Cavallo Equestrian Arts - Winter 2009 Issue of Horses in Art Magazine

Cavallo Equestrian Arts

by Kathie Rogers

Olissio performs at the Kansas State Fair.
Intriguing music sets the mood as riders in jewel-toned shirts and gypsy pants bolt into the arena bareback on dashing stallions whose luxurious manes swirl in the wind. A combination of unfamiliar melodies, exotic outfits, intense colors and charging horses let the mundane disappear and theater begin. Suddenly, we are part of a gypsy camp where the horses are magical and the riders even more so.

Imagine a Russell Crowe/Jeremy Renner character urber cool, quiet, calm, in command - entering the stage and fixing his gaze on a beautiful, remote princess. She is spellbinding, a fairytale ballerina with an enigmatic smile framed by spectacular long dark hair. He bows, holds out his hand for the waltz, the princess accepts, and they dance beautifully together, step for step, turn for turn. At the end of the dance, he looks at her with absolute conviction in one glance, but says nothing. The look is perfection. The story is complete and completely beautiful.

It is a mesmerizing performance, all the more wonderful because the hero of the play dances on horseback through dressage. His bay stallion canters voltes around her. The black shawl swirls as they separate, mimicking the movement of the horse's flowing black tail. The waltz is courtly and close, with delightful turns at collected walk and canter; followed by segments of mirror-image passage, piaffe and Spanish Walk, in which the dancer's legs match the height and motion of the horse's front legs. At the conclusion of the dance, the prince's stallion rises on two legs to perform a perfectly balanced levade, then stretches higher into a full pesade. Amazingly, the stallion completes two 360 degree pirouette circles while maintaining his exquisite form.

Following the waltz, the camp comes alive with incredible horsemen on thundering stallions. They bound effortlessly from the ground to the back of a horse, juggling knives, Roman riding over jumps or turning flips while the horses gallop at speed under them. The pace is wild and the riding is wilder. In a world of special effects and computer animation that enable movie characters to fly through the air with no threat of injury, Cavallo brings us real people who do real (and really amazing) flights through the air, each one life threatening yet each one performed fearlessly, as if the acrobats are indestructible. They ride without safety harnesses or helmets. In movies, there are as many "takes" as the director needs to get the scene perfect. Here, there is only one.

The creator and manager of Cavallo Equestrian Arts, master horse trainer, choreographer, and hero of the waltz, is Olissio Zoppe, whose family have been equestrian circus performers since 1842. This legacy has allowed Olissio to bring world-class talent to the Kansas State Fair. We watch them in real time, experiencing the rich tapestry of the theater they create and the nuance one can only see in a live performance. Cavallo opens our hearts to the beauty of the horses and their story.

~ Back ~