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(Aronda's Note: I've seen this
performance three times, and each time is as spectacular as
the last. La Nouba is incredibly exciting,
provocative--a circus, Broadway production and opera all
rolled into one! If you can arrange to sit in the center of
the theater, in the second tier of seats, you can enjoy the
performance without having to crane your neck--and be pretty
darn close to all the action, too!)
Once upon a time, a door opened and two worlds collided.
Dreams clashed with reality. The mundane mixed with the
marvelous. It was no longer possible to tell where one world
began and the other ended.
This new place was called La Nouba.
This Cirque du Soleil creation is an unforgettable journey
through this universe -- at once threatening and exhilarating,
frightening and familiar. La Nouba is the story of all
stories, the site of all mysteries, where dreams and
nightmares sleep side by side. La Nouba is memory,
individual and universal. It beckons to us, challenges us to
uncover passions we thought we had lost long ago. Here,
anything is possible.
La Nouba contains two types of families or groups
and throughout the ride the magic and fantasy of the colorful Cirques
(circus people) clash with the monochromatic world of the Urbains
(urbanites). But as in fables, it is not so much this contrast
as the interplay between these two groups, which sparks our
curiosity and feeds our imagination.
From this encounter is born fear and ecstasy. From this
encounter is born La Nouba.
La Nouba originates from the French phrase
"faire la Nouba," which means to party, to live it
up. Franco Dragone, writer & director of many Cirque du
Soleil shows, brings this captivating dream-like spectacle to
reality. Dragone is joined by Cirque du Soleil's acclaimed
creative team including director of creation Gilles Ste-Croix,
costume designer Dominique Lemieux, set designer Michel Crête,
lighting designer Luc Lafortune, choreographer Debra Brown,
composer and musical director Benoit Jutras, and sound
co-designers François Bergeron and Jonathan Deans.
La Nouba transforms the ordinary into the
extraordinary, engaging the imagination from beginning to end
with opulent sets, brilliant choreography, theatrical lighting
and provocative music. Featuring mesmerizing high wire and
flying trapeze, stunning acro-gymnastic performances and other
dynamic displays of coordination and strength, La Nouba
promises to surprise, excite and mystify.
With an international cast of more than 70 artists, the
Cirque du Soleil theater, located in the heart of Downtown
Disney West Side at Walt Disney World Resort, welcomes more
than 1,650 spectators twice daily, five days a week.
The 1,671-seat showroom is the first free-standing
permanent theater ever built for Cirque du Soleil. Set
designer Michel Crête of Cirque du Soleil, Michel Aubé,
Design Architect of Scéno Plus, Walt Disney Imagineering and
the architects of the Rockwellgroup collaborated on the
overall design of the theater. The dynamic white structure was
designed to convey elegance and sensuality with the addition
of fabric and tension reminiscent of a Big Top.
The contrasting black showroom interior transports the
audience to another world as soon as they enter the theater.
The set on the Elizabethan-style stage is reminiscent of a
well-traveled path or trail. Look up and see the seven
cloud-like Fabulous Figures that decorate the ceiling
of the showroom. The musicians perform on two platforms housed
in the 75-foot towers rising on both sides of the stage. The
five elevator lifts rise to a maximum height of 16 feet, the
center stage lift is capable of descending 16 feet below the
stage as well. Two telepheriques (or tracks) installed along
the back wall of the stage are capable of moving props,
scenery and acrobatic equipment. The retractable power track
floors, specially designed by Cirque du Soleil, allow the
performers to jump higher and faster than ever.
Founded in 1984 in Quebec, Canada, Cirque du Soleil has
become world-renowned for its completely unique brand of
theatrical arts presentations. Cirque du Soleil has produced
many different shows on five continents. La Nouba
represents the first collaboration between Cirque du Soleil
and Walt Disney World, offering visitors to Walt Disney World
Resort a chance to join the party of more than 20 million
spectators worldwide.
Tickets for La Nouba are $59, $73 and $85 plus tax
for adults and $39, $49 and $59 plus tax for children (ages
3-9). Reservations can be made up to 6 months in advance by
calling (407)939-7600, at the theater's box office located at
the plaza level of the theater, or by logging on to
www.cirquedusoleil.com or www.disneyworld.com. Two
performances are held daily at 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. Tuesday
through Saturday. The theater is dark Sunday and Monday.
The Costumes of La Nouba
The story of La Nouba contains two types of families
or groups: the urban people and the circus people. The circus
characters are denoted by bright, neon colors and the
urbanites by dark, gray and muted tones.
- For La Nouba, Costume Designer Dominique Lemieux
created 30 different costume concepts, blending historical
and traditional circus attire with original contemporary
styles. Lemieux drew at least 10 different designs for
each costume concept.
- Many of the performers in La Nouba undergo a
metamorphosis indicated by a dramatic costume change. Some
principal characters have several costume layers which are
revealed as the story unfolds.
- An example of this transformation can be seen in the
urban costumes. To personify the city dwellers, Lemieux
chose textured, natural fabrics such as hemp. The urban
characters begin in dark, muted blues, reds and greens and
end up in white, billowing, fairy-like outfits.
- Dark fabrics with fluorescent color accents are used in La
Nouba to provide high-contrast images with the
addition of black lights. The Roue allemande (German
Wheel) costumes were designed to resemble marionettes
while highlighting the artists' anatomy.
- The red flame costumes are made of pleated silk and
stretch velour.
- The Grands volants (Flying Trapeze) costumes are both
tribal and androgynous with elaborate collars, head
ornaments, and tutu skirts for the male performers.
- Inspired by the Pierrot or classical clown, Les Cons
(The Nuts) are dressed simply in white to signify their naïve
and innocent character.
- The wardrobe department employed ten technicians to
custom-dye the costume materials for La Nouba.
These include fabric, real and synthetic hair, feathers,
horsehair and leather.
- As in all Cirque du Soleil productions, plaster head
molds were cast for each of the artists to insure that
their wigs, masks and headpieces fit perfectly. This
process takes about four hours per head. A total of four
different wig-styles were created for La Nouba.
Each wig takes one person approximately 70 hours to make.
- The costumes for La Nouba were created in a
record eight-week period from October 24 to December 23,
1998 at the costume workshop located in the Cirque du
Soleil theater.
EQUILIBRE
SUR CHAISES/BALANCING ON CHAIRS -- Rokardy's chair act was
created exclusively for La Nouba. Rokardy defies
gravity and the laws of physics as he balances precariously on
a stack of six chairs, two books and a baby carriage atop a
table elevated 16 feet in the air. La Nouba is an
original production of Cirque du Soleil, featuring over 70
international artists, and is staged at Downtown Disney West
Side, part of Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista,
Fla.
MYSTIFYING
PERFORMANCE -- The retractable power track floors allow La
Nouba performers to jump higher and faster than ever while
performing stunning gymnastic maneuvers at the Cirque du
Soleil theater at Downtown Disney West Side, part of the Walt
Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
THE
URBANS -- Interplay between the colorful Circus people and the
monochromatic world of the Urban sparks the curiosity of Walt
Disney World Resort guests at La Nouba, an original
production of Cirque du Soleil at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
CHANTEUSE/VOCALIST
-- Outrageous costumes, opulent sets, brilliant choreography,
dramatic lighting and live music turn the ordinary into the
extraordinary at the Cirque du Soleil production La Nouba.
The La Nouba cast of over 70 international performers
lives it up as vocalist Sisaundra Lewis beckons the audience
at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
CHANTEUR/VOCALIST
-- Outrageous costumes, opulent sets, brilliant choreography,
dramatic lighting and live music turn the ordinary into the
extraordinary at the Cirque du Soleil production, La Nouba.
The La Nouba cast of over 70 international performers
lives it up as vocalist Isabeau Proulx-Lemire beckons the
audience at Walt Disney World Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
VÉLOS/CYCLES
-- This act features astonishing feats of another kind. The
artist's 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. |
