Dazzling crowds since 1984, Cirque Du Soleil creates unique theatrical productions. With their newest show, Crystal, the group brings an entirely new type of experience to Worcester’s DCU Center, 50 Foster St., Thursday–Sunday, Dec. 7-10. This time, the high-flying entertainment hits the ice.
Julie Desmarais has worked with Cirque Du Soleil for seven years and the company spokesperson is well-suited for the current ice-centric production that hits the East Coast as the cold seasons begins, saying, “I like the cold, I think it’s probably my favorite season.”
“Cirque Du Soleil is very special, it’s very unique,” said Desmarais. “It’s been seven years and I’ve visited more than 40 countries. It’s a big privilege to meet new people on a constant basis and work with incredible, talented, members of the tour. I feel very privileged.”
Combining Cirque Du Soleil’s expectation-shattering production with acrobatics and ice skating, the show follows its namesake, Crystal, on a voyage of self-discovery. Falling through an icy pond while skating, she discovers a surreal world.
“Crystal is a person that feels misunderstood,” said Desmarais. “One night, she ventures out onto an icy pond and breaks through the ice. From there, she takes us to this world and discovers new possibilities.”
“It’s our first ice experience,” she continued. “The idea was in the back of their heads for many years and it was something they were looking into. The opportunity arose a little over a year ago. It’s Cirque Du Soleil’s 42nd performance. There was a lot of intake and seeing how we can incorporate the ice. We formed a creation team that started working on the idea. We conducted several workshops to see what we could bring on the ice while keeping safety in mind and what Cirque is known for.”
Crystal’s creation team is diverse and in addition to the executive directing team of Yasmine Khalil and Daniel Fortin, there are the set, lighting, prop and costume design teams you may expect. However, this time around they also include skating performance designer Benjamin Agosto and synchronized skating designer Marilyn Langlois. Creating an entirely new experience is a big undertaking, if not one Cirque Du Soleil is singularly capable of achieving.
“There are a lot of experts. We worked with various experts in their fields,” said Desmarais. “There are 21 different designers and seven different coaches. There is a lot of different, new technology. Ice brings a new surface. It has reflectivity. We brought a series of projections on the ice as part of the story line. Our audience changes environments without changing space.”
To that end, the creative team found new ways to pull the audience into the experience. Main character Crystal brings the audience to a new world and the set design has to reflect that.
“The idea was to recreate the surreal world she takes us to,” said Desmarais. “There are a lot of interesting shapes and volumes. It’s quite colorful. The Crystal character is in light and the reflection is a little darker – same costume, but everything is reversed.”
There are 40 artists and 17 skaters involved in the production, according to Desmarais. Safety, she said, is the team’s number one concern and to facilitate a safe production, a number of new pieces of technology had to be developed.
“Safety is our number one priority,” she said. “There is some skating and some acrobatics with specific shoes. We developed shoes that had a combination of crampons and spikes. It allows them to stay grounded. It allows acrobats to run on the ice and do tumbling and handstands very safely. There is a lot of training involved in what the artists do. It also brings new opportunities for costumes and lighting. Our costumes are waterproof.”
Beyond the new experience and technology, the most important part of the production is what the audience takes home with them when the curtains close over the DCU Center ice.
When asked about the takeaway of the show, Desmarais said, “I think, ‘magic.’ We take you on a journey for two hours and where you go to different scenes. I think everyone can see themselves in the character at some point, but also the experience and Cirque Du Soleil touch. I think we wanted to surprise our audiences with something new and bring a new feel.”
{ SOURCE: Worcester Magazine | https://goo.gl/cZfZ4q }
