dralion presskit

7/28/2019 Dralion Presskit

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Dralion is a signature Cirque du Soleilproduction acclaimedby more than seven million people worldwide since itpremiered in 1999 in Montreal, Canada. After many yearsperforming under the big top, Dralion will now be presented inarenas around the world, with the same quality performance.

Fusing the 3,000 year-old tradition of Chinese acrobatic artswith the multidisciplinary approach ofCirque du Soleil, Draliondraws its inspiration from Eastern philosophy and its never-ending quest for harmony between humans and nature.The shows name is derived from its two emblematic creatures:the dragon, symbolizing the East, and the lion, symbolizingthe West.

In Dralion, the four elements that govern the natural order takeon a human form. Thus embodied, each element is representedby its own evocative colour: air is blue; water is green; re isred; earth is ochre. In the world ofDralion, cultures blend, Manand Nature are one, and balance is achieved.

Bearing the unmistakable signature ofCirque du Soleil andfeaturing 50 international acrobats, gymnasts, musicians andsingers, Dralion soars to new heights as it dees the laws ofnature.


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An awe-inspiring creation o strength and agility,this exotic aerial ballet captures the passion andenergy o its signature element, fire. Suspendedrom a hoop high above the stage, the artistpresents an evocative choreography in which thehoop and body become one in a dance oacrobatic precision.

Pas de deux is a languorous aerial dance. Anintertwined couple fies over the stage in a longband o blue cloth. Within the cloth, theyperorm various acrobatic figures that demandgreat eats o strength and fexibility.

Aerial Hoop

In Bamboo Poles, six men balance longdecorative poles symbolizing fire. A traditionalact o the Chinese acrobatic arts, the perormerskeep the poles in fight overhead whileperorming acrobatic eats on the ground.

Bamboo Poles

A blend o the traditional Chinese dragon andlion dances takes on new scope when reimaginedby Cirque du Soleil. In a dynamic and energetictumbling sequence, the artists perorm acrobaticmoves while balancing on large wooden balls asthe dralion characters surround them with aspirited dance.

Dralions

Aerial Pas de Deux

This act requires great strength and fexibility.Displaying impressive control, the artist balanceson canes o various heights, slowly executing aseries o astounding figures while maintaining adelicate equilibrium.

Handbalancing

Derived rom Chinese acrobatic tradition, theHoop Diving act takes on a tribal favor rom theArican-infuenced music to which it isperormed. Ten male artists dive and throwthemselves like arrows through small woodenhoops. The hoops are stacked on top o eachother; some are stationary while others rotate.

Hoop Diving


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A childrens game amiliar to everyone, theskipping rope takes on a new dimension inDralion with a heightened level o acrobaticprowess. As the artists keep time with the longskipping ropes, they perorm fips, makepyramids and even orm a human column.

Skipping Ropes

Deying the laws o gravity, earless aerialistsbounce o trampolines using the uturisticbackdrop both as a diving board and landing pad.They cascade perilously through the airperorming spectacular stunts at a dizzying pace.

Trampoline

The diabolo, or Chinese yo-yo, is a childrensgame which involves holding two sticks linkedby a string while sliding, juggling and tossinga wooden spool. With increasingly dificultmaneuvers, the artists attempt to outdo eachother in dexterity and ingenuity.

Diabolo (Act in rotation)

With stylized choreography that makes the mosto his incredible fexibility, the artist incorporatesa ast-paced perormance with hints o moderndance. His incredible precision and mastery o hisart are evident as he juggles up to seven ballssimultaneously.

Juggling

The artists execute graceul and lithemovements which emphasize their extremefexibility and balance. Together, they createextraordinary and harmonious figures.

Medusa

In the Crossed Wheel act, the artist and thewheel become one. He has mastered thisunique acrobatic apparatus, turning, spinningand maneuvering the wheel while perorminggravity-deying acrobatics

Crossed wheel (Act in rotation)


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Carried across time and distance the beautiulcontortionist perorms or LAme Force,demonstrating her amazing strength and superhuman fexibility.

Contorsion (Act in rotation)

En ttEntEdnE t


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Characers

Azala is the goddess o Air. She is the guardian othe sun and immortality, foating above timelessspace in hues o blue.

AZALA (Air)

Gaya is the goddess o Earth. She possesseswithin her human warmth (fire) and the cool,resh vitality o lie (water). She adorns herselin ochre.

GAYA (Earth)

Oceane is the goddess o Water. As queen omovement she controls, through the art odance, the movement o the oceans. Her universeis green.

OCEANE (Water)

KALA is the heart o the wheel that representstime and the infinite cycle. He is the internalpropulsion o the wheel that makes time evolve.It is the ongoing circle o lie.

KALA

The Little Buddha is the chosen child. Although itpossesses special powers that will allow it toeventually become an me-Force, it dreams obeing just a regular child.

Little Buddha

The guide to the fiery demons; Yao commandsthe rhythm o the show. He symbolizes bothgood and evil. He sees lie in vivid red.

YAO (Fire)


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Cosumes & Make-up

The primary sources of inspiration for the costumes ofDralioncome from China, India and Africa. The palette favors vibrantsolid colors, while the shapes are guided by the artistsmovements and choreography.

Each of the four elements and its associated family arerepresented by their own unique color. Blue is identiedwith air, green symbolizes water, red is for re, and ochrerepresents the earth.

Facs All the original costumes were designed and built in Montreal

by the Costume Workshop team, over several months back in1999 at the birth of the show.

The costumes often evolve over the lifetime of a show andnew designs are sometimes added. For example our Skippingand Dralion costumes where redesigned when the show

made the move to arena Over 5,000 meters (16 000 feet) of fabric was used in creating

the original costumes and 1000s more each year as costumesare replaced and renewed

The fabrics come from all corners of the globe, includingChina, the United States, Italy, France, England, Australiaand Quebec.

Much of the fabric on the show started life cream and washand painted or hand dyed in Montreal making some ofthe costumes unique and one off. For example our Hoopdiving costumes.

Often unusual materials are used in creating costumesand accessories, for example horse hair, colored rafa,metal & plastic springs, faux fur and even cable ties.

Each item of costume is made to measure for an artist,starting with over an hour long process of body measurements, matching skin tones and creating a 3D cast of their head, onwhich their hats and headpieces are built.

One costume look can be made up of between 3 to8 individual items.

There are over 3000 costume items made up of shoes, hats,accessories and costume pieces.

The wardrobe team is made up of 4 permanent Cirqueemployees who tour with the show and at each city 3 localwardrobe staff joins to help with the set up, laundry anddaily running of the show.

The team travel with 7 washing machines, 3 dryers, 24 rollingracks and 12 fans. Most costumes can be machine washedwith upwards of 26 loads of washing being done at the startof a city and upwards of 9 loads during and after a show.Some of the more delicate items have to be hand washed.All costumes are hung over night on the rolling racks in frontof fans too dry.


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The team travels 58 road cases just for the wardrobedepartment. 12 of those are full of costumes worn inthe show and 7 are lled will back-up, replacement andstock costumes. The rest is laundry supplies, sewing kits,spare fabric, back-up shoes, make-up, cutting table andback-up hats.

The costumes are checked every day for damage andrepaired for that days performance.

Over 300 pairs of shoes are painted and repaired at thestart of a city, making sure they are safe and show ready.

There are over 19 different types of shoelaces on the show.

Its takes over an hour to set the Little Buddha wig eachweek and an extra hour to style it.

It takes wardrobe a day and a half to set up from scratchin a new city and be ready for the rst show but only a fewhours to pack it away.

All artists do their own make-up. They can be in trainingfor 16 hours to learn their personally designed make-up.Each artists tools are different but some can use 25 brushes,

10 different colors and take 60 minutes to apply theirmake-up to be show ready.


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Music

Se desig

Blending Eastern and Western sounds to create rhythmic andlyrical motifs, the electric and acoustic Dralion score draws itsinspiration from classic Indian melodies, weaving in inuencesfrom Andalusia, Africa as well as Central and Western Europe.

The band is composed of six musicians and two singers whoperform live for every performance.

A mammoth structure creates the huge backdrop thatdominates the stage. This metallic set piece is 60 feet wide and26 feet tall and is suggestive of a futuristic Chinese temple or agiant plate of medieval armor.

The most imposing feature is the wall which spans the fulllength of the stage. Covered with perforated aluminum tiles,the wall is strong and resilient while giving the impression ofbeing light and exible. The six giant claws attached to thestructure allow artists to climb and suspend themselves fromthe wall.

Three concentric aluminum rings are suspended high abovethe stage. The rst serves as a catwalk for performers andtechnicians. The second is used to support technical andacrobatic equipment, including the enormous lantern thatdescends at the end of the rst half of the show. The third

ring is used to move performers up, down and through theworld ofDralion.


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Creaors rigial desig

Guy LaliberGuide and Founder

Guy CaroDirector

Gilles Se-CroixDirector of Creation

Sphae RoySet Designer

Fraois BarbeauCostume Designer

Violaie CorraiComposerand Musical Director

Julie LachaceChoreographer

Luc LaforueLighting Designer

Guy desrochersOriginal sound designer

arvey RobiailleSound designer

Sylvie GalareauGeneral Artistic

Director

Li Yug BiauAssistantChoreographer

Elei raisMake-up Designer

ierre GuilloeProduction Manager /

Arena Shows

2010 Resagig


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Cirque du Soleila a Glace

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in1984, Cirque du Soleil is a major Qubec-based organizationproviding high-quality artistic entertainment. The company

has 5,000 employees, including more than 1,300 artists fromclose to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than100 million spectators in more than 300 cities in over fortycountries on six continents. Cirque du Soleil InternationalHeadquarters are in Montreal, Canada.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visitwww.cirquedusoleil.com

the missio

The mission ofCirque du Soleil is to invoke the imagination,provoke the senses and evoke the emotions of peoplearound the world.

the creaio ofCirque du SoleilIt all started in Baie-Saint-Paul, a small town near QubecCity in Canada. There, in the early eighties, a band ofcolourful characters roamed the streets, striding on stilts,juggling, dancing, breathing re, and playing music. Theywere Les chassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (the Baie-Saint-PaulStiltwalkers), a street theatre group founded by GillesSte-Croix. Already, the townsfolk were impressed andintrigued by the young performers including Guy Lalibert

who founded Cirque du Soleil.

The troupe went on to found Le Club des talons hauts (theHigh Heels Club), and then, in 1982, organized La Fteforaine de Baie-Saint-Paul, a cultural event in which streetperformers from all over met to exchange ideas and enliventhe streets of the town for a few days. La Fte foraine wasrepeated in 1983 and 1984. Le Club des talons hauts attractednotice, and Guy Lalibert, Gilles Ste-Croix and their croniesbegan to cherish a crazy dream: to create a Qubec circusand take the troupe travelling around the world.

In 1984, Qubec City was celebrating the 450th anniversaryof Canadas discovery by Jacques Cartier, and they neededa show that would carry the festivities out across theprovince. Guy Lalibert presented a proposal for a showcalled Cirque du Soleil (Circus of the Sun), and succeeded inconvincing the organizers. And Cirque du Soleil hasntstopped since!

FEW SttIStICS In 1984, 73 people worked for Cirque du Soleil. Today,

the business has 5,000 employees worldwide,including more than 1,300 artists.

At the Montral International Headquarters alone,there are close to 2,000 employees.

More than 100 types of occupations can be foundat Cirque.

The companys employees and artists represent closeto 50 nationalities and speak 25 different languages.

More than 100 million spectators have seen aCirque du Soleil show since 1984.

Close to 15 million people will see a Cirque du Soleilshow in 2013.

Cirque du Soleil hasnt received any grants fromthe public or private sectors since 1992.


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South America

Europe Europe/Middle East/Africa

North America/Europe

Europe North America

TOURING SHOWS IN ARENAS

TOURING SHOWS

UNDER THE BIG TOP

North America

Europe/Japan/Asia Europe/South America

Australia

In 2013, Cirque du Soleilwill present 19 differentshows around the world:


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MGM Grandin Las Vegas

ARIA Resort & Casinoat CityCenterin Las Vegas

The Miragein Las Vegas

TM Luxorin Las Vegas

New York-New YorkHotel & Casino

in Las Vegas

Walt Disney World Resortin Orlando, Florida

Bellagioin Las Vegas

Cirque du Soleil, Sun Logo, Alegra, Dralion, Quidam, Varekai, Corteo, KOOZA, OVO, TOTEM,Amaluna, Mystre, O, Zumanity the Sensual Side of Cirque du S oleil, La Nouba, K, Zarkana, are trademarks owned by Cirque du Soleil and used under license. Thetrademark LOVE is owned by The Cirque Apple Creation Partnership and used under license. The Beatlesis a trademark owned by Apple Corps L imited. The trademarks CRIS S ANGEL and Believe are ow ned by Criss Angel and used under license. Michael Jackson

THE IMMORTAL World Touris a trademark owned by Cirque Jackson I.P., LLC. Trademarks used under license. The Michael Jackson name, image, likeness and associated trademar ks and logos are owned by Triumph International, Inc. and used under license. 2010 Cirque Jackson I.P., LLC.

RESIDENT SHOWS

Treasure Islandin Las Vegas

MJ ONE at Mandalay Bayin Las Vegas


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ITS YOUR TURN TO BE PART OF THE SHOW

ON STAGE OR BACKSTAGE

/JOBS

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