07/03/2019

The most human Cirque du Soleil comes to Gran Canaria

The TOTEM spectacle is inspired by the origins and evolution of mankind, and is to premiere in July 2019 in Gran Canaria.

This could be a test. Is it real or is it a dream? Our sight and the rest of our senses face the challenge of solving a dilemma which, at the end of the day, belongs to the realms of emotion. Here there are artists who contort themselves as they challenge the laws of physics while the set design and projections interact in real time with their movements. The audience contemplates the waves, splashes and reflections in the water of a primeval pond, flames, the source of a river, an ocean, a volcanic island, molecules, planets, a starlit sky and a rocket that sets off on course for infinity. We repeat the question once more… dream or reality? Both answers are valid when it is the Cirque du Soleil and their TOTEM show we are talking about, which will premiere on 5th July 2019 in Gran Canaria.

TOTEM, Cirque du Soleill

TOTEM arrives in Gran Canaria having already visited fifty different cities around the world and having delighted over six million people. And it will do so under the emblematic Great White Marquee, the flagship of the Cirque du Soleil, which will cast its huge silhouette opposite the Expomeloneras congress palace, in the south of the island. It is indeed the first time the Great White Marquee travels to the Canaries.

TOTEM, Cirque du Soleil

The prodigious technical, acrobatic, visual, scenic, narrative and imaginative TOTEM spectacle knows no boundaries. On this occasion it takes the form of a show written and directed by prestigious multidisciplinary Canadian director and artist Robert Lepage, who submerges the spectator into a fascinating voyage back to the origins and evolution of mankind, a spectacle which has won the Drama Desk award and the Unique Theatrical Experience award.

TOTEM, Cirque du Soleil

TOTEM will startle and move us as it takes us back to crucial moments in the development of mankind, through breathtaking acrobatic scenes, as it explores what connects human beings to other species, their dreams and their endless potential. In fact, the whole show is a demonstration of the creative and technical advancements made by civilization, as portrayed on stage by 46 artists, actors and actresses, musicians and singers, and their stunning acrobatic feats, along with large amounts of comedy, the moving twists and turns of the script, and the amazing special effects.

TOTEM, Cirque du Soleil

Every movement, contorsion, image and stage detail carry an important message aimed at our human heart, and serve as a reminder that we are all part of an extraordinary planet. It is even portrayed from space. It is no coincidence then that TOTEM assembles photographs taken by Guy Laliberté during his Poetic Social Mission on board the International Space Station. It all makes for a visual feast, featuring recordings from Iceland, Hawaii and Guatemala. We can even see how lava boils over, the inner sap of this incrediable Planet Earth, of which we are another expression of its throbbing beat. There are no two humans who are exactly the same, but a common energy and evolution unites thousands of millions of inhabitants on the planet. Isn’t that also a kind of magic in itself?

TOTEM, Cirque du Soleil

Infrared cameras, laser beams and the rest of the technical marvels are an essential part of a creation which in reality would count for nothing if it weren’t for the forty-plus artists who breathe life into it under the Great White Marquee, and which provide meaning to the reflections of Robert Lepage: “What is a circus if it cannot captivate us like this? In the short space of time these talented artists are flying acrobatically through the air, they become more than mere men and women: they are like semi-gods, and we feel like we are being transported to a mythological world”.

Now Gran Canaria, which also seems to be a land of dreams, becomes yet another stage of this magical tour provided by this galleon called Cirque du Soleil, which is jam-packed with excitement.