Alegría

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Alegría is a Cirque du Soleil touring production, created in 1994 by director Franco Dragone and director of creation Gilles Ste-Croix.

Alegría is one of Cirque du Soleil's most popular touring shows. Since its premiere in April 1994, it has been performed over 5,000 times and seen by over 10 million spectators in more than 65 cities around the world.^[1] Alegría originated as a touring big top show. However, beginning with its 2009-2010 North American tour, the show has been converted to an arena format, enabling it to visit cities that were previously inaccessible to the big top tour.

Alegría takes its name from the Spanish word for "joy." Cirque du Soleil's literature describes the show as "an operatic introspection of the struggle for power and the invigorating energy of youth."^[2] Dominique Lemieux's costumes evince a baroque aesthetic of decadence and ornamentation, while René Dupéré's new-age musical score features a unique blend of French, Spanish, African, and Mediterranean influences. The stage and props are characterized by gothic arches and harsh angular designs.

Characters

• Fleur: In the absence of a king, the Old Birds have only a fool to turn to: Fleur. Fleur is our guide through the world of Alegría, but he is unpredictable, and a dangerous madman who believes he is king.
• The Nostalgic Old Birds: The Nostalgic Old Birds have lived in the palace for as long as it has existed. Courtiers without a court, the Old Birds admire their reflections in the mirrorless frames, but they are only empty shells, shadows of their former selves.
• Tamir and Little Tamir: Tamir appears when he is needed, only to disappear once he has fulfilled his mission. His wide grin and sparkling eyes are windows into a generous soul.
• The Nymphs: As they celebrate each breath of life, the exuberance of the tiny, fragile nymphs is infectious.
• The Bronx: The Bronx are young and tough. They are the next generation, ready to topple the old order and take power from the weak Old Birds.
• The White Angels: The White Angels are the graceful guardians of Alegría. Agile, confident, and daring, the Angels are the youth of tomorrow who have alighted in the palace from the heavens.
• The White Singer: The Singer in White is a symbol of all that was good in the old order. She is the storyteller who echoes in song everything she sees around her.
• The Black Singer: The Singer in Black is the White Singer's alter ego. There is a wickedness about her. In her elegant black dress, she hides many secrets in her dark heart.
• The Clowns: The Clowns alone have been able to resist political upheavals and social transformations. Witnesses to the passing centuries, they are Alegría’s social commentators.

Acts

First Half

• Opening
• Swinging trapeze: Perched on their individual trapezes, two aerialists perform in a display of harmony and beauty. In this routine, the daring duo defy the law of gravity with mid-air twists and maneuvers, building to a crescendo of aerial feats.
• Power track: The Bronx are young and tough; they are the next generation. Individually and as a gang, their acrobatic prowess on the fast track is a measure of their power. They are strong, but also sensual and graceful. They are both an imposing force and a celebration of youth.
• Hand balancing: Romantic and elegant, this act is performed by a young man from Ukraine. Using his incredible strength and his great abilities in ballet and contortion movements, he executes slow figures on canes of different heights. The tallest cane is at 1m 90 from the stage.
• Fire-Knife Dance: Tribal and magical, this authentic ritual dance is performed to the pulsing rhythm of congo drums by an artist weaving his baton-like fire knives around his entire body, from his feet to his palms to his mouth, in a seductively dangerous dance.
• Candle: A very short clown act parodying the previous act
• Manipulation: Performed by Maria Silaeva. The original act by Elena Lev consisted of only hula hoops but now incorporates other props, such as ribbons, etc.
• Snow Storm: Reflecting the eternal spirit of mankind, the clowns are witnesses to the passing of centuries, the social commentators of the world of Alegría. Grounded in real life, they tell little stories of everyday existence where everyone is a hero, and where anyone can fall in love and suffer a broken heart. The clowns are visionaries - philosophers of absurdity. Endearing, comical and childlike, they turn the world into a circus.

Second Half

• Le bal: The Singer in White sings 'Song Vazoule' as she walks through the audience, eventually picking a male audience member to dance on stage with her.
• Flying man: This virtuoso defies gravity in his powerful performance. Combining the elasticity of the bungee and the power of the gymnastic rings, the artist soars through the air while performing acrobatic feats. His awe-inspiring performance is a marriage of incredible skill, agility and strength. Although his sculpted physique is imposing, he is tender and graceful.
• Russian bars: Acrobatic flyers are thrust into the air from a single, double or triple bar that is perched on the sturdy shoulders of powerful catchers. The sure-footed flyers perform multiple synchronized somersaults and mid-air twists at unbelievable speed. The Russian bars require a great deal of concentration and mutual trust between the performers. Each flexible bar measures two to six inches in width.
• Contortion: These two bird-like creatures execute imaginative and impressive feats of flexibility and balance while perched on a seemingly weightless rotating table. With their fluid movements, the duo move as one entity, metamorphosing into extraordinary sculpted forms.
• Little Tamir Interlude: Little Tamir chases a bird as the aerial high bar is set up
• Aerial high bar: Three high bars set more than 40 feet above the stage form the aerial playground for daring acrobats to fly to and from the arms of mighty catchers, suspended by their knees on a cradle swing. The act, performed by Russian acrobats, culminates in a death-defying plunge into the net.
• Finale: The White Singer performs the Alegría theme song as the cast assembles on-stage for ovation.

Music

The original album artwork of Alegría, 1994.

Alegría’s highly acclaimed music was composed by René Dupéré, who had composed numerous scores for Cirque's previous productions, including Nouvelle Expérience, Saltimbanco and Mystère.

The music of Alegría was released as a studio album on September 27, 1994, and remains Cirque du Soleil's best-selling album to date, having sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award and several Félix Awards in 1995, winning two of the latter: 'Producer of the Year' for Robbi Finkel^[3] and René Dupéré, and 'Sound Mixer of the Year' for Rob Heaney. Alegría was also ranked on the Billboard World Music Chart for 65 weeks.^[4]

The album's lead vocals are provided by opera-trained, French-Canadian singer Francesca Gagnon. Gagnon also features as 'The White Singer' (principal vocalist) in the Alegría DVD, with fellow French-Canadian Ève Montpetit supporting as 'The Black Singer'.

Several versions of the soundtrack have been available since its original release. In 2002, the soundtrack was re-released by Cirque du Soleil Musique Inc., with an additional two tracks titled 'Cerceaux' and 'Malioumba' (both featuring vocals by Francesca Gagnon) recorded from live shows during Alegría’s 2001 season in Sydney. In 1995, a limited employee edition, Alegría - Live at Fairfax, was created for the artists and crew of the production. This special edition features the entire score on CD and is considered a collector's item.

Alegría (film)

In 1999, Alegría was adapted into a film of the same name, written by Rudy Barichello and directed by Franco Dragone. The cast included actors such as Frank Langella, Mako and Whoopi Goldberg, as well as several performers and musicians from the touring production (many appeared in both this film and the Alegría DVD recorded during the show's 2001 season in Sydney). The film employs a conventional structured narrative as opposed to the abstract allegory of the live show.

Notes

• During the tour in Dubai, the Korean company Samsung was an official sponsor.
• Alegría is the second Cirque show to visit Dubai. The first was Quidam.
• Alegría’s old big top is now used for the new Cirque du Soleil touring show, Ovo.

References

External links

• Official Alegría website
• Sample video clip at Google Video (Adobe Flash video)

Film links

• Alegría at the Internet Movie Database
• Alegría at Amazon.com

Music links

• Alegría Music and Vocalists at The Cirque Tribune
• Composer René Dupéré interview (Las Vegas Sun)
• Composer René Dupéré's website
• Singer Francesca Gagnon's website

Performer links

• Nancy Chiche's website
• Elena Lev's website