Alegría (Cirque du Soleil)

This article is about the Cirque du Soleil production. For other uses, see Alegria (disambiguation).

Alegría
Logo for Cirque du Soleil's Alegria
Company	Cirque du Soleil
Genre	Contemporary circus
Show type	Touring arena show
Date of premiere	21 April 1994 (Montreal)
Location	Montreal
Creative team
Director	Franco Dragone
Director of creation	Gilles Ste-Croix
Composer	René Dupéré
Costume designer	Dominique Lemieux
Set designer	Michel Crête
Choreographer	Debra Brown
Lighting designer	Luc Lafortune
Sound designer	Guy Desrochers
Company founder and CEO	Guy Laliberté
Make-up designer	Nathalie Gagné
Other information
Preceded by	Mystère (1993)
Succeeded by	Quidam (1996)
Official website

Alegría is a Cirque du Soleil touring production, created in 1994 by director Franco Dragone and director of creation Gilles Ste-Croix. It takes its name from the Spanish word for "joy".

Since April 1994 the show has been performed over 5000 times, and has been seen by over 14 million spectators in more than 250 cities around the world.

Alegria's Grand Chapiteau in São Paulo, Brazil. March 2008

Set and technical information

The stage of Alegría is topped by a giant dome and decorated with stylistic columns and balustrades. The dome gives the sense of an impressive, powerful structure, similar to how churches and government buildings utilize similar architectural constructs. The stage has spiral ramps on opposing sides which lead down, symbolizing the unknown. The floor of the stage has the head of a salamander, used for the four elements in which it lives. The 17th-century-ballroom stylistic lighting design reflects a nostalgic atmosphere. Finally, an autumnal color palette creates the luminous obscurity of the show.

Characters

The characters in Alegría comprise people of two separate generations: the New Order and the Old Order.

• Fleur: An unpredictable and dangerous madman who believes he is king. He is the guide to the world of Alegría.
• Nostalgic Old Birds: The Nostalgic Old Birds have lived in the palace for as long as it has existed. They are empty-shelled courtiers who admire their reflections in mirrorless frames. They include Gracieuse, Blanche, Valentin, Wilfrid, Georges-Etienne and more.
• Fire Bird: He appears for a brief dance before fire knife act and is present in the background while the fire knife dancer is performing.
• Tamir and Little Tamir: Appears when needed, only to disappear once he has fulfilled his mission.
• The Musicians: They provide the show's live music, dressed entirely in white. In the first run of the show, they were sometimes referred to as Les Hiboux ("the Owls").
• Nymphs: Exuberant characters who celebrate life.
• Bronx: The young and tough, who are the next generation in Alegría. They perform on the power track and aerial high bar.
• The Angels: The guardians who are the youth of tomorrow. They perform on the Russian bars.
• White Singer: One of the singers. She is the storyteller who sings about everything she sees around her. She is often desired by the male characters of the show.
• Black Singer: One of the singers. She has a wickedness about her and is the White Singer's opposite. She always avoids approaching the front of the stage.
• Clowns: Reflecting the eternal spirit of mankind, the clowns are witnesses to the passing of centuries, the social commentators of the world of Alegría. Grounded in real life, they tell little stories of everyday existence where everyone is a hero, and where anyone can fall in love and suffer a broken heart. The clowns are visionaries - philosophers of absurdity. Endearing, comical and childlike, they turn the world into a circus.

Acts

The acts of Alegría have had a bit of turnover, but continue to fit its theme: "A baroque ode to the energy, grace and power of youth."

• Opening: Fleur and the musicians, walk in the audience, while the show is being prepared.
• Prologue (Mirko): The white singer sings a song while the characters and acrobats of Alegría run around the stage to welcome the audience to the world of Alegría.
• Synchronized trapeze: Two acrobats perform tricks on two separate trapezes.
• Horse: A clown and a horse have comical problems.
• Power track: A group of acrobats perform flips and twists on an X-shaped power track.
• Paper planes: The clowns come in, playing with paper airplanes.
• Hand balancing: An artist performs handbalancing on canes.
• Fire-knife dance: Two artists perform a dance using fire-knives.
• Clown candle: A clown comes in, and tries to mimic the fire-knife dancing act by using a candle instead.
• Manipulation: An artist manipulates ribbons, contortion and hula hoops. The original act consisted of only contortion, and hula hoops.
• Snowstorm: A clown performs a symbolic tale of Love and Heartbreak.
• Le Bal: The white singer comes in and sings Danze Vazoule while going in the audience, picking a person out and dancing with the audience member.
• Flying man: An artist bounces and flies high above the stage with bungee cords.
• The Bar: The clowns come in and play with a Russian bar.
• Russian bars: A group of acrobats perform Russian bars.
• Contortion: Two artists create graceful and lithe figures and movements with their extreme flexibility and balance. The original act consisted of one contortionist.
• Interlude to Aerial high bar: Little tamir comes and flies with a bird structure.
• Aerial high bar: A group of acrobats fly, twist and spin on a structure in the air while a net is below them. Once they fly off the structure, the acrobats will be caught by other acrobats on a swinging trapeze.
• Finale: The white singer sings Alegría while the cast of Alegría comes and says farewell to the audience.

Acts in rotation

• Cyr wheel: An artist spins and performs tricks in a Cyr wheel.
• Juggling: An artist juggled up to 6 balls.

Retired acts

• Tightwire: A performer balanced precariously on a wire, the performer would jump and even flip on the wire. (1996)
• Shoulder pole wire: An original Alegría act, it featured a young performer who balanced a long pole on their shoulders with a tight wire platform on top. On this wire, a younger performer flipped, turned and leapt always keeping their balance. (1994 - 1995)
• Strong man: This act was quite literally a very strong man, the performer would warp metal and even lift the weight of multiple performers. The act was originally performed by actor and professional arm-wrestler Rick Zumwalt, and soon afterwards would be performed by Stepan Ivanov, Ginaud Dupuis and Filippe Vorobiev. (1994 - 1999, 2001 - 2004)
• Slackwire: This act used a swinging, loose wire. On this a female artist balanced, rolled and even rode a unicycle on the slack wire. (2004 - 2005)
• Aerial cube: An artist performed with the metal skeleton of a large cube on the ground and in the air. (1994 - 1995, 1997 - 1999, 2004 - 2007)
• Aerial silk: Strong yet sensitive, powerful yet delicate, natural but surreal, the Flying Man emerges from the shadows, showing his force for more subtle art, evoking sensual men's movement, and the live stream on silk. (1996, 2003)
• Solo trapeze: An acrobat performed on a single trapeze. (2007 - 2011)
• Aerial Contortion: Intensity, power and grace combine when a young woman becomes one with the column of red fabric which supports and cradles her. (1995)

Costumes

Contortion artists in Alegría

Alegría's costumes have a dichotomy relating to the Old Order and the New Order. The Old Order has costumes which are reminiscent of New York's Gilded Age as they are finely decorated with feathers, lace, and other adornments. The New Order, on the other hand, representing the youth of tomorrow, have the same rich hues as the old order, while the fabrics used are lighter and softer, helping to emphasize the agility of youth.

Music

The original album artwork of Alegría, 1994

The soundtrack was composed by René Dupéré, who had composed for previous productions including Nouvelle Expérience, Saltimbanco and Mystère.

It was released as a studio album on 27 September 1994. Robbi Finkel and René Dupéré were nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Arranger at the 38th Annual Grammy Awards. The album was also nominated for several Félix Awards in 1995, winning two of the latter: 'Producer of the Year' for Robbi Finkel and René Dupéré, and 'Sound Mixer of the Year' for Rob Heaney. Alegría was also ranked on the Billboard World Music Chart for 65 weeks.

The tracks for the original 1994 release, including the two extended tracks from 2002 are listed below and alongside are the acts during which they are played.

1. Alegría (Finale)
2. Vai Vedrai
   • (Synchronized trapeze)
   • (Trapeze Duplex) (2007–2010)
3. Kalandéro
   • Shoulder-Pole Wire (1994–1995)
   • Tightrope (1996, 2004)
   • Juggling (2002–2004, 2006–2013)
   • Slackwire (2004–2005)
4. Querer (Interlude to Aerial high bar)
5. Irna (Power track)
6. Taruka (Contortion)
7. Jeux d'enfants (Power track setup)
8. Mirko (Opening)
9. Icare (Aerial high bar)
10. Ibis
    • Aerial Cube (1994–1995, 1997–1999, 2004–2008)
    • Flying Man (1996, 2003–2004)
11. Valsapena (Power track)
12. Nocturne (Snowstorm)
13. Cerceaux (Manipulation)
14. Malioumba (Flying man) (2001–2013)

Other songs

1. Milonga (Introduction to musicians)
2. Ouverture (Pre-Opening sequence)
3. Prelude to Vai Vedrai (Pre-Trapeze act sequence)
4. Fleurs (Clown act) (1997–2000, 2002–2004)
5. Le Feu (Fire-knife dance)
6. Homme Fort (Strong man) (1994–1999, 2001–2004)
7. Danze Vazoule (Le bal)
8. Ombre (Clown act) (1994–2004)
9. Force 4/Balafon (Russian bars)
10. La Perche 1 (Shoulder-pole wire) (1994–1995)
11. La Perche 2 (Shoulder-pole wire out sequence) (1994–1995)
12. Prelude to Le Cube (Pre-Aerial Cube act sequence) (1994–1995, 1997–1999, 2004–2007)
13. Prelude to Contortion (Pre-Contortion Cube act sequence)
14. Grands Volants Prelude (Pre-High Bar act sequence)
15. Sisyphe (Handbalancing) (1995–2013)
16. Rinalto Vera (Cyr wheel)
17. Bardak (Clown act and Juggling) (1994–1997, 2005)
18. Oiseaux sur la corde (Clown act) (1994–2004)
19. Concierto de Aranjuez (Clown act) (1994–1996)

Further information: Cirque du Soleil discography § Alegría

Tour

Alegría's tour history is quite extensive as it premiered in 1994. It has toured under the Grand Chapiteau as well as in sporting arenas. During 1999 and 2000 it played as a resident show in Biloxi's Beau Rivage.

Remount

In commemoration of the show's 25th anniversary, a new show called Alegría: In a New Light was created, in its original Big Top format to pay tribute to the original show. The tour began on 18 April 2019 in Montreal. It features revamped numbers, characters, costumes, music and makeup.