Get your Cirque du Soleil Macau tickets HERE

Her name is ZAIA.

And she is the star of the US150 million Cirque du Soleil Macau production which will be a permanent addition to Macau’s entertainment scene from August, it was announced at the official press conference today.

The press conference for Cirque’s first permanent show in Asia was held in an 1,800-seater custom-built theatre in The Venetian Macao-Resort-Hotel, which is now the permanent home of Cirque Macau. After the official launch in August, there will be 2 performances a day, 6 times a week.

The Gala premiere on August 28, will not only celebrate the official launch of Cirque Macau, but is even more likely to be a star-studded affair because it coincides with the 1st anniversary of The Venetian itself. But while the stars have to wait until August 28 to see any part of the show, we were one of the the lucky few who got to attend today’s press conference were treated to a sneak preview of ZAIA.

ZAIA is the name of the young female heroine who journeys into space. The director Gilles Maheu got his inspiration from a postcard, which had a drawing depicting a young girl in an astronaut outfit sitting down on the moon.

So ZAIA is about “a young girl who journeys into space on a strange, yet familiar voyage of self-discovery. As she travels, she encounters the beauty of humanity and eventually brings it back with her to share with the inhabitants of earth”.

It doesn’t matter if the synopsis sounds rather airy fairy and fluffy. You don’t go to the circus for a complex storyline and character development (watching a movie costs a lot less and is more likely to do the job).  Cirque has attracted a crowd of 80 million spectators worldwide because it combines jaw dropping acrobatics, amazing feats of strength, grace and beauty, stunning choreography and beautiful sets and special effects.

If what we got to see in the preview is an indication of what to expect in terms of the quality of the show – ZAIA certainly delivers the goods.
Cityscapes is the name of the first segment and will be the opening of ZAIA. Talk about starting things off with a bang. From an empty stage, skyscrapers, literally, rise out of the ground. It did remind me a little of Wynn Macau’s Rotunda golden tree, which rises out of the ground every half hour or so.

Cirque’s stage is actually 80 foot high, which is why props hidden underneath can suddenly rise out of the ground.

So from this –

- to this in a matter of minutes.

You have your strong men, break dancers, clowns, dancers, skateboarders, tap dancers – just your typical city crowd really, who all happen to be wearing outlandish costumes and make-up and all have fantastic bodies.

 In typical whimsical Cirque style, there were cyclists suspended from the ceiling, pedaling away – upside down.

A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.

Just your average day - hanging around

A huge sphere suspended from the ceiling drifted out from the back, and hanging from it by a piece of silk - a female performer, dancing through the air.

The second act which we got to preview was of a male and female performer doing some amazing acrobatic work while being swung around and up and down by pieces of stretcy rope from the ceiling.

Though the performers were petite and lithe, they twirled and spun through the air as effortlessly as petals blowing in the wind.

How any guy could look graceful skimming through the air like superman, suspended 20 feet in the air by rope wrapped round his arms clenched by his side is beyond me. How he does it with a woman riding him like a surf board, is just mind blowing.

 I only knew he was human because I saw him panting a little at the end of the act.

The backdrop, which has 3,000 fiber optic lights was created apparently, to accurately depict the night sky, and all its stars.  I wouldn’t be able to point out Mars, Venus or any constelations, and I definitely wouldn’t be able to tell you if they were in the right place. But I do know it makes a pretty amazing background, especially when you have confetti streaming down.

Kudos to the 65 technical crew and 75 artists who must have worked and trained overtime to get ready for the event.
Preview performances begin on July 26.

Tickets are on sale from tomorrow for shows from July 26 to Oct 5.

Click HERE to get yours and stand to win VIP passes.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 29th, 2008 at 4:51 pm and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.