This year's Cirque has much better balance

Chicago Tribune: "Some years ago in Beijing, I saw a pyramid of Chinese acrobats suffer a massive collapse. A panicked stagehand brought down the curtain -- which moved very slowly. But though arms were slipping and bodies were falling everywhere, the young performers still managed a kind of midair freeze, smiles in place until that curtain of deliverance hit the floor. Heaven knows what it looked like backstage afterward, but from the seats, it was among the most extraordinary displays of professionalism I've seen."