After postponing his show and then canceling it Under the same skySet to be presented in a marquee in Montreal’s Old Port in 2020, Cirque du Soleil is finally ready to reunite with its Quebec audience ECHO. The newspaper went to meet the designers of the show.
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ECHO uses about half of the acrobatic numbers designed for Under the Same Sky three years ago. The new show is about “evolution and the symbioses that are essential for our future,” according to the company.
This creation, which will have its world premiere again in Montreal in April, blends poetry, performing arts, high-flying acrobatics and technology.
The show will feature a female lead named Future, who will discover that her actions have the power to shape the world she lives in.
London director and former Cirque du Soleil artist Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar directs ECHO. “We tried to create a timeless show that could still be relevant ten years from now,” he says.
Having been an acrobat before – with The Beatles LOVE in Vegas for eight years – Mukhtar knows what acrobats go through. When he arrived in Montreal, he even asked Cirque to stay in the same residences as the artists. “Because I wanted to experience that with them again instead of staying in a nice downtown hotel. I find it inspires me to remember where I come from.”
musical universe
On a musical level, ECHO will stage a formation of seven musicians. What is special about these artists recruited from all over the world? Not only do they all play an instrument, they also sing during the show.
According to music and musical arrangement consultant Thierry Angers, the way the voices are used in ECHO results in a musical universe, a mix of classical and pop, rarely heard.
In total, the ECHO show brings together around 120 people. There are 20 different nationalities among the artists and technicians.
“One group is from Ethiopia, we have some from Cameroon, Quebecers, Americans, Australians, Ukrainians, Russians,” notes Cirque spokeswoman Amélie Robitaille. As always, we have a little bit of everything.
♦ Cirque du Soleil presents its show ECHO in the Old Port of Montreal, from April 20th to August 20th. For details: cirquedusoleil.com/echo.