A clown falls from the sky, buoyed by a parasol, and finds himself in a field of marigolds. A large key, as if from a music box, sticks out of the ground, and, unable to resist, he turns it. Behind him, the sun appears to rise, and a woman with gauzy monarch butterfly wings falls into a sprint, a giant metal horse galloping behind her, as dancers in elaborate hummingbird costumes flit around the stage. At this moment, every person under the Big Top is locked in and ready to be awed by Cirque du Soleil’s Luzia.
Luzia takes the audience on a journey through an imaginary version of Mexico, where color, light, and rain are more than just backdrops for the performers’ breathtaking feats of acrobatics and choreography. The name of the show is a mix of the Spanish words for light (luz) and rain (lluvia), and both are used to spectacular effect throughout.
The show’s recurrent characters are the clown, known as the Traveler, and the Running Woman, the one with butterfly wings who appears to command many of the show’s set pieces. But the true protagonist of Luzia is Mexico. The country’s cinema and music, varied landscapes, plants, and animals, as well as old and modern traditions, find a uniquely surreal expression in Cirque du Soleil’s expertly crafted production.
Each scene is sensory overload. Wherever your eye lands, something beautiful is happening: Acrobats dressed as birds flying through hoops on a giant treadmill stage that is also rotating. An agave field where two women in giant metallic hoops perform an elegant choreography, while above them a trapeze artist flies through a sheet of rain. A movie scene set on a beach where a strongman balances on flimsy beams as an overzealous director with a megaphone shouts in Spanish. A jungle where acrobats climb up and down vertical poles and criss-cross in the air while leaping from one pole to the other. An aerial strap performer who paints the air with water from a cenote (sinkhole) as a life-size jaguar stalks him. Speed juggling to the beat of a marimba, footballers showing off deft control of the soccer ball, a contortionist who bends in ways the human body shouldn’t, a beach ball competition with a clown.
The show culminates with a Russian swing act where performers are hurled over 30 feet into the air from one swing, spinning as they go, to land with gymnastic precision on another on the opposite side of the stage. For this production, the two swings are mounted on a turntable so that the audience can take in the performance from all angles.
The show packs stunning moment after stunning moment, tempering the pace with musical interludes and feats of technical wizardry. The most memorable is a giant waterfall where images of animals, plants, and elaborate patterns appear over the falling water, stenciled in light. Adding to the magical and dreamlike quality of the scenes are giant puppets that move with uncanny realism.
Cirque du Soleil may be most famous for gravity-defying visual spectacles, but what weaves the fabric of Luzia together is the music. Before the show even begins, as the audience is settling into their seats, a lone guitarist fills the gigantic space with melodic strumming from a Spanish guitar. Live musicians become characters in their own right, often dressed in eye-catching costumes that pay tribute to the Mexican surrealist movement (several of the costumes are on display in the Big Top lobby with information about the designs). The show’s composer, Simon Carpentier, drew from many Latin American music traditions when creating the score, including cumbia, norteña, huapango, and traditional brass and percussion bands. In a show that is almost oversaturated with color and movement, one of the most enthralling moments featured a lone singer in a white and red dress performing an operatic solo on a mostly dark stage.
Luzia is a truly unique show. It’s also family-friendly and overall a fun experience, whether you’re a Cirque du Soleil first-timer or a veteran of the Big Top.
Running Time: Two hours and 20 minutes, including a 25-minute intermission.
Luzia plays through October 18, 2015, presented by Cirque du Soleil, performing under the Big Top at Tyson II, 8025 Galleria Drive, Tysons, VA. Tickets can be purchased at cirquedusoleil.com/Luzia or through TodayTix.
The Luzia program is online here.
SEE ALSO:
Cirque du Soleil’s ‘Luzia’ to perform in DC in 2025 (news story, October 22, 2024)
‘Luzia’ at Cirque du Soleil in Tysons (review by John Stoltenberg, April 15, 2018)