The pandemic almost overwhelmed the “ECHO” show, which was deadlocked in 2020 when Quebec went on hiatus a few weeks before the big premiere.
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Three years later, Cirque du Soleil is ready to unveil its 20th Big Top Show, which will be presented from April 20th to August 20th at Montreal’s Old Port.
The large-scale production has been refined by the teams of creative director Chantal Tremblay and British director Mukhtar Omar Sharif Mukhtar during the “Covid” hiatus.
Three numbers spectacular in both beauty and performance were unveiled to the media under the big top on Wednesday, including the one entitled “Suspension by the hair,” which starred Toronto native Charlotte O’Sullivan and Austrian Penelope Scheidler caused a stir by hanging herself in the air with her hair and mouth while performing various tricks.
According to Cirque du Soleil, they are the only ones to perform “double hanging.”
A huge cube makes up most of the “ECHO” decor.
This moves forward and performs turns, as in the number “Fil mou”, in which two very talented acrobats perform pirouettes, jumps or simple movements on an extendable wire.
Do not try at home! Ukrainian artist Taras Hoi and his French Guiana accomplice Antino-Tisson Pansa have, shall we say, a great dexterity when it comes to balance.
In the number “Human Framework” 11 Ethiopians form structures with only their bodies, shoot through the air and perform pirouettes in their colorful costumes, which usually requires acrobatic equipment. In the room we force with them and marvel at their know-how.
“ECHO” celebrates human solidarity, cooperation, as the protagonist Future brings people and animals together – the animal heads are very beautiful – to rebuild their planet to make it a better place. There are themes that resonate in this era of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, major population displacements and the return to power of a certain Donald Trump.
“Future represents the new generation, the dynamism, young people see the world differently. Connection, empathy and hope are part of the narrative of the show,” creative director Chantal Tremblay, who has been with Cirque du Soleil for 31 years, told QMI Agency.
“To reinvent ourselves, we set the technical team great challenges, such as the giant cube. We also try to maximize our acrobatic performances.
As in every show by the troupe created by Guy Laliberté – already 39 years ago – there is magic, poetry and music to tie it all together.
More information about “ECHO”: https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/fr/echo.
Opera singer Pascale-Brigitte Baril takes part in her first Cirque du Soleil show with “ECHO”.
It’s an incredible experience for the 32-year-old from Longueuil. Discontinued in 2019, like all artists on the planet, she has had to wait the past three years.
Since January, she has been taking over the collar on the other five voices of “ECHO” to depress the tone during numbers, which has to be adjusted during performances depending on what’s happening on stage.
Pascale-Brigitte also plays the piano during the show.
“It’s quite an experience! There’s a lot of sound engineering, while I’m used to working in an acoustic environment, with no amplifiers or monitors. We work with headphones [intra-auriculaires]everything is amplified, all instruments are electronic, although there are many classical instruments like violin, cello, viola and piano,” she said.
Pascale-Brigitte, who primarily sang at the Opéra de Montréal, was simply responding to an announcement in 2019 that Cirque du Soleil was looking for new voices. She will join ECHO’s North American tour through December 2024.