Rating:
* * * *
Type: Water ski spectacular
Time: 30 minutes
Kelly says: A pared-down classic
Water skiing has been a Cypress Gardens trademark since the early 1940s. The current incarnation of the show is simplicity itself, showcasing talented athletes who, by dint of hard work, have become the best in the world at what they do. The result is a display of water skiing artistry that moves deftly from the pretty nifty to the truly amazing.
Three lovely “Aqua Maids” appear throughout the show, performing a variety of graceful maneuvers in a variety of pretty costumes that display their ample grace, but the heart of the show is the stunt skiing, and that is the province of the men. Barefoot water skiing seems amazing enough to me but these guys do it in more ways than you’d imagine possible, from starting out face down and backwards in the water to jumping off regular water skis at 45 miles an hour. On a variety of skis and ski boards, they twist and flip and dismount spectacularly at the foot of the stands.
There is also an interlude of “adagio” skiing, a male-female team on a single pair of skis who engage in a series of graceful lifts as they speed along at 40 miles an hour. The form was borrowed from ice skating and adapted to water skis in the early seventies; I can’t help feeling it’s a lot harder on water.
In the guise of “The Rampmasters,” the guys put on a display of gutsy ramp jumping that involves aerial spins over the heads of their colleagues, back and front flips in unison, and something called a “gainer,” a sideways flip at nearly 50 miles an hour. In every show there is an amiable goof-off who provides an opportunity for some hijinks and derring-do that may not be pretty but is still pretty amazing.
As a sort of bonus, they throw in something that has little to do with water skiing, except perhaps that the hang glider involved gets his initial lift by being towed behind a boat. The announcer points him out off in the distance and then the crowd gapes skyward as the high flying daredevil circles downward to a pinpoint landing on the beach. Pretty neat if you’ve never seen it done before.
The show ends with a three-level human pyramid — three Aqua Maids held aloft by the guys. It makes for a rousing finish.
Historical note: Those who remember Cypress Gardens from the “old days” will notice that the current show is much smaller. The cast has been cut from twelve to seven and the more spectacular stunts, including a twelve-person, four-level pyramid, have been eliminated.
Back
to Chapter Contents
Didn't find what you were looking for? Try a Google search.
|
