was followed by the tremendous acceleration down to the water. The intense pleasure in viewing this extremely dangerous feat was beautiful.

The show continued to astound and fascinate me as a cadre of performers dressed in zebra stripes displayed how to maintain balance in this stormy staged universe. They were constantly realigning themselves, hanging on until the very end. The entire number took place suspended in mid-air between the sky and the water. I decided that even living on the edge could be beautiful when we are resilient.

In the High Dive, four world class high divers leapt from a 60 foot grid level to a small exposed section of the pool. Taking the plunge from this high dive is a scary proposition for anyone. But I was terrified when one of the diver’s pulled from the audience a seemingly innocent spectator, and coerced him into taking the leap! What was the beauty in that? As the spectator took the plunge and expertly executed his dive, I realized that beauty was found in ALL that is possible.

Love turned upside down.

The beauty in precision was demonstrated with the Trapeze Washington. Unlike the tradition rope-hung trapeze, this was built on a fixed metal frame and swung in a long pendulum motion. Because it’s attached to a revolving carousel, while descending from the grid at four feet per second, it heightened the degree of difficulty in this act. This segment fused slack wire and tightrope elements with the high technology of the Bellagio Theatre. This precision of the symmetry was beautiful.

The human body can be a wondrous expression of beauty and when four little Mongolian girls who have been performing together from the age of eight took the stage their graceful body language and lithe movements expressed beauty in perfection of the female form. With the added dimension of water surrounding them, these aerial goddesses understood how to visually please an audience.

The images that “O” created for me that evening delighted my senses and excited my mind. There was a stainless steel piano that glided across the stage as if it was propelled by wind currents. Then it slowly, silently sunk below the surface. Even the clowns with their simple, poetic gestures that conveyed the many complexities of life brought a smile to my heart and a tear to my eyes. These two unpretentious souls on their personal search for answers were infectiously charming and beautiful.

	A floating feast for the eyes

The show’s beauty enraptured me as my senses feasted on the exquisite costume designs that were reminiscent of several periods from the 15th to the 20th centuries, with a special emphasis on the Romantic period of Venice where the European meeting point between East and West converged and all styles and forms came together with stunning beauty.

The expert lighting effects drenched the evening in beauty by mysteriously, majestically, and magically illuminating the fluidity, and the precision of all the performers.

There is an ocean of difference between what is beautiful and that which is divinely beautiful. More than five million people who have experienced this enthralling majestic production of “O” understand the difference. So if you need to resuscitate your spirit and renew your life, the divine beauty of “O” at the Bellagio Hotel will forever change your life.

— By Janice Wilson, Las Vegas Jetsetters Magazine Correspondent.

The "O" cast of characters.