When Lawrence Ho, chief executive officer of Melco Crown Entertainment, announced the debut of a water-based show at his entertainment multi-complex City of Dreams, he knew he had to deliver something fantastic to make heads turn (and make ends meet). This was especially the case as at that time, Zaia by Cirque du Soleil (which is now closed) had already opened and with the impressive aerial acrobatic shows that abound in China, this task was by no means an easy one. Anticipation was further fuelled when it was announced that the show, now named The House of Dancing Water, would seek Franco Dragone, former artistic director at Cirque de Soleil, as the artistic director of the show, and that the purposed dome would be designed by I.M. Pei’s son, Sandi Pei.

Like all hotels in Macau, the City of Dreams benefits from sky-high ceilings developers in Hong Kong can only dream about, and we could not help but feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of the purposed dome at the HK$2 billion show.

Though a little disappointed with the limited food offerings available (there was no nachos left, only an average tasting hot dog and sweet popcorn that we were told by another member of the audience tasted rather bland), our discontent was quickly forgotten thanks to the real offering at hand, The House of Dancing Water.

Without giving away too much of the plot, the synopsis follows a fisherman, who falls in love with a princess that is taken captive by an evil queen. In the show, you see his struggle to save her and with the help of nature, a villager and group of tribal people, together the fisherman and princess defeats the evil queen and restores peace. She is then rewarded with the position as the new queen which she relinquishes and gives to the village boy who assisted her in her struggle.

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The long and short of it is that the plot doesn’t quite make sense, but it doesn’t really matter as the story line merely acts as a thread to connect each stunt and act, and if approached less critically, it makes for an entertaining story nonetheless.

It is said again and again that Franco Dragone considered Chinese elements and studied them in order to incorporate the elements into The House of Dancing Water, to better cater to his audience. And these features are hard to miss, you’ll see it in the props: Chinese sampans, Chinese lanterns, the bridge which takes on Chinese architectural element litter the stage. Or in the backdrop, which features mystical Chinese mountains, as well as a cityscape which features buildings from both China and Hong Kong. Even the costumes themselves are romanticised versions of Chinese villagers’ dress.

This was confusing at times as the peasant garb was contrasted with the getup of the evil queen, who looked like a cross between Lady Gaga and Snow White, and further contrasted with the tribal acrobats who also lived in the village but were all fair-skinned and wore tribal paint while in modern gymnast costumes. Again, it is best not to read too much into the costume design and focus on the dynamism of the water show.

What is really impressive is the multi-purpose stage. The stage design adopts one similar to most Cirque performances with the audience sat three quarters round the stage. Being a water show the stage opens into a pool when it is fully opened, features water fountains when it is semi-closed and when entirely closed it reveals a perfectly dry surface, at an incredible speed.

The aerial acrobats make the most of the stage, we can only attempt to list the number of directions the actors appear from – out of the water; 60 metres above ground; suspended down a cage from the centre of the stage.

Our favourite acts will have to be the scene where the men so gracefully perform a beautiful aerial show from up above and in the centre of the stage using only suspended long bands. Another stunt we thoroughly enjoyed was the diving scene, where the actors dived into the pool using a three-man pendulum contraption. The last would be the motorbike stunt, where with the help of ramps, we seen motorbikes torpedo mid-air highlighted with 360-degree flips forwards and backwards.

The great thing about this show is that it is appropriate for all ages. Children and adults alike are entertained by the queen’s sidekick who cuts a comical figure with his protruding belly, dressed in a cat suit with ferry wings. The stunts throughout the show are a daredevil’s dream and will keep your adrenaline rushing with eyes glued to the stage.

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All in all, it was a fantastic show of incredible proportions, the actors were nimble and agile, some were terrifyingly strong, all made for a great performance. At many points throughout the show, we caught many members of the audience with their jaw-dropped. One thing to remember when booking tickets is to avoid the first five rows of the B-reserve section if you’d like to stay dry, if you’re so unfortunate to be allocated such a seat, we’d advise you bring a change of clothes, a towel and perhaps even a rain coat. But don’t let that deter you away from watching The House of Dancing Water, as it is a must-see when in Macau, thanks to its world-class qualities.