Varekai, Cirque du Soleil’s latest touring show to visit San Diego, will debut at Point Loma’s Valley View Casino Center (the former Sports Arena), 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., for seven performances beginning Wednesday, Feb. 25 and running through Sunday, March 1.
If you haven’t yet seen a Cirque du Soleil production, whether in an arena or theater or under a big top, you’ll be in for a delightful surprise. But don’t let the “circus” in Cirque du Soleil’s name deceive you. Cirque du Soleil’s shows contain none of the traditional circus or trained animal acts. Instead, they offer high-energy, choreographed artistic acrobatic entertainment, designed to dazzle and amaze. And the only “animals” in the show are elaborately costumed creatures populating Varekai’s mythical world.
While many Cirque shows are loosely connected acts performed by highly trained acrobats and street performers, Varekai, which means “wherever” in the gypsies’ Romany language, is different because of its story, explained Cirque publicist Vanessa Napoli.
“This one has a narrative,” Napoli said. “It will be very different from any other Cirque du Soleil you’ve seen. Varekai has many layers to it. You can watch it just to be entertained and transported to another time. If you’re looking for a deeper meaning, the acrobats are telling the story for those looking to find it,” she said.
The storyline, she explained, picks up after and rewrites the ending of the Greek myth of Icarus, whose waxen wings melt as he flies too close to the sun and falls into the sea.
“Varekai,” Napoli said, “tells the story of how to pick yourself up after a fall. Icarus finds himself in a strange world. He knows no one and struggles with it. He slowly sees the creatures are there to help him, to interpret. This can relate to real life, when we go through struggles in life and find ourselves in strange environments. Our friends and family help us pick ourselves back up.”
The world Icarus tumbles into includes colorful sets featuring a magical forest and a long-dormant volcano, populated with fantastical creatures. His adventures and voyage of discovery through Varekai’s world unfold through music and vividly choreographed drama, dance and acrobatics showcasing a highly trained cast of 50 performers and musicians from 18 countries.
Composer Violaine Corradi drew on international inspirations to create the musical score for Varekai, which is performed by a seven-piece band and two singers. Corradi’s inspirations include music from Hawaiian rituals, 11th-century southern French troubadours, traditional Armenian melodies and gospels.
Written and directed by Dominic Champagne, Varekai debuted in Montréal in 2002 and has toured internationally ever since, yet it continues to evolve and change. Napoli explained that its creator regularly tweaks the choreography, which also varies according to the skills and experience of individual performers. In addition to acrobatics, the current Icarus’ background performers feature more dance experience than that of his predecessors.
“It’s a great show if you’ve never seen Cirque before,” Napoli said. “It has all the elements. It stays true to its core. Yet if you have seen (Varekai) before, it will still seem different. You’ll pick up different things a second or third time.”
Cirque du Soleil — or circus of the sun — originated in a small town in the French Canadian province of Québec, near Québec City, in the early 1980s. Gilles Ste.-Croix founded a street theatre group, Les Échassiers de Baie-Saint-Paul (the Baie-Saint-Paul Stiltwalkers), a troupe of colorful young street performers who entertained residents with music, dancing, juggling, fire-breathing and stiltwalking.
Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, was impressed with the group and collaborated with Ste.-Croix in creating a show in 1984 for Québec City to celebrate the 450th anniversary of Jacques Cartier’s discovery of Canada.
Since 1984, when Cirque employed only 73 artists and support staff, the company has exploded. The Montréal-based entertainment company now employs more than 4,000 people throughout the world and presents about 19 different live shows, including touring and resident companies, with eight distinctive shows in Las Vegas.
For show and ticket sales information, visit cirquedusoleil.com/varekai or call (888) 929-7849. Tickets run from $35 to $115.
