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Cirque Du Soleil’s Crystal Skates Into Denver Soon
By Mark Smiley
Photo by Olivier Brajon
Since 2017, CRYSTAL has performed in front of more than 1.9 million people in over 135 cities worldwide, blending the art of skating with adrenaline-inducing acrobatics and aerial feats. In total, the show spans two and a half hours with an intermission.
“CRYSTAL really pushes the boundaries of possibility within the circus arts. The show highlights Cirque du Soleil’s creativity in a new way and encourages audiences to find the magic of the everyday,” says Robert Tannion, Artistic Director, CRYSTAL. “Every time you watch, there’s something new to see and experience. It’s a magical story that springs to life on the ice and we can’t wait to bring it to Denver for the first time.”
Created by Shana Carroll and Sebastien Soldevila, CRYSTAL takes audiences on a journey of self-discovery. Dive into a world of playful imagination with the show’s protagonist, Crystal, as she learns to see things differently and become whom she was always destined to be: herself.
“The show is about a girl named Crystal who has a breakthrough experience where she sees her life in a different way,” said Crystal Manich, Cirque Crystal’s Artistic Director. “Before she has this experience we see how she struggles to fit in both at home and at school. She is a bit of an outcast. The show is about her journey of self-discovery and finding her voice and becoming a creative force in her own life realizing that she has things to do in order to grow.”
The show features a mixture of acrobats and ice skaters which is rare. In fact, it is the 42nd cirque creation and the company’s very first acrobatic experience on ice. This show features seven traditional circus acts, including trapeze, hand-to-hand, Banquine, aerial straps, hand-to-trapeze, juggling, and hand balancing – all adapted to be performed on ice. CRYSTAL is the first Cirque du Soleil production that uses real snow – the team makes approximately 300 snowballs each week.
“The response has been really great because we have all of the elements of a perfect Cirque du Soleil show but the ice does add an extra element of awe,” said Manich. “You’ll see everything you would expect to see in a Cirque du Soleil show and some surprises because of the uniqueness of the show itself.”
This type is show presents challenges not seen with a typical Cirque du Soleil show. Every arena has different ice and some performers say certain ice may be too soft or too hard in a particular venue.
“What people should expect is to have a great time and to see some of the world’s best performers on the ice in a unique way coming together with these various disciplines,” said Manich. “I think this is a special show.”
CRYSTAL Performance Schedule at Ball Arena:
Wednesday, March 13, 2024 – 7 p.m.
Thursday, March 14, 2024 – 7 p.m.
Friday, March 15, 2024 – 7 p.m.
Saturday, March 16, 2024 – 11:30 a.m., 3:30 p.m., & 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, March 17, 2024 – 12 p.m.
Tickets for Crystal are now available online at www.cirquedusoleil.com/crystal.
Photos : Matt Baker & Olivier Brajon
The Hangar Club: Denver’s Newest Indoor Golf Simulator Club
Lowry’s Latest Attraction Features A Full Menu And Bar And 10 Golf Simulator Bays
by Mark Smiley
Bays Available: Guests can reserve a bay which fits up to eight people for $45 per hour.
The Hangar Club, Denver’s newest indoor golf club, opened two months ago and is thriving in a fiercely competitive market. There are over 30 indoor facilities in Colorado and the Hangar Club hopes to be a step above the competition with its 22,000 square foot venue. They boast an elevated food menu, 36 televisions, a full bar, 10 large bays to practice golf, and state of the art technology.
The way that the Hangar Club separates itself from competitors, such as Local Drive, is “Our differentiation is really our staffing, the group of founders we put together, to make sure we put together the best experience in Colorado, and hopefully the Western United States, as far as indoor golf is concerned,” said Daren Schmidt, Founding Partner of the Hangar Club. “We wanted to give people the best possible experience inside of this building and we feel like we are doing it.”
“The technology is what we call the Ferrari of golf simulations,” said Schmidt. “If you look at any professional golfer or amateur golfer, or anybody that wants to become a great golfer, they use trackman.” Trackman was introduced to the golf world in 2003 and quickly gained popularity among professional golfers. Trackman utilizes Doppler technology to track and record the 3D characteristics of a sports ball in motion. It produces state-of-the-art hardware platforms and delivers improvements across tracking algorithms and front-end applications that are innovative.
The avid golfer can set up a profile and keep track of their swing and statistics. There are 260 courses to choose from in the simulators. “The amount of data this spits out is overwhelming,” said Schmidt. “What our pros do here is we condense the information you get. The average person coming in needs five data points.” The Hangar Club has two professionals on staff to help train and facilitate.
Lounge: Space is available to rent for corporate events, birthday parties, or any other event.
Schmidt and other investors, including James Love, who played professionally for 13 years, bought the property in June 2023 and spent $3.3 Million to renovate it. The hangar was originally built in 1942 and features vast amounts of natural light and open space due to its eight expansive steel beams and large windows used in the building’s original construction.
Menu: The Hangar Club features an elevated menu with finger foods, sandwiches, and pizzas.
Previously referred to as Building #376 (Armament Annex) and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2002, the building originally functioned as part of the armament school for the U.S. Army Air Corps and later the U.S. Air Force, the only one of its kind in the western United States. It trained thousands of armorers and bombardiers during World War II and the Korean War, including training on the Sperry bombsight and the top secret Norden bombsight, a key technology for winning the war.
Fast forward to today, Schmidt is proud to own a building on the base where his father was inducted into the Air Force. “I called dad who has now since retired and told him I’m buying this building in Lowry and he said that’s where I was inducted into the Air Force,” said Schmidt. “He remembered the building and was there when it was dirt roads and an Air Force base.”
Schmidt and the other investors are proud to be part of the fabric of the Lowry community. “We created a number of fillers we wanted associated with this, given that we own the real estate,” said Schmidt. “We are proud owners in the Lowry neighborhood. Community is number one and the beauty of the Lowry area is it is surrounded by other neighborhoods such as Cherry Creek and Mayfair. We wanted this to be a space where families could come, where avid golfers could come, and ultimately anybody and everybody who has either never played golf before or wants to be exposed to it, or the avid golfer to work on their game.”
From the avid golfer looking to perfect their skills to the casual friendly gathering of executives who want a different way to conduct business, Hangar Club combines work and play to provide an elevated experience and best-in-class service to all who walk through its doors.
Full Bar: The Hangar Club features a full bar and is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. every day.
Part of the elevated experience that the Hangar Club touts is the menu. “The whole concept was if you are going to be swinging a golf club, you don’t want a greasy cheeseburger and French fries,” said Schmidt. “We have great finger foods and sandwiches and tuna plates. We have everything from queso and guacamole and flatbreads. The intent was for people to have an elevated and premiere menu that you wouldn’t necessarily get at another simulator place.”
Hangar Club is located adjacent to Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum at 7600 E. 1st Place in Denver. The club’s entrance is on the east side of the building. Surface and covered parking are both available.
The Hangar Club opens at 6 a.m. for members and to the public at 11 a.m. and closes at 11 p.m. each day. During the week, a guest can reserve a bay for $45 per hour from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Eight people can fit in each bay. Visit hangarclub.co for more information.