Dralion

Dralion
Company	Cirque du Soleil
Genre	Contemporary circus
Show type	Touring arena show
Date of premiere	April 22, 1999
Creative team
Director	Guy Caron
Director of creation	Gilles Ste-Croix
Set designer	Stéphane Roy
Composer	Violaine Corradi
Costume designer	François Barbeau
Clown act designer	Michel Dallaire
Lighting designer	Luc Lafortune
Choreographer	Julie Lachance
Sound designer	Guy Desrochers
General artistic director	Sylvie Galarneau
Company founder and CEO	Guy Laliberté
Other information
Preceded by	La Nouba (1998)
Succeeded by	Varekai (2002)
Official website

Dralion (pronounced Drah-lee-on) is a touring production by the Canadian entertainment company Cirque du Soleil. The show combines elements of traditional Chinese circus with Western contemporary circus, complementing the "East-meets-West" theme implied in the title — the name is a portmanteau of "dragon" (representing the East) and "lion" (representing the West). It is Cirque du Soleil's 12th touring production and the first Cirque show since 1985 not to be directed by Franco Dragone.^[1]

Set and technical information

The backdrop for Dralion is a metallic structure 60 feet (18 m) in width and 26 feet (7.9 m) in height. It is covered in perforated aluminum tiles, giving it the appearance of medieval armor or a futuristic Chinese temple. Sitting atop the structure are six giant claws which allow performers to climb the wall and suspend in mid-air. Above the stage itself are three large concentric aluminum rings. The first is utilized as a catwalk; the second is used to support acrobatic equipment; and the third is used by performers to move up and down and suspend in the air.^[2]

Characters

Dralion features 50 members in its performance troupe, of which about 5 or 6 play principal characters.^[2]

• Azala (air): The goddess of air who is dressed in blue, keeper of the sun and the guardian of immortality.
• Gaya (earth): The goddess of earth, dressed in ochre.
• Océane (water): The goddess of water, dressed in green.
• Yao (fire): The god of fire, dressed in red, who is both good and evil.
• L'Âme Force: The show's singers who symbolize harmony between the four elements.
• Kala: Represents the heart of the wheel of time, making time evolve.
• Little Buddha: The chosen child who possesses powers that will eventually allow him to become an Âme-Force, but dreams of being a regular child.
• Dralions: Mythical creatures inspired by the imagery of the Chinese lion dance and dragon dance.
• Clowns: The clowns manage to push this otherwise harmonious universe slightly off-kilter.

Acts

The acts of Dralion combine unique western and eastern acrobatic skills.^[2][3]

• Single Handbalancing: A single woman balances on one hand and accomplishes a variety of poses.
• Bamboo Poles: Five acrobats twirl and throw 25-foot-long (7.6 m) bamboo poles while Yao waves a flag as the acrobats jump over it.
• Juggling: An artist performs juggling infused with breakdancing and modern dance. This act was performed by Viktor Kee but now is performed by Vladik Myagkostoupov.
• Trampoline: A group of acrobats perform on trampolines using the set's futuristic backdrop both as a diving board and landing pad.
• Dralions: Three acrobats and three Dralions perform tumbling feats and Chinese lion dance-like dance.
• Medusa: A group of artists execute graceful and lithe movements, in the style of acrosport.
• Cerceau: A single artist performs choreography using a hoop suspended in mid-air.
• Soleil Tilt: One of the singers goes up into the air while singing.
• Spirits: Four couples perform a gravity-defying ballet.
• Aerial pas de Deux: Azala and her male counterpart perform an aerial dance in silks.
• Hoop Diving: Acrobats jump through a tower of hoops, which is sometimes spinning.
• Skipping Ropes: A group of acrobats perform jump rope alone or together in pyramids and in towers.

Rotation acts

• Diabolo: Artists perform tricks with diabolos trying to outperform each other.
• Contortion: A solo act featuring a very flexible performer who stays in handstands with their legs over their head.
• Crossed Cyr Wheel: A cyr wheel that is infused with another cyr wheel forming a globe. The performer spins and twists this apparatus in an act that represents the circle of life and the passing of time.

Retired acts

• Contortion with Bowls, Rotation: This was a contortion act made even more precarious with the added difficulty of balancing a stack of bowls on the artists head.
• Teeterboard: An original Dralion act, it featured an all female troupe. The flyer would stand at one end of the trapeze as two performers jumped onto the opposite end, shooting the flyer up and onto a high tower of other performers.
• Ballet on Lightbulbs: An original Dralion act that was unlike anything else. A group of female artist wore ballet pointe shoes and balanced while other performers climbed onto their shoulders creating high towers of people all on a platform of light bulbs.
• Duo trapeze: An original Dralion act, two trapezes that had one bar at the bottom and another bar about a metre above it, the artists would jump or flip from the higher bar into the hands of another performer at the bottom bar.
• Foot Juggling, Rotation: An original Dralion act, this foot juggling act featured a female artist who manipulated and spun an open Chinese parasol on her feet, at one moment she would have a parasol on each foot and each hand, all spinning simultaneously.
• Balancing on Chairs, Rotation: This act had an artist stack a pile if chairs, at the top of the pile the artist performed a hand-balancing act.

Costumes

Dralion's costumes are vibrant in color; inspired by clothing from India, China, and Africa; and are shaped according to the movements of each performer's choreography.^[4] In total there are around 1500 wardrobe pieces for the show, taking into account that some artists have up to four costume changes during a single performance.^[5]

• Yao: As the symbol of fire, Yao is clad in red.
• Océane: As the goddess of water, Océane's costume is Indian inspired and green in color.
• Azala: As the goddess of air, Azala's primary color is blue. Her dress is fashioned with Asian crystal beads.
• Gaya: As the goddess of earth, Gaya's color is Ochre. Her costume is inspired by African designs.
• L'Âme Force: The texture on the front of their golden costumes is made by moulding small plastic soldiers.
• Dralions: The dralions are constructed from a mélange of items both natural and synthetic: lycra, leather, silk, mosquito netting, polystyrene foam, springs, raffia, horse hair, emu feathers, and other fabrics and decorations.

Music

With the company's departure from its longtime creative team, Dralion features the work of a new Cirque composer, French-Canadian composer Violaine Corradi.^[6] The music of Dralion aims to be a fusion of sounds from East and West by the use of acoustic and electric instruments. Featuring rhythmic and lyrical motifs, the influences range from Indian melodies to sounds from Andalusia, Africa, Central Europe, and the West. Instruments used in the CD are drums, violin, winds, keyboards, guitar and percussion instructions. Released on November 9, 1999, Dralion’s soundtrack features the vocals of Basque counter-tenor Erik Karol, and Canadian female vocalist Agnès Sohier. The tracks for the CD are listed below, with their corresponding acts alongside in italics.^[7]

The original album artwork of Dralion, 1999

Track listing

1. Stella Errans (Single Handbalancing)
2. Ombra
   • Foot Juggling (Rotation, 1999 - 2010)
   • Contortion with Bowls (Rotation, 1999 - 2000)
   • Balancing on Chairs (Rotation, 2010 - 2012)
   • Contortion (Rotation, 2012 - present)
3. Spiritual Spiral (Setup to Duo Trapeze)
4. Miracula Æternitatis (Spirits)
5. Bamboo (Bamboo Poles)
6. Ballare (Aerial pas de Deux)
7. Ravendhi (Teeterboard)
8. Ninkou Latora (Duo Trapeze)
9. Aborigenes Jam (Hoop Diving).
10. Hinkò (Ballet on Lightbulbs)
11. Kamandé (Skipping Rope and Finale)

Other songs

1. Elements (Opening)
2. Ledjendia (Opening and Prelude to Skipping Rope)
3. Momma Kee (Juggling, Viktor Kee version)
4. Vladik-Jug (Juggling, Vladik Myagkostoupov version)
5. Lanterne (Lanterns)
6. Soleil Tilt (Soleil Tilt)
7. Bombarde (Dralions)
8. Anima (Aerial Hoop)
9. Unknown Title (Opening, April 1999, Erik Karol only)
10. Unknown Title (Trampolines)
11. Unknown Title (Medusa)
12. Unknown Title (Diabolos)

Vocalists

There have been quite a few amount of singers in Dralion. Here's a full list of them:

Female Singers:
Agnès Sohier (1999 - 2004, 2005 - present)
Laur Fugere (2001, 2003)
Estelle Esse (2004 - 2005)

Male Singers:
Érik Karol (1999 - 2000, 2004 - 2005)
Frank Irving (2001)
Robert Fertitta (2002)
Calvin Braxton (2003 - 2008)
Cristian Zabala (2007 - 2008, 2010 - 2013)
Chad Oliver (2009 - 2010)
Joshua Anuar (2013 - present)

Tour

Dralion started out as a touring show in 1999 traveling under the grand chapiteau, but was converted in 2010 to a format suitable for arenas.^[8][9]

The following colorboxes indicate the region of each performance:   EU   Europe   NA   North America   SA   South and Central America   AP   Asia/Pacific   OC   Oceania   AF   Africa

References

External links

• Official website