Cirque Du Soleil's LUZIA “A Waking Dream of Mexico”

LUZIA premiered in April 2016 and is Cirque du Soleil’s 38th original production since 1984.

Through a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, LUZIA takes audiences on a surrealistic journey filled with wonders, playfulness, and striking artistry. Smoothly passing from an old movie set to the ocean to a smoky dance hall or an arid desert, LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces, and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity. Rich in awe-inspiring moments, LUZIA enchants by incorporating rain into acrobatic and artistic scenes – a first for a Cirque du Soleil touring production.

With mesmerizing and refreshing acrobatic performances, LUZIA brings traditional and contemporary circus disciplines to a whole new level. Cyr Wheel artists perform the unprecedented feat of rolling and spinning under the rain, while an aerialist suspended from a Trapeze flies and twirls through pouring showers. Hoop Diving is taken onto gigantic treadmills, expanding exponentially the speed and amount of daring leaps executed. Jaw-dropping highlights include a Guinness World Record holder juggling seven pins at breakneck speeds, a male contortionist skillfully twisting his body in the world’s most unimaginable positions, a powerful Aerial Straps specialist defying the laws of gravity at the center of cenote (natural sinkhole), and two football (soccer) freestylers deftly mixing street dance with mind-blowing ball manipulations.

Matt Beard / Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi / 2016

Matt Beard / Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi / 2016 Cirque du Soleil

The Contortionist

An artist enveloped in a mystical aura amid glowing candles puts his body in knots with astounding ease and flexibility. He twists his body in unimaginable positions, and even manages to touch the back of his head with his pelvis!

Matt Beard / Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi / 2016 Cirque du Soleil

Aerial Straps

An artist representing a demigod of rain emerges from the pristine waters of a cenote recalling the naturally occurring sinkholes the Mayan believed were gateways to the afterlife. He performs a graceful aerial straps act, his hair whipping the surface of the water as he rotates on the straps in a circle just above the water. The artist interacts with a puppet resembling a life-size jaguar, an animal that has become a mythological figure of Mexican culture. The artist manages to gain the big cat’s trust in this tableau brimming with lyricism.

Hoop Diving on Treadmills

This tableau combines hoop diving with two giant treadmills in a soaring tribute to agility and speed. Seven acrobats wearing hummingbird costumes, complete with wings and a long beak, jump through hoops a mere 75 centimeters (less than 30 inches) in diameter. Performing the feat on two treadmills makes the challenge even more daunting. The acrobats leap through the hoops sometimes feet first, sometimes backward, sometimes bent in half. Some even leapfrog over their partners to jump through the rings.

Matt Beard / Costumes: Giovanna Buzzi / 2016 Cirque du Soleil

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Fun Facts:

• A total of 115 people from 25 countries are part of the touring cast and crew of LUZIA.
• The 44 artists alone come from 19 different nationalities: Belarus, Canada, Colombia, Czech Republic, France, Guinea, Italy, Israel, Mexico, The Netherlands, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Spain, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, and Venezuela.

In 2020, Cirque Du Soleil will present 19 different shows around the world.

A Few Statistics:

• In 1984, 73 people worked for Cirque du Soleil. Today, the company hires close to 4,000 employees worldwide, including 1,300 artists.
• At the Montreal International Headquarters alone, there are close to 1,500 employees.
• More than 100 types of occupations can be found at Cirque.
• The company’s employees and artists represent more than 50 nationalities and speak 25 different languages.
• More than 155 million spectators have seen a Cirque du Soleil show since 1984.
• Close to 15 million have seen a Cirque du Soleil show in 2014.
• Cirque du Soleil hasn’t received any grants from the public or private sectors since 1992.

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