New Cirque du Soleil set to premiere in Montreal in 2023

Cirque du Soleil is renewing a long-standing custom by presenting the world premiere of its new present Echo in Montreal, beginning subsequent April. It guarantees a present with creative and technological improvements.

This would be the group’s twentieth present, and is about to discover the stability of people, animals and the planet they share. The narrative framework will probably be primarily based on the primary feminine protagonist Future, a dynamic younger lady.

She represents the brand new technology which seems to be on the world in a different way, described inventive director Chantal Tremblay. The character will present the impression of human exercise on the Earth.

“We see this evolution, then it’ll convey people along with animals… All collectively, we will rebuild this world by which we need to reside,” defined Tremblay through the announcement of the present, in French.

The general public will rediscover high-flying acrobatics however visually, Echo will stand out from the leisure firm’s earlier creations.

“By means of our scenography, shade and sound, we’re in one other place. We’re extra up to date. The colours are introduced in in a different way. (There will probably be) numerous voices, ”mentioned Tremblay in an interview.

The centerpiece of this manufacturing will probably be an enormous dice, as excessive as a two-story constructing. It’s a significant problem for the group, as such a construction has by no means been put in underneath a Cirque du Soleil marquee.

“It’s a scenography that we might have had in a theatre. Technically, we pushed one another, however that’s the distinction we needed to make. The dice may also play a job; we deconstruct it, we rebuild it, we’re going to do performances on it, inside,” mentioned Chantal Tremblay.

“It’s going to reside via the present. It strikes, it activates itself. And we venture nice scenes from Jerome Delapierre,” she mentioned.

The inventive strategy of Echo began earlier than the pandemic. When the well being disaster hit, there have been nonetheless nearly two months of preparation left, however Tremblay mentioned the previous 12 months has allowed the group to assessment the event of the present.

The manufacturing, which has round 40 artists, was initially titled Underneath The Identical Sky. Director Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar defined that the change to Echo was obligatory to raised mirror the plot and the message of the present.

The impression of the pandemic was one of many sources of inspiration for the director, who lives in Las Vegas. “The way in which folks assume now’s completely different. We have a look at life and we work together with others in a different way,” Mukhtar mentioned by videoconference Tuesday.

The message he needs to ship to the general public via his present is the necessity for people to work collectively to create an empathic world.

‘Historic report’ of tickets offered in earlier present

Echo will kick off on April 20, 2023 on the Previous Port of Montreal for a sequence of performances till Aug. 20, earlier than occurring a global tour. Tickets go on sale Oct. 17.

Cirque du Soleil has signed a ten-year settlement with the Previous Port to current new exhibits or classics. The primary 12 months of this collaboration concluded with KOOZA, which occurred this previous summer time.

The present, which has been taking part in for a number of years, has damaged a “historic report” for attendance in Montreal, in accordance with Stéphane Lefebvre. A complete of 270,000 tickets had been offered. The report sale reassured the group that Quebecers have an interest, even after two years of absence as a result of COVID-19 pandemic.

“There is a crucial relationship between Cirque du Soleil and the folks of Montreal. Popping out of the pandemic, I’ve the impression that individuals needed to come back collectively and see exhibits once more, ”mentioned Stéphane Lefebvre, the president and CEO of Cirque du Soleil Group.

“We had good success with the relaunch of our exhibits in our varied markets world wide. However it’s sure that the expertise we had right here in Montreal, final summer time, is all of the extra necessary and emotional,” he informed The Canadian Press.

Cirque’s head workplace nonetheless stays within the Quebec metropolis, as do its inventive studios.

This text was produced with the monetary assist of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for Information. It was first printed in French by The Canadian Press on Oct. 11, 2022.