When Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Saltimbanco’ toured across Australia, Fourth Wall was asked to create an unforgettable and exclusive environment for the Tapis Rouge (VIP) element of the tour. The challenge was to design a creation that was uniquely Cirque yet could tour easily and be adaptable to numerous different spaces. They didn’t know what was possible with this brief, but knew we’d find out.
The Evolution
Cirque du Soleil has an incredibly unique style and is world renowned for its creativity in design and performance – so we had to create something that was worthy of this reputation. Our approach to the experience was to work closely with Showbiz to bring to life every requirement and then cirque-ifying each aspect. The logistical requirements were: serving of food and beverage, creating atmosphere and providing seating.
To deliver on the service of food and beverage, we created a culinary carousel, which housed platters of canapés and became the centrepiece for the room.
To create atmosphere we were inspired by the ‘split image’ curtains of popular cirque performers and split show images, which were then hung with sparkling lighting backdrops. We also installed starlit drape corridors, flame effect lighting and decadent chandeliers.
As a seating solution, we designed bespoke bubble ball fountains, which brought colour, movement and a sense of fun to the room. These features were modular and could be used in combination or as stand alone pieces, making the concept work in any space with ease whilst still retaining a desired atmosphere.
To ensure our vision went to plan we visited all locations during pre-production, installation and removal. In short, we took the style of Cirque and made sure it worked in each and every location across the country.
The Creation
Thousands of spellbound guests stepped into the “Cirque world” we had created specifically for this tour. And our client was equally spellbound – in fact, Cirque Management liked the set elements so much they took them on the road and back to their headquarters in Canada!
{ SOURCE: Fourth Wall | http://goo.gl/QnsMfZ }
