A Mexico-focused production by Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil will arrive in Mexico in August.
Luzia, A Waking Dream of Mexico will give audiences in Guadalajara, Monterrey and Mexico City the opportunity to experience a reinterpretation of their culture, geography and soul as seen through the eyes of the troupe Cirque du Soleil.
Luzia will open August 30 in Guadalajara, bringing a cast of 44 artists from 15 different countries. Drawing from the richness of Mexico, the show’s name is a blend of luz and lluvia, the Spanish words for light and rain, two elements at the core of the show’s creation.
The fusion of the two primal elements with breathtaking acrobatic scenes and music written and performed by Mexican musicians will take audiences “through a sumptuous journey through an imaginary Mexico: a surreal world suspended between dreams and real life,” said the general manager of Grupo CIE, Cirque du Soleil’s promoter in Mexico.
The inspiration found in Mexico and its reinterpretation on stage serves “as homage to the country that captures and reflects a big part of what we are, from our landscapes to our virtues,” said Federico González Compeán.
The show takes audiences from an old movie set by the ocean to a busy dance hall and from there to an arid desert. Luzia draws from traditional Mexico, but also from recent and modern times.
The troupe’s 38th original production, Luzia premiered two years ago in Canada and has been touring since.
It follows on the success of Joyá, a show the company produces and presents only in Mexico in the Riviera Maya of Quintana Roo. Since that show was well received by audiences, the troupe wanted “to go for a bigger show; a different show, that could go on tour. [Joyá] stays in Mexico.
[Luzia] will travel all around the world,” said musical director Simon Carpentier. “We needed to find a way to achieve the sound, the romance, the fun, the special humor that Mexican people have. You feel the spirit of Mexico throughout the show, but it’s not like you just hear a mariachi; that’s not what Cirque does. It’s all about peaks and valleys, and surprises. We experience that through visuals, but through music as well,” he told the magazine Billboard two years ago.
Another unique feature of Luzia is how it manages its water consumption. Torrential rainfall and a 15-meter onstage waterfall requires 6,000 liters of water for a single performance and it’s all recycled and run through a filtration and disinfection system. After Guadalajara, the show moves on to Monterrey, Nuevo León, on October 4 and Mexico City starting on November 8.
Ticket prices range from 890 to 3,290 pesos (US $45 to $168).
Source: Mexico News Daily