On August 7th, my mom and I drove out to Newark, NJ to see the premier of Cirque du Soleil’s newest show Saltimbanco. This being my 5th journey into the world of Cirque du Soleil, I’m no stranger to this phenomenon, which is the brainchild of former street performers Guy Laliberte and Daniel Gauthier. Although I haven’t seen anything that quite competes with their last show “Quidam” that came through Randall’s Island a few years ago, I am always overwhelmed by the ability of the show’s creators to transport me into another world entirely. From the clowns, who come out before the show starts to play seriously funny pranks on the crowd, to the use of unintelligible made up language, the show is universally accessible because the story is delivered through the acts themselves. The theme of Saltimabanco was the metropolis and all of the quirks and eccentricities that one can find in any large city, but when I watch Cirque du Soleil, I always feel as if I have landed on a different planet. I laughed with the beat-boxing clown as he swam through an imaginary closet of sewage. I teared up at the sheer capability of the human body during the Spanish rope duet and double trapeze. And then, when it was all over, I stepped back into the real world with a refreshed sense of wonder.