We recently went to something called Fuerzabruta. We knew little going into it—we had watched the trailer, but it hadn't left much of an impression beyond slight confusion and a weirdly catchy song. We had also heard that it was kind of like a circus, very well reviewed, and that we might get wet. Like... Seaworld?
Ignorance turned out to be good preparation. The most concise way I can describe what followed is that it was euphorically surprising. I can't remember the last time I felt such a sense of wonder, the kind that compels your jaw to drop. The thing about jaw-dropping is that it's so often a voluntary motion to illustrate empathy or exaggeration or sarcasm, that the experience of a genuine one becomes surprising in its own right. In other words, I was blown away.
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| Literally. |
I did worry that writing about this could ruin the experience for others, but I don't think there's a risk. I can describe my reaction but I can't put the experience itself into words. You think you're going to see a circus but you're not. You think it's a funky percussion concert but it very quickly is not. You think, by the end, you know what to expect when the performers tell you to clear a circle, but then you remember the warning about getting wet.
What impressed me most was Fuerzabruta's ability to create new media. They're not even technically complicated—just starkly creative. It looks insanely fun for the performers. In return, the audience gets something new to see, hear, even touch.
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| Lit-trally. |
At the same time, the production features all the same elements as before. There is earth, wind, water, and in some shows, fire—familiar on their own, wondrous by their powers combined.