Last night, I got to attend my first Cirque du Soleil show in person - Delirium. I had a chance to see the show at the American Airlines Center in Dallas from one of the suites on the Platinum level.

The show was absolutely amazing, but in some respects it wasn't exactly what I was expecting. I have seen several Cirque shows on Bravo, including the Cirque du Soleil Fire Within reality series that captured the behind the scenes preparation for the Varekai production. Based on those programs, I was expecting something similar - something in the vein of avant garde circus with really cool acrobatics and some awesome background music. And there were those elements in Delirium. But it was much more like a rock concert with some very cool production value.

Which is not to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy myself. The opening musical act, Nitza, was a nice mixture of eastern and western music. Not to mention that the opening act started right at 8pm (as advertised), ran 20 minutes (as advertised) and was followed by a 25 minute break as Delirium got set up (as advertised). Very unlike a typical rock concert. Which pretty much followed the theme for the rest of the evening. Lots of music, lots of visual elements to try to take in, a few acrobatic elements (which were simply amazing - hard to believe that human beings can do those things), and an audience that really did appreciate the production.

Would I like to have seen more of the circus type elements that Cirque has become known for in shows past? Yes. But this was still an experience unlike any other I expect to ever witness. The musicians were incredibly talented, and everything flowed very smoothly.

All in all, well worth the price of admission.