Varekai

Varekai
The Varekai tent, 2006
Company	Cirque du Soleil
Genre	Contemporary circus
Show type	Touring show
Date of premiere	April 24, 2002
Creative team
Director	Dominic Champagne
Director of creation	Andrew Watson
Set designer	Stéphane Roy
Composer	Violaine Corradi
Costume designer	Eiko Ishioka
Lighting designer	Nol van Genuchten
Choreographers	Michael Montanaro Bill Shannon
Sound designer	François Bergeron
Makeup designer	Nathalie Gagné
Aerial acts designer	André Simard
Rigging designer	Jaque Paquin
Clown act creator	Cahal McCrystal
Projections	Francis Laporte
Other information
Preceded by	Dralion (1999)
Succeeded by	Zumanity (2003)
Official website

Varekai is a Cirque du Soleil touring production that premiered in Montréal in April 2002.^[1] Its title means "wherever" in the Romani language, and the show is an "acrobatic tribute to the nomadic soul".^[2]

The plot is based loosely on the Greek myth of Icarus, who melts his wings after flying too close to the sun. Rather than drowning in the sea below him, in Varekai Icarus lands inside a lush forest, in which the creatures teach him how to fly again.

Set and technical information

The set, created by Stéphane Roy, includes four major components: the forest, stage, catwalk, and lookout. The forest consists of over 300 trees of which around 20 have grips allowing the characters to climb up. The heights of the trees range from 4.5 metres (15 ft) to 10.5 metres (34 ft). The stage itself is considered a clearing in the forest and is 12.8 metres (42 ft) in diameter and has five trap doors, two turntables, and one elevating platform. The catwalk is 30 metres (98 ft) in length and allows the characters to climb up and is capped with a lookout which is 7 square metres (75 sq ft).^[1]

• 65 container trucks are used to transport 1,200 tonnes (1,200 long tons; 1,300 short tons) of set, costumes, and other equipment for the show.^[3]

Cast

The Varekai troupe consists of 56 performers, of which there are a few principal characters.^[1][2][4]

• Icarus: After a tragic fall, Icarus lands in the midst of the strange forest. He is greeted by a family of survivors. This character performs an aerial contortion act in a net.
• La Promise (or Betrothed): A strange, veiled creature who goes through a metamorphosis incarnate. She is betrothed to Icarus. This character performs a handbalancing act on a series of canes.
• Guide: He is in turn the spectre of the injured angel, the provocative sorcerer, the tamer of shadows, the guardian of fire, and a comic foil for the Skywatcher.
• Limping angel: A lame lover, the forlorn Limping Angel teeters on round-tipped crutches in a spasmodic dance.
• Skywatcher: Mad scientist and gifted inventor, he is the man of calls, the announcer of trials, the hunter of sounds and the tamer of the clouds. From him, Icarus learns to survive the fury of the volcanoes and the joy of new love.
• La Toupie
• Candide

Acts

Varekai's acts comprise many acrobatic talents, ranging from aerial arts to Russian swing, among others.^[1][5]

• Flight of Icarus: Icarus performs astounding dives and contortions in the net that holds him captive.
• Icarian games: Foot-juggling is one of the oldest circus arts disciplines. The bearer lies on his back and twirls the voltigeur on his feet.
• Water meteors: Three young acrobats twirl ropes with metal cups attached to the ends, simultaneously performing virtuosic acrobatic feats.
• Triple trapeze: On an elevated trapeze apparatus, four young women perform a series of striking acrobatic moves.
• Georgian dance: This act takes its inspiration from the national dance of the Lezgins, popular among many people in the Caucasus Mountains.
• Slippery surface: Darting and sliding on a specially designed surface, the artists fling and catch each other, creating an illusion of skating.
• Solo on crutches: Like a jointed puppet, the Limping Angel dances on crutches while background performers teeter on canes in a dance that reignites Icarus's desire to fly again.
  

  

  Cirque du Soleil's Varekai in Melbourne
• Aerial straps: Suspended by wrist straps, two performers glide above the stage, performing original acrobatic moves.
• Juggling: A juggling virtuoso handles clubs, large balls, hats and ping-pong balls, manipulating them with his hands, his feet, his head and even his mouth.
• Handbalancing on canes: The performer achieves a variety of contortions and poses while balancing on a series of canes.
• Russian swings: Propelled by two Russian swings, acrobats are hurled high into the air, alighting on their partners' wrists or on a landing canvas, sometimes even flying from one moving swing to the other.

Acts in rotation

• Aerial hoop: Suspended high above the stage or flying through the air on a hoop, a young woman performs a series of movements displaying her flexibility and strength.

Retired acts

• Acrobatic pas de deux: Two lovers dance and perform acrobatic stunts, showing their love, trust, and respect for each other.

Costumes

Varekai's costume designer, Eiko Ishioka, set out to design the costumes to heighten the sense of risk and danger the artists face while performing their acts. The designs are an approach to give the traditional leotard a new shape. Eiko drew inspiration from the natural world: plant life, reptiles, land animals, marine life, wind water, fire and wood, yet did so without being a literal interpretation.^[2] While there are over 130 costumes in the entire collection, over 600 elements combine to make the entire wardrobe of costumes, shoes, hats, and accessories. During the tour it takes a 250 hours a week to keep the costumes in a state usable for performance. This includes repairs, cleaning, pressing, repainting (shoes), ironing, and other related tasks.^[1]

One of the primary materials used throughout the wardrobe is lyrca, primarily for its ease of care, suppleness, and elasticity. Other materials used throughout include titanium rods, nylon sponge and other types of fire-retardant materials. La Toupie's costume, for example, is made from lycra, and the tentacles are made from polystyrene foam. In addition to textures and structures being created for the costumes, digital screen-printing was utilized for some pieces. The costumes for the Russian Swing act were inspired by volcanic eruptions. Pictures were taken, scanned, processed and then digitally screen-printed to give the characters their bright red, explosive appearance. The foliage seen on the heads and backs of some characters is made from crinyl and cristalette which are both extremely light-weight materials. Some of the translucent carapaces seen on some performers, including La Promise, is made from stretch netting mounted on a structure made of boning.^[2]

Music

The live music is performed by seven musicians and two singers. Composed by Violaine Corradi and directed by the bandleader/keyboard player, the music features many different genres and energies. Violaine combined the sounds of Hawaiian rituals, 11-century French troubadour songs, traditional Armenian melodies and gospel music with contemporary arrangements to create the sound of Varekai. While some songs are quiet and sorrowful others are more upbeat and exciting.^[1][6]

The only remaining original musician and the only cast/crew member to perform in everyone of Varekai's 3,270+ shows without missing a single performance is drummer Paul J. Bannerman.^{[citation needed]}

Instruments used in the show include keyboards, bass, drums, percussion, violin, and various wind instruments. There are numerous instrumental solos, with the violin, flute, and accordion among the instruments heard. When these occur, the musician comes into view, still hidden in the trees but slightly visible to the audience.^[6]

There are two distinct voices in the musical score. The primary voice belongs to a male singer called the Patriarch. He is dressed in a dark purple outfit and sings to all but two of the acts. He portrays the emotion of each act with his facial expressions and arm and hand movements. He is almost always visible. He appears to watch over the other singer like a father figure, and occasionally interacts with the wind instrument musician whenever the musician has a solo. His range is from high tenor to bass.

The other voice belongs to a young female singer called the Muse. Her outfit is light purple. She is amazed by everything she sees but is normally shy and hides among the trees, almost unseen. She has two solos, where she shows herself to her fellow creatures and the audience. For seven other acts, she either blends with the Patriarch or sings a small part of the song. During these acts, she is either next to him or hiding among the trees. Her range is from low alto to high soprano.

During the triple trapeze act, there is a third voice, blending with the Patriarch. The voice belongs to the wind instrument musician, hidden in the trees behind the Patriarch.

Album

Returning from her work with Cirque du Soleil's Dralion, Violaine Corradi wrote the Varekai score, which was released as a CD on January 7, 2003. Rather than creating a literal soundtrack, Cirque du Soleil collaborated with Nitin Sawhney to produce a CD with themes and sounds from Varekai but quite differently arranged. The CD features the vocals of the two original singers of Varekai, Zara Tellander and Mathieu Lavoie; however, the soundtrack also includes the vocals of world music artists Natacha Atlas and Tina Grace, who were not in the production, simply featured on the album. Many of the CD tracks are dramatically different from their live counterparts.

In late 2003 Cirque du Soleil created an 'Exclusive Premium Edition' CD, which featured the original CD as well as a bonus CD and DVD containing 6 live tracks, two remixes, and 2 music videos.

The revised album artwork of Varekai, 2004

Track listing:

1. Aureus (Spoken word)
2. Rain One (Interlude)
3. Le Rêveur (Solo on crutches)
4. Vocea (Flight of Icarus)
5. Moon Light (Handbalancing on canes)
6. Rubeus (Spoken word)
7. Patzivota (Wedding interlude and setup for Russian swings)
8. El Péndulo (Aerial straps)
9. Gitans (Opening)
10. Kèro Hiréyo (Triple trapeze)
11. Infinitus (Spoken word)
12. Lubia Dobarstan (Water meteors)
13. Emballa (Juggling)
14. Oscillum (Russian swings)
15. Funambul (Cloud interlude)
16. Resolution (not in show)

Below are the live tracks, in order as they appear on the Exclusive Premium Edition bonus CD. Listed after each track title is the act associated with the track.

1. Célébration de l'Errance (Opening dance and finale)
2. Trasparenza
   • Acrobatic pas de deux (2002 - 2003)
   • Aerial hoop (2004 - onwards)
3. Euphoria (Icarian games)
4. Sun Drum Fun (Body skating)
5. Mutationis (Handbalancing on canes)
6. Movimento (Georgian dance)

The bonus CD also contains two tracks that are remixed versions of 'El Péndulo' and 'Emballa'. In addition, the DVD features two videos with nature and recording footage, recorded with the CD version of 'Patzivota' and 'Moon Licht'.

Filmography

The experiences of the initial cast during the creation of the show were portrayed in the series, Fire Within (featured on the Bravo Network). The television show gave an intimate look into the struggles, joys, problems and tears the artists endured while creating the show. Fire Within won the 2003 Emmy Award in the category "Outstanding Non-Fiction Program" (Alternative).^[1]

Cirque du Soleil released a film-adaptation of Varekai on June 14, 2003, and was directed by Dominic Champagne and Nick Morris. The filming took place in Toronto during the show's tour.^[7]

Tour

Varekai completed its first North American tour in Vancouver, Canada on July 23, 2006. It debuted in Australia in August 2006 and arrived in New Zealand in early 2007. Later that year, Varekai finished its Australian tour in Perth, and moved on to its first European tour. At the end of 2007 the show had its European premiere in Antwerp, Belgium. Varekai continues to perform in Europe, and began playing at London's Royal Albert Hall on 5 January 2010, marking the 25th anniversary of Cirque du Soleil.

Varekai has been viewed by more than 6 million spectators around the world, and has reached many milestones to accomplish this.^[1]

• 1000th performance in Dallas, Texas, in 2004
• 1500th performance in Seattle, Washington, in 2006
• 2000th performance in Perth, Australia, in 2007
• 2500th performance in Seville, Spain, in February, 2009
• 3000th performance in Ostend, Belgium, in August, 2010

Since Varekai's première in 2002, it has had an extensive touring history as detailed below.^[8][9]

The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:
  EU   Europe   NA   North America   SA   South and Central Americas   AP   Asia/Pacific   OC   Oceania   AF   Africa

Grand Chapiteau tour

2002 schedule

  NA   Montréal, QC - From 24 April 2002 to 16 June 2002 (show première)
  NA   Québec, QC - From 27 June 2002 to 21 July 2002
  NA   Toronto, ON - From 1 August 2002 to 8 September 2002
  NA   Philadelphia, PA - From 19 September 2002 to 20 October 2002
  NA   San Francisco, CA - From 7 November 2002 to 29 December 2002

2003 schedule

  NA   San Jose, CA - From 16 January 2003 to 23 February 2003
  NA   Atlanta, GA - From 6 March 2003 to 13 April 2003
  NA   New York, NY - From 24 April 2003 to 6 July 2003
  NA   Chicago, IL - From 17 July 2003 to 31 August 2003
  NA   Los Angeles, CA - From 12 September 2003 to 23 November 2003
  NA   Pomona, CA - From 4 December 2003 to 28 December 2003

2004 schedule

  NA   Costa Mesa, CA - From 16 January 2004 to 7 March 2004
  NA   San Diego, CA - From 18 March 2004 to 18 April 2004
  NA   Phoenix, AZ - From 29 April 2004 to 23 May 2004
  NA   Denver, CO - From 3 June 2004 to 11 July 2004
  NA   Boston, MA - From 25 July 2004 to 5 September 2004
  NA   Washington, DC - From 16 September 2004 to 24 October 2004
  NA   Dallas, TX - From 4 November 2004 to 12 December 2004

2005 schedule

  NA   Houston, TX - From 6 January 2005 to 13 February 2005
  NA   Austin, TX - From 24 February 2005 to 27 March 2005
  NA   Pittsburgh, PA - From 9 April 2005 to 8 May 2005
  NA   Baltimore, MD - From 19 May 2005 to 19 June 2005
  NA   East Rutherford, NJ - From 30 June 2005 to 31 July 2005
  NA   Columbus, OH - From 11 August 2005 to 11 September 2005
  NA   Hartford, CT - From 22 September 2005 to 16 October 2005
  NA   Charlotte, NC - From 27 October 2005 to 20 November 2005
  NA   St. Petersburg, FL - From 1 December 2005 to 31 December 2005

2006 schedule

  NA   Miami, FL - From 20 January 2006 to 26 February 2006
  NA   Portland, OR - From 14 March 2006 to 23 April 2006
  NA   Seattle, WA - From 4 May 2006 to 11 June 2006
  NA   Vancouver, BC - From 22 June 2006 to 23 July 2006
  OC   Sydney, AU - From 10 August 2006 to 29 October 2006
  OC   Brisbane, AU - From 9 November 2006 to 16 December 2006

2007 schedule

  OC   Auckland, NZ - From 5 January 2007 to 18 February 2007
  OC   Canberra, AU - From 15 March 2007 to 8 April 2007
  OC   Melbourne, AU - From 19 April 2007 to 24 June 2007
  OC   Adelaide, AU - From 5 July 2007 to 4 August 2007
  OC   Perth, AU - From 17 August 2007 to 7 October 2007
  EU   Antwerp, BE - From 25 October 2007 to 16 December 2007

2008 schedule

  EU   London, UK - From 5 January 2008 to 17 February 2008
  EU   Amsterdam, NL - From 29 February 2008 to 25 May 2008
  EU   Berlin, DE - From 6 June 2008 to 20 July 2008
  EU   Oberhausen, DE - From 31 July 2008 to 7 September 2008
  EU   Vienna, AT - From 18 September 2008 to 26 October 2008
  EU   Madrid, ES - From 13 November 2008 to 4 January 2009

2009 schedule

  EU   Seville, ES - From 29 January 2009 to 15 March 2009
  EU   Bilbao, ES - From 26 March 2009 to 3 May 2009
  EU   Lisbon, PT - From 15 May 2009 to 28 June 2009
  EU   Gijon, ES - From 9 July 2009 to 16 August 2009
  EU   Hamburg, DE - From 28 August 2009 to 4 October 2009
  EU   Moscow, RU - From 23 October 2009 to 13 December 2009

2010 schedule

  EU   London, UK - From 6 January 2010 to 14 February 2010
  EU   Manchester, UK - From 25 February 2010 to 21 March 2010
  EU   Munich, DE - From 1 April 2010 to 2 May 2010
  EU   Cologne, DE - From 13 May 2010 to 6 June 2010
  EU   Frankfurt, DE - From 17 June 2010 to 18 July 2010
  EU   Oostende, BE - From 29 July 2010 to 29 August 2010
  EU   Zurich, CH - From 17 September 2010 to 24 October 2010
  EU   Barcelona, ES - From 5 November 2010 to 2 January 2011

2011 schedule

  AP   Taipei, TW - From 20 January 2011 to 6 March 2011
  AP   Seoul, KR - From 6 April 2011 to 29 May 2011
  AP   Manila, PH - From 22 June 2011 to 24 July 2011
  SA   São Paulo, BR - From 15 September 2011 to 27 November 2011
  SA   Rio de Janeiro, BR - From 8 December 2011 to 8 January 2012

2012 schedule

  SA   Belo Horizonte, BR - From 19 January 2012 to 12 February 2012
  SA   Brasilia, BR - From 23 February 2012 to 18 March 2012
  SA   Recife, BR - From 30 March 2012 to 8 April 2012
  SA   Salvador, BR - From 3 May 2012 to 13 May 2012

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h} "Varekai: Press Kit" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil (Press Kit). http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/~/media/press/PDF/varekai/presskitvarekai.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
2. ^ ^{a b c d} Clément, Ronald (2009) (in CN, EN, FR, JP). Cirque du Soleil 25 Years of Costumes. Canada: Dépôt légal, Bibliothèque et Archives Canada. pp. 68–73. ISBN 978-2-9803493-4-8. 
3. ^ "Crazy, colorful Cirque du Soleil". Philippine Daily Inquierer. 2011-03-24. http://showbizandstyle.inquirer.net/entertainment/entertainment/view/20110324-327397/Crazy-colorful-Cirque-du-Soleil. Retrieved 2011-03-27. 
4. ^ "Varekai: Characters". Cirque du Soleil. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/press/kits/shows/varekai/resources/characters.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
5. ^ "Varekai Acts". Cirque Tribune. http://www.cirquetribune.com/database/show.php?show=Varekai. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
6. ^ ^{a b} "Varekai Music" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/~/media/press/PDF/varekai/Varekai_Music.pdf. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
7. ^ "Cirque du Soleil: Varekai". Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368647/. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
8. ^ "Varekai: Tickets". Cirque du Soleil. http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/en/shows/varekai/tickets.aspx. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 
9. ^ "Varekai (Tour Schedule)". Cirque Tribune. http://www.cirquetribune.com/database/show.php?show=Varekai&mode=schedule. Retrieved 2011-02-19. 

External links

• Official site
• Varekai soundtrack