What to expect at Extra Terrestrial Wow (ET Wow!) Event?

I had the privilege of attending this afternoon’s show of Extra Terrestrial Wow!, organized by Showspace, at Music Academy, Chennai. This post shares details about the show and what to expect. I had attended their 2010 edition and after 4 years, it was nice to view the act again.  Some of the acts were different this time.

Before I proceed further, let me try to explain what is ET WOW! Many people have this question, as this is not a conventional show. It is not a circus or magic show, it is not a stage play, it is different. Then what is it? Why should I bother to read more about Extra Terrestrial Wow? What is all this hype about?

ET WOW! Is a live show of 9 different acts, which can’t be performed by normal beings like us. These shows are performed by artists who have mastered it after years of practice and have won recognition all over the world for their ability to perform these acts. The artists or performers are from different parts of the world (4 teams were from Russia, 2 from Ukraine, 1 each from Brazil, Germany and China). Had it not been for Showspace who have decided to put together this event, you’d have had to go on a world tour to witness similar shows.

The ticket prices are absolutely worth it. For show dates, timing, ticket fare check http://www.wowet.in/ or my earlier post.

I was told photography is not allowed, hence no photos for you. Video samples included

1. Pole Apart- Victoria and Konstantin  from Russia

As the stage opened up, a pole was fixed at the centre, held in place by 3 strings. A gentleman and a woman came on stage, did various acts around the pole- they climbed up as easy as one would climb up a ladder, the held unside down, hanged perpendicular to the pole, moved in between each other in perfect coordination and various other acts to wow the audience.

Victoria and Konstantin together are called "duo Funkoholics" and true to their name, they defy gravity and everything else humanly possible to leave the audience speechless. This duo came together 4 years ago and since then there has been no looking back. Lot of practice, mutual trust and a light weight body seems to the key. 

The guy who does German wheel is a different Konstantin.

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSp3mdHho7c

2  Zhora Oganisyan, the crazy goalkeeper-Russia

This football season, Zhora's skills with football were a treat to the eyes. He could juggle with multiple balls. He could remove his shirt while holding a football on the back of his neck and do many other stints.

He stood on another giant football and started juggling. From one football in hand he progressively increased the count, to 2, 3, 4 and eventually 5 footballs, constantly tossing them in air one by one. (ETwow website said 7, but I think I saw him holding a max of 5 or 6, I could be mistaken)

Zhora Oganisyan, has been practicing this since the age of 7 and it has been 21 years since he's starting giving shows around the world.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldFF_9WhaX4

3 Duo Valerie from Ukraine- Zero Gravity Feat

They held on to two fabric ropes held down from ceiling and performed wide range of acrobatic acts in the air, holding on to these ropes. They bend, stand on each other, rollup themselves with the fabric ropes and perform gravity defying acts to keep you wowed.

As there were 2 performers in this act, I tried finding their exact names- no luck.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cnyyWjF4k-E

4 Mouraviev Konstantin, the Fatman Wheeler, Russia

This guys walks on to the stage, shows us a picture of a macho man and expresses his desire to be like the man in the picture. Unfortunately our fat man has a fat belly and his attempts to loose it using skipping and other exercises fail miserably. Then he is offered a ring- large one. What can a fatman do with a ring? Will it help him loose weight? Check it out on stage!

The acrobats on the ring, coupled with good humor will make you remember this act for long. His website is here http://www.kmouraviev.com/


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTlBHIyxHPA

5 Umbrella queen, China

All of 26 years of age, Wang Fei started training at the young age of 8 and did her 1st performance when she was 11 years old. It has now been 15 years and she has been WOWing audiences across Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, Austria, France and Italy. She uses Umbrellas in her act and has them dancing to her tunes, all the while lying on her back on a chair.

Once done with umbrellas, she got on to perform same act using a piece of cloths (looked like a thick mat)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4W7g0ca-YQ

6  Duo Brise- Handy twist-Aerobatic couple from Ukraine

Can you steady yourself upside down, on one hand rested on your partner's head?  Can you lift someone up vertically in that position?

Professional sports acrobatic, Duo Brise began their journey back in 2003. Olga and Oleg Miekhova Kolesnichenko are award-winning acrobats who wow the audiences with their modern handstand acrobatics. Sleek moves, near impossible acts of balance are what set them apart from other artists. The ease with which they transition between positions and a splash of romance is how they express their story to the audience. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aDw491tAYo

7. Illusion artists Vik and Fabrini from Brazil

A bit of magic and some incredible acting- one of the artists stands like a robo, bending, twisting and doing other things not possible for someone with a straight bone.

All the while you would have believed the second person is indeed a machine or some artificial thing- only after the lights are out, you realize that this is indeed human, as he walks back normally!


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IQIql2G9-ig

8. Russian Bar- Extravagant beam, Ukraine
You’ve seen acrobatics during Olympics. How about performing it on a flexible bar, held on the shoulders of two other men.  Do you trust your buddies to hold it tight so that you won’t come crashing down?

Oleg Mashuskiy, Oleg Grunichev and Valeriy Bondarenko are the three men who come together for the Russian Bar Renome act. Like most other acrobat artists, they started young, and have been touring the world as a team for nearly 7 years now. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jAVjNkxG0w


9  Strahelman and Sohne-Trial Room Jugglers, from Germany

These two people could have easily passed off as some senior corporate executives. But what they can do is something no corporate guy can even dream about doing. They can change their dresses in front of the audience- so what? The point is, they do it while juggling. 

Strahelman and Sohne started working together back in 1997, have been enthralling audiences with their Trial Room Juggling Act. Performing world over is what brought them together, which is probably why they have done nearly 3500 shows in the 17 years they have been together. 


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpiDJjCs99g

2010 edition had a man on single wheel cycle, a golden man and few other acts. Each year, expect some changes in the line up.

These acts are done manually again and again, not recorded and replayed. They need to get it right each time, every time. There were a few instances where there was a slip- a juggle fell down, performer slipped off the Russian bar and a moment when Konstantain couldn't hold Victoria any longer on his shoulders- they recovered very quickly and continued with their act, without anyone realizing the slippage. Full kudos to them

A few tips:

Seating is on first come-first serve basis. Go early, even with low priced ticket, you can get a seat with good view. (Take a seat in centre of the hall and avoid extreme corners)

Note: videos are sourced from youtube, uploaded by Showspace.