Dralion’s cast and crew celebrated a wonderful milestone earlier last month, marking their 500th performance since the show’s arena tour premiered in Trenton, New Jersey on October 21, 2011. In honor of this achievement, and in keeping with Fascination’s current series celebrating these specific milestones we explore Dralion, one of the most polarizing shows in Cirque’s repertoire, from a historical perspective.
/// A CREATIVE DEPARTURE
“This is the third new production from Cirque du Soleil in only six months, following hard on the heels of “O”, which opened in October 1998, and La Nouba, which premiered in December 1998. Dralion marks a turning point in Cirque du Soleil’s history: it is the first show by a new creative team headed by Gilles Ste-Croix, Director of Creation for Cirque du Soleil.” – Cirque du Soleil Press Release.
Citing the need to take a break (after developing Saltimbanco, Mystère, Alegría, Quidam, “O” and La Nouba back-to-back-to-back-to-back), by the end of 1998, the creative team behind so many of Cirque du Soleil’s productions in the 1990s – François Bergeron, Debra Brown, Michel Crête, Jonathan Deans, Dominique Lemieux, Benoit Jutras and Franco Dragone – concluded their remarkable run of artistic and professional development with the company, and decided to leave the creative reins of future shows in the hands of others. And so a new development team took up the challenge to combine Cirque du Soleil’s style with the Chinese circus tradition on a large scale. “With Dralion, it’s as if we were closing a circle. Saltimbanco still contained a lot of traditional circus elements, but from Mystère onward, our shows became increasingly theatrical. Now, Dralion brings it full circle: we’re back to the circus again,” said Gilles Ste-Croix in an interview for Cirque du Soleil’s website (Spectaculara).
The development of what became Dralion was difficult from the very beginning. Several months into preproduction, the French director slated for the project – Philippe Decoufflé – abandoned ship. Sylvie Galarneau, who would become artistic director of the show remembered, “He freaked out. He said the project was too big and he couldn’t be comfortable working in that environment.” Confronted with the challenge of mounting a new show, with a new team, in a compressed period of time, Guy Laliberté turned to an old friend: Guy Caron. Caronhad maintained friendly relations with Laliberté since he had left Cirque in 1988, even directing “Cirque Knie Presents Cirque du Soleil” for the Swiss National Circus (in 1992), produced in collaboration with Cirque, so his credentials were solid. Even so, Caron’s job on Dralion wasn’t easy. He’d have to pick up the pieces left by Decoufflé’s departure and mold them into a show to meet or exceed the expectations laid down by the likes of Quidam, “O” and La Nouba.
Faced with a tight deadline and a public wondering when Cirque would debut another touring show (by this time 1996’s Quidam was the last touring show the company premiered, even though the company was hard at work creating “O” at the Bellagio and La Nouba at Walt Disney World in 1998) Guy Caron called on the talents of François Barbeau (Costume Designer), Stéphane Roy (Set Designer), Violaine Corradi (Composer), Julie Lachance (Choreographer), Guy Desrochers (Sound Designer), Michel Beaulieu (Lighting Designer), and Michel Dallaire (Clown Act Designer) to help bring his vision to fruition.
- “In this show, we were very preoccupied with the mechanical invading the organic and soulful. The set itself is a kind of giant insect, a biomechanical construct in which all the characters in the show live. The idea is to set up a tension between the two: how do you resolve it? Cirque depends a great deal on the mechanical to perform successfully. But here, it’s very much as Da Vinci presented machines in his drawings: the machine as an extension of the human, always. You can’t remove the soul from the machine.” – Stephane Roy
- “One of the things we want to do with Dralion is to have people rediscover the power and importance of the four elements. We take them for granted in our daily lives. Values have been displaced. Maybe one of the goals of Dralion is to help re-establish a connection with the elements.” – Francois Barbeau
- “The music in Dralion has a lot of Middle-Eastern elements and percussion in it. That dictated how we designed the sound for the whole show. As soon as you walk into the theatre, you’re in that atmosphere, in that environment.” – Guy Desrochers
- “With Dralion, we were trying to find a place where all the musical traditions of the world meet, in such a way that something altogether new comes out of it. There’s a lot of music in there: Andalusian, Arabic, ragga, African, and more. It sounds like all of that, and none of it.” – Violaine Corradi
While the new team was settling in, other problems ensued. “The biggest challenge in Dralion was getting the Chinese artists to move in the Cirque way,” Julie Lachance remembered. Laliberte, Caron and group were not able to work in the intuitive, work-shop style championed by Dragone and the company – as the Chinese were not able to easily adapt to the free-form methods. So rather than attempt a Dragone-style show, Caron revisited the earlier style of Le Cirque Réinventé, preferring a show that’s “full of energy, without gaps [and] full of strong acts.”
“We said, ‘Okay, we’ll forget all about the characters and some of the other things that Franco did,’” recalled Caron in Cirque du Soleil 20 Years Under the Sun book. “Instead, I opted to explore the root of the circus, and to adhere to a very high technical standard. I also wanted to make the funniest show we could.”
Despite the challenges – or perhaps because of them – Laliberté and Caron fulfilled their life-long dream of working with the Chinese on a large-scale project in Dralion, which, despite its challenges and mis-placed hatred for it (many within Cirque at the time did not like the show either), has received enthusiastic public response over its lifetime, going on to become one of the highest grossing touring shows in the company’s stable.
/// L’ÂME-FORCE
“Take an extraordinary journey through a futuristic dimension, where you can soar to new heights, and defy the laws of nature.” – Dralion Press Release.
Dralion is billed as “a contemporary collage of the original and the eclectic, the primitive and the post-modern,” but at its heart it’s a fusion of ancient Chinese acrobatic traditions with the avant-garde approach of Cirque du Soleil on a large scale. Cirque is certainly no stranger to Chinese circus arts, employing acts from the Orient in many of their shows (Water Meteors in La Magie Continue and Foot Juggling in Nouvelle Experience immediately come to mind), but what would they be capable of doing with a full-fledged Chinese circus? Guy Caron was determined to find out, taking much of his show’s inspiration from Eastern philosophy with its principles of perpetual discovery and harmony between man and nature. “For me, the wall is where it all begins in Dralion,” said Guy Caron regarding the show. “Life comes through it, in the form of the four elements. That’s why, at the end, the artists come back to the wall. Dralion was created at the cusp of a new millennium, and I wanted to express what the future could mean for me. And, for me, the future means children. It also means women. The future belongs to them.”
The show’s name is drawn from its two main symbols — the dragon, representing the East, and the lion, representing the West – and pays homage to the four elements that maintain the natural order of things. Air, water, fire and earth assume human form and evolve into worlds defined by their own vivid colors:
- Azala is the Element of Air. She is the keeper of the sun and the guardian of immortality, watching over the heavens to protect all those who take to the skies. Azala is identified by the color of the skies — Blue.
- Oceane is the Element of Water. With her exotic dance, she has the power to control all the waters of the world. You can identify Oceane by the color of the waters — Aqua Green.
- Gaya is the Element of Earth. She is warm, comforting and rhythmic. Her tribal dance echoes the pulse of human life. Gaya is identified by the soils of Earth — Brown.
- Yao is the element of Fire. He is a warrior and a shaman; the fiery demon’s guide. Yao can be identified by the color of flame — Red.
- On March 4, 1999, Cirque du Soleil announced the name of the show. In August 2000, Dralion celebrated its 500th performance, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- On December 16, 2001, Dralion celebrated its 1,000th performance in Dallas, Texas.
- On November 5, 2004, Dralion celebrated its 2,000th performance in Madrid, Spain.
- On May 13, 2006, Dralion celebrated its 2,500th performance in Valencia, Spain.
- On October 2, 2007, Dralion celebrated its 3,000th performance in Osaka, Japan.
- On January 31, 2009, Dralion celebrated its 3,500th performance in Perth, Australia.
- On April 1, 2011, Dralion celebrated its 4,000th performance in Des Moines, Iowa, on its new Arena tour.
- And, of course, the 500th performance just a few weeks ago.
Dralion propels these four pillars of the universe into a futuristic dimension – a timeless and allegorical place suspended between the past and the future, ruled by magical laws where fantastical feats of strength and agility commence:
Opening
A young Chinese boy (Little Buddha – the chosen child) with just a tuft of hair on his head pushes through a strong cloak of fog, carrying an hourglass filled with the sands of creation. As a tribal beat begins to fill the air so does a sense of urgency. A sense that a new dimension is about to reveal itself to you. As he looks out amongst the visitors to his realm, he flips the hourglass on end, threading the sands of time and space into motion – backwards, forwards; suspended – and calling forth the four elements of the Earth.
One by one they fill the stage: Gaya is first, in Ochre, dancing jubilantly about representing the Goddess of the Earth. Next, Azala, in blue, floats in from above on sheets of silk. She is the guardian of the sun and immortality and represents the element Air. Thirdly, Oceane, in green, is representing the element of water. Last, Yao, in red, thunders his way from below. He brings all the good and evil represented in the element of Fire.
The four elements come together and began a rhythmic dance; a dance of compliments. But then – a flash; a spark; a fire – and the world of Dralion is illuminated for all those who come to bear witness. And one by one the elements part and return to their natural motions… but they will return.
Hand Balancing
Oceane presents herself to us in the form of a single, fragile girl. She will take her position atop a single metal cane and perform some of the most spellbinding acts of strength and balance seen. Staying in positions that would make even the strongest man collapse in agony, she is able to twist around and support herself with only her arms. And just when you think there’s nothing else she could show you, she straightens herself up on one hand… allowing a leg to drift… then bounces to her other hand – without touching the ground.
Bamboo Poles
Yao (fire) next introduces the Bamboo Pole act. Six men are in control of their destinies as they maneuver 15 3/4 feet long poles in the air that weigh almost 17 pounds. Their precise movements allow them to balance the poles on the palms of their hands without any other support. And, in synchronous action, they toss the poles into the air, leaving themselves just enough time to perform a summersault and catch them again before they hit the ground. The bamboo performers also bang their poles on the stage in time with the music embellishing this ancient Chinese ritual. Yao also dances with an imposingly sharp teeth-chattering weapon to conclude the act.
Juggling
Lead by Gaya, the goddess of the Earth, a spidery creature slithers on stage giving birth to an ominous man. Choreographed with precision, this juggler is flexible, talented, and commands presence. Trying to explain what he does in words is too hard a task. From dance, to gymnastics, to just craziness, the juggler (originally Viktor Kee) is a complete master of his art. And in the conclusion of his mind-boggling performance he tosses all his balls in the air, keeping only one – a red one (his heart) – which he gives to Azala suspended in the air.
Teeterboard
Oceane presents her second performance, a boggling act of strength. Usually performed by men only, for Dralion Cirque has employed all women. Watch with amazement as two artists use a teeterboard to propel a third into the air… unsure whether she will complete her twist and somersault before landing – split-legged – on the shoulders of her teammates. Rising from a one, two, three, four and even five person tower, these elements from the ocean astound all as a flip lands one of these lovely girls into a chair atop the shoulders of her teammates!
Double Trapeze
Performing on two identical instruments, the fliers will astound you with their quick jumps, flips and acrobatics. But nothing compares to the quick hand to feet to hand flips in mid air that are performed here. The act comes to a spectacular close when the artists release a stream of color from their grasps and a circular wall of greens and blues covers the stage. The intermission has begun.
Ballet on Lights
Upon return, a stage-covering lantern that houses ghostly floating images treats the eyes. When the shade lifts, a troupe of girls are revealed standing on an illuminated platform. Presented for the first time in the world by Cirque du Soleil, seven young women, in pointed ballet shoes, perform a ballet on specially designed light bulbs.
Dralions
A blend of the traditional Chinese dragon and lion dances, Dralions, as reworked by Cirque du Soleil, takes on new scope here. In a dynamic and energetic tumbling sequence, the artists come on stage on wooden balls which they roll under their feet and on which they perform somersaults. Five Dralions perform acrobatics around them. The signature of the performance is when the five Dralions climb on one single wooden ball and, by working together, must get the ball from one end of a teeterboard to the next.
Spirits & Pas de Deux
As a prelude to Pas de deux, four young women perform an aerial ballet. Suspended from the set’s giant claws by special harnesses, they twirl and float over the heads of their partners. Pas de deux is a languorous aerial dance. A couple, intertwined, flies over the stage in a long band of blue cloth. Within the cloth, they perform various acrobatic figures that demand great feats of strength and flexibility.
Hoop Diving
Derived from Chinese acrobatic tradition, the hoop diving act takes on a tribal flavor from the African-influenced music to which it is performed. Ten male artists dive and throw themselves like arrows through wooden hoops. The hoops are fastened to a table; some remain stationary while others rotate.
Skipping Ropes
“Kamandé” hits the ground for this playful and final act. A creation by Li Xi Ning, this performance takes the children’s game of jump roping to a “new level of acrobatic prowess”. Yellow and red fitted acrobats fill the stage holding a long, red, rope. As it beats to the music, the acrobats flip, fly and defy the forces of physics as they make pyramids and form three-person-high columns jumping the rope all the while.
Finale:
A triumphant beat of the drum calls a close to the fanciful universe of Dralion. Performers spin about on stage while a solo performance of the Chinese drum fills the air. Thunderous applause erupts from those who are there to witness the spectacle… and the natural order of time is returned. Dralion has ended.
# # #
Today’s Dralion is much different from the show that premiered under Cirque’s trademarked Blue-and-Yellow Big Top, raised on the grounds adjacent to Cirque du Soleil Studio at 8400, 2e Avenue in the St-Michel district (the only show to have done so).
For example, the first big change to the show’s line-up (besides the firing of the original clowns, and the loss of their replacement – Les Voila) occurred in 2005 with the removal of the Teeterboard act, replacing it with a new Trampoline number that took advantage of Dralion’s sizeable metallic backdrop (imagine jumpers using Dralion’s wall in similar style to that found in La Nouba and you’d get the idea). Occasionally acts would rotate in and out to fill in, and some of these would be different based on the Chinese team then performing (there were four groups in an 18-month rotation). Therefore, you might be blessed with the opportunity to see two young girls perform Contortion with Bowls, but most often you’d get to see Foot Juggling. If you were extremely lucky, though, you might have seen a rousing Aerial Hoop performance by Marie-Michelle Faber.
But in the end much of the show unfolded exactly as it was created. On January 18, 2010, the show took its “final” bow in Mexico City after 10 years touring – the speculation was that Cirque’s contract with its partner, Chinese Flag Circus, had come to an end. The retirement was short-lived however, as Guy Laliberté announced the next day the show would continue its adventure in the arena format… and change in many ways. In addition to retiring Foot Juggling, the show also lost its Double Trapeze and Ballet on Lights performances, replacing them with a primary Aerial Hoop performance, and a ballet act called Medusa (similar to Balance on Lights without the lights) and two new acts-in-rotation: Balancing on Chairs and Solo Diabolo.
Although in the beginning the internal reaction to Dralion was, as Cirque put it, “less than generous” – as the change from the old order was too much for some – Dralion quickly found its audience and became one of Cirque du Soleil’s top-grossing touring shows. Even the 2000 filming of the show became the recipient of three Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Directing for a Variety or Musical; and Outstanding Costumes for a Variety or Music Program.
Some other milestones to celebrate:
With many more to come we hope!
