Cirque Du Soleil "La Nouba" Orlando Florida
Cirque Du Soleil
commentary by Ed VincentCirque Du Soleil has been a wonderful gift to all persons since
they began their performances years ago. There are no animals
in these shows and also no issues with animals either. They have
wonderful music and choreographed presentations known throughout
the world, and to the delights of countless persons. Their clown acts,
dancing, music, and pure talent will remain in your thoughts for
a long pleasant time.
HIGHLIGHTSOn December 23rd, 1998, Cirque du Soleil premiered an
all-new production, La Nouba, in a brand new theater,
custom-designed and built for Cirque du Soleil. This
state-of-the-art theater is located in the heart of
Downtown Disney West Side in the Walt Disney World(r)
Resort. In September 2000, for the second year in
a row, La Nouba was voted "Best place to impress your
date" by the Orlando Weekly magazine.A few facts about the show...
La Nouba comes from the French phrase "faire la nouba",
which means to party, to live it up.La Nouba transforms the ordinary into the extraordinary, engaging
the imagination from beginning to end with opulent sets, brilliant
choreography, theatrical lighting and provocative live music.More than 70 artists from 10 different countries take part in this
exciting new production.La Nouba presented its 1000th performance during the 6:00 p.m.
show of February 2, 2001.The 90-minute performance (no intermission) plays at 6:00 p.m.
& 9:00 p.m. Thursday through Monday. The show is dark on
Tuesday and on Wednesday.Tickets are $67 for adults (plus tax) and $39 for children ages
3 to 9 (plus tax). Tickets can be purchased at the box office, at
the plaza level of the theater or by calling (407) 939-7600.Gift certificates can be purchased at the theater's box office
or by calling (407) 934-7639.
About the theater...* The 1,671-seat theater is the first freestanding permanent structure
ever built for Cirque du Soleil. Set Designer Michel Crête of Cirque
du Soleil, Michel Aubé of Scéno Plus, Walt Disney Imagineering, and
the architects of the Rockwellgroup of New York collaborated on
the overall design of the building.* Visitors are invited to shop at the Cirque du Soleil Store located at
the plaza level of the building and at the sales counters located in the
theater lobby.About the cast...
* 30% of the La Nouba cast is from Russia, 27% from Canada,
13% from the United States, 7% from Ukraine, 7% from China,
5.5% from Brazil, 4.5% from France, 4.5% from Poland and
1.5% from Byelorussia.* The average age of the La Nouba cast is 29.
* The cast is made up of funambulists, dancers, tumblers, trapeze
performers, equilibrists, clowns, actors, acro-gymnasts, cyclists,
musicians, vocalists, and circus artists.* For almost 85% of the cast, La Nouba is their first participation
in a Cirque du Soleil production.##
La Nouba Credits
Writer & Director: Franco Dragone
Director of Creation: Gilles Ste-Croix
Costume Designer: Dominique Lemieux
Set Designer: Michel Crête
Lighting Designer: Luc Lafortune
Composer and Musical Director: Benoit Jutras
Choreographer: Debra Brown
Sound Co-Designers: Jonathan Deans, François Bergeron
The mission of Cirque du Soleil
Invoke the Imagination
Provoke the Senses
Evoke the Emotions
For more information about Cirque du Soleil,
please visit: cirquedusoleil.com
La Nouba
Acts and Performers
Roue allemande (German Wheel)
What started as a popular gymnastics
exercise in Germany has become
a crowd-pleasing act for Cirque
du Soleil. Six-and-a-half feet in diameter,
the wheel consists of two metal
hoops joined at six points. Identical twin
brothers turn and spin the wheels
while performing gravity-defying
somersaults and acrobatics. Though
both were featured in Cirque
du Soleil's Nouvelle Expérience,
this is the first time they are performing
together as a duo.
Bruce Bilodeau, Stacey Bilodeau
Funambule (High Wire)
The Funambule act takes place on
a 90-foot, half-inch wide steel wire.
With remarkable balance and precision,
a high wire walker ascends to a
height of 34 feet above the stage
as his partner descends from the theater's
eighth level to the fifth on a
diagonal wire. The performers' breathtaking
maneuvers include head balancing,
and death defying somersaults.
Using two different types of bicycles,
one of the high wire walkers
executes a wheelie and later crosses
the wire while carrying another
artist on his shoulder. This amazing
team is comprised of three acrobats
who are life-long students of the
discipline.
Igor Arefiev, Svetlana Savinykh,
Jade Kindar-Martin
Diabolos
The diabolo, or Chinese yo-yo, is
a children's game first introduced
into the realm of the arts in Cirque
du Soleil's Quidam. This entrancing
act features four young Chinese
performers. Holding two sticks linked
by a string, they slide, juggle
and toss a musical wooden spool while
performing flips in the air. Demonstrating
increasingly difficult maneuvers,
the artists attempt to outdo each
other in dexterity and ingenuity.
Liu Sisi, Lu Lu, Zhao Wenjuan,
Wang Xioshuang
Vélos (Cycles)
This act gets rolling with a BMX
wizard whose difficult maneuvers
never fail to mesmerize the public.
His technical twists, gymnastic
turns and spins on one wheel are
highlighted in incredible tricks such
as G-turns, boomerangs and megaspins,
all accompanied by lots of
footwork. The second half of the
act features yet another artist whose
feats are equally astonishing.
His hard-to-believe stunts include riding
over obstacles without ever putting
his feet down, jumping off high
platforms, hopping up and down
steps and into the audience on one
wheel, and even jumping over an
artist and a guest before literally
plunging into the bowels of the
stage.
Daniel Boyer, Doug White
Cadre aérien (Aerial Cradle)
The aerial cradle looks like a door
and is a perfect example of equal-
opportunity strength and agility.
This amazing athletic display features
elements of traditional circus
aerial cradle with a unique and special
difference - the male and female
artists take turns supporting one
another 34 feet above the stage.
Marylène Hickok, Carlos
Màrcio Moreira
Ballet air et soie (Aerial Ballet in Silk)
In a stunning display of grace and
strength, the artists become one
with the ribbon of red fabric that
cradles them. This breathtaking
aerial dance requires immense agility
and flexibility, and allows the
performers a wide latitude of acrobatic
and artistic expression.
Christina Campolongo, Julie Dionne,
Katya Guimaraes,
Yuri Maiorov, Julia Parrot,
Florence Tabary
Equilibre sur chaises (Balancing on Chairs)
Vasily Demenchukov's famous chair
act was a hit in Cirque du Soleil's
Nouvelle Expérience in 1992.
For 11 years now, he has defied gravity
and the laws of physics while balancing
precariously on a stack of eight
chairs, atop a table, 25 feet in
the air - all the while carrying a spinning
birthday cake lit with candles.
For La Nouba, Vasily's act is performed
on a rising platform increasing
his maximum height to 41 feet above the
stage.
Vasily Demenchukov
Grands volants (Flying Trapeze)
Four pendulum-like swings, on two
different levels, carry a team of
perfectly synchronized aerialists
53 feet above the stage. This innovative
bi-level rigging enables the trapezists
to create a visually arresting
exhibition of rhythm and athleticism.
Timing is key when all four
trapezes are swinging in tandem
and the aerialists switch places -
barely inches away from colliding.
Victor Bouriak, Pavel Bragantsev,
Maxim Erilov,
Oleg Kouroedov, Vasily Lasiy,
Dmitri Mironov,
Sergiy Poletskyy, Andrei Roublev,
Elana Simonova,
Natalia Tolokonnikova
Power Track/Trampoline
This act in La Nouba takes ordinary
trampoline and power track performance
to a new level. The stage
is set on fire in this high-energy acrobatic display
of phenomenal timing and spatial
awareness.
Stéphane Bayol, Brian
Beech, Chen Bo,
Alexandre Daniltchenko, Vladislav
Dounaev,
Grygoriy Duchenko, Kenneth Futamura,
Marina Griounova, Mark Griffith,
Nathan Henderson,
Wellington De Lima, Tatiana
Louchina, Viachaslau
Marozau, Karine Mauffrey, Krystian
Sawicki,
Elena Shapornaya, Inga Shkarupa,
Dallas Stevens,
Roman Timokhine, Christina
Van Fleet,
Maxim Zassypkine
Characters
La Femme de ménage (The
Cleaning Lady) - Denise Grey
Les Cons (The Nuts) - Pawel
Biegaj, Witold Biegaj, David Lebel, Justin Osbourne
Les Danseurs (The Dancers) -
Natasha Bashkatova, Anthony Kunikeyev
Le Titan (The Titan) - Krystian
Sawicki
Le Promeneur (The Walker) -
Carlos Màrcio Moreira
L'Oiseau vert (The Green Bird)
- Elena Day
Le Pierrot acrobate (The Pierrot
Acrobat) - Wellington De Lima
Clowns Balthazar & Serguei
- Michel Deschamps, Sergei Chachelev
Musicians & vocalists
Band leader - Benoit Glazer
Bass, Double Bass - Jean-François
Bédard
Drums - Georges Bertrand
Guitars - Clifford Schwartz
Keyboards & accordion -
Alexander Clements
Saxophone, keyboards - Alan
Bradette
Violinist - Benoît Lajeunesse
Female Vocalist - Odessa Thornhill
Male Vocalist - Isabeau Proulx-Lemire
