Cavalia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Cavalia is an equestrian program from Canada similar to a horse circus, involving trick riding, vaulting, haute école and pas de deux, unbridled displays, and Cirque du Soleil-like performances.
Cavalia was created and directed by Normand Latourelle, one of the original founders of Cirque du Soleil. The musical score was composed by Michel Cusson.
The tour uses 49 horses, all of them either stallions or geldings. Many are of the Lusitano breed (and all 13 are brothers or half-brothers), but there are also American Quarter Horses, Paint horses, Canadian Horses, Belgians, Percherons, Arabians and a young Appaloosa colt. About half of the horses were brought from southern France, and the rest are from the United States.
The show is performed in the largest tent in North America, a 2,440 m² (26,300 ft²) big top, and takes 40 people 12 days to erect and 7 days to dismantle. The stable adds on another 11,500 square feet (1070 m²), and it takes 45 trucks to move the whole show. The 150 ft (46 m) wide stage takes 1,500 tons of sand to complete.
The horses are only asked to practice one hour each day, and get two hours each day for play. They only perform for 5-10 minutes per show, 7-8 times each week, and the horses are trained to understudy for each other so different horses can be given the day off. The welfare and happiness of the horse is of the utmost importance, and the horses perform willingly for their trainers, not for food reward but simply for affection.
[edit] The equine stars
The stars of the show are the horses, about half stallions and the other half geldings (there are no mares). These horses eat 40 bales of hay each day, and consume 900 kg (1980 lb) of grain and 20 kg (44 lb) of carrots each week. Many of the horses have their mane braided when not performing, and Templado's knee-length mane takes 90 minutes to complete.
Aétès: White stallion, Spanish-Frison
Amigo: Black gelding, Paint
Aramis: Black foal, Arabian
Arete: Grey gelding, Percheron
Bandit: Dark bay gelding Quarter Horse
Bandolero: Albino stallion, Lusitano
Ben: Dark sorrel gelding, Quarter Horse
Buddy: Blonde sorrel gelding, Belgian
Bungee: Buckskin gelding, Quarter Horse
Choice: Dark bay gelding, Quarter Horse
Chucaro: White stallion, Lusitano
Coffee: Black gelding, Percheron
Comet: Blonde sorrel gelding, Belgian
Dao: White stallion, Lusitano
Eddy: Brown bay gelding, Quarter Horse
Edros: White stallion, Lusitano
Famoso: White stallion, Lusitano
Fasto: White stallion, Lusitano
Gracil: Buckskin stallion, Lusitano
Guizo: Black stallion, Lusitano
Hades: White stallion, Lusitano
Hollywood: Sorrel gelding, Quarter Horse
Iman: White stallion, Lusitano
Joe: Sorrel gelding, Quarter Horse
Kiwi: Dark Bay gelding, Quarter Horse
Lorenzo: Dark bay gelding, Warmblood
Mandarin: Buckskin stallion, Lusitano
Penultimo: White gelding, Spanish
Pico: Appaloosa gelding
Pompon: Blonde sorrel foal, Quarter Horse
Popeye: Bay stallion, Quarter Horse
T-Bar: Dark Bay stallion, Quarter Horse
Templado: White stallion, Lusitano
Toby: Sorrel gelding, Quarter Horse
Zazabelou: Buckskin stallion, Lusitano
Zorro: Black gelding, Quarter Horse
[edit] The human stars
The show also features over 20 human stars, from Canada, France, Kyrgyzstan, United States, Mexico, and Morocco.
Frédéric Barrette: Acrobatics, Russian bar, dancing
Dosbergen Bektursunovich: Trick Riding
Renaud Blais: Acrobatics, dancing, Chinese pole
Estelle Delgado: Haute école, vaulting, pas de deux, carousel
Magali Delgado: Haute école, pas de deux, carousel
Anne Gendreau: Acrobatics, flying, dancing, vertical rope, bungee
Erik Martonovich: Vaulting
Faissal Moulid: Acrobatics, tumbling, contortion, trampoline
Mustapha Moulid: Acrobatics, vaulting, tumbling, trampoline, contortion
Damian Pichardo: Trick riding
Frédéric Pignon: Wild-horse dressage, carousel
Julie Perron: Dancing
Elhassan Rais: Acrobatics, tumbling, contortion, dancing
Nadia Richer: Acrobatics, dancing, vaulting, bungee, vertical rope
Anne-Sophie Roy: Vaulting
Alethea Shelton: Vaulting
Enrique Suarez: Acrobatics, vaulting, Roman post, carousel, trick riding
Pierre-Luc Sylvain: Acrobatics, Russian bar, dancing, tumbling, straps
Cédric Texier: Jumping, carousel
Philippe Tezenas: Acrobatics, vaulting, dancing, carousel
Karen Turvey: Vaulting, Roman post, carousel
