La Nouba

La Nouba
Company Cirque du Soleil
Genre Contemporary circus
Show type Resident show
Date of premiere December 23, 1998
Location Disney Springs, Orlando, Florida
Creative team
Director Franco Dragone
Creation director Gilles Ste-Croix
Composer and musical director Benoît Jutras
Costume designer Dominique Lemieux
Set designer Michel Crête
Choreographer Debra Brown
Lighting designer Luc Lafortune
Sound co-designers Jonathan Deans,
François Bergeron
Artistic guide Guy Laliberté
Make-up designer Nathalie Gagné
Other information
Preceded by O (1998)
Succeeded by Dralion (1999)
Official website

La Nouba is a Cirque du Soleil show in residence in a custom-built, freestanding theater at Disney Springs' West Side at the Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando, Florida. It is a contemporary circus performance featuring acrobats, gymnasts, and other skilled performers. The show's creation was directed by Franco Dragone, who also directed many of Cirque du Soleil's earlier shows. Its title derives from the French phrase faire la nouba, meaning "to party" or "to live it up".[1]

La Nouba depicts a meeting of two worlds: the world of the Cirques (circus people, wearing bright, fluorescent colors) and that of the Urbains (urbanites, wearing dark, monochromatic outfits).[2]

History

Cirque du Soleil premiered an all-new production, La Nouba, in a new theater custom-designed and built for Cirque du Soleil on December 23, 1998. With an international cast of 67 artists, Cirque du Soleil welcomes more than 1,650 spectators ten times a week. The venue is located in Disney Springs (formerly Downtown Disney) at Walt Disney World Resort, and is the third resident show created after Mystère and O in Las Vegas.[3]

In 2007, 12 members of the power track act performed a routine during the half-time show of Super Bowl XLI.[1]

La Nouba celebrated its 15th anniversary on December 18, 2013 with a special appearance from Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse. This was the first time the Disney characters appeared in the show.[4]

La Nouba reached a major milestone on July 10, 2009 during its 9 pm showingthis was their 5000th performance.[1] On August 13, 2011 during the 6 pm showing, the show celebrated its 6000th performance.[5] The show has now been performed over 7000 times; its 7000th performance was celebrated on September 12, 2013 at the 6 pm showing.

Set and technical information

The theater housing La Nouba is the first freestanding permanent structure built for Cirque du Soleil. The theater was designed by Michel Crête, Michel Aubé of Scéno Plus, Walt Disney Imagineering, and the architects of the Rockwell Group of New York. It can seat a total of 1,671 people per show.[1] The building incorporates elements of fabric and tension reminiscent of the elegant form of a circus tent.[6]

A white illuminated building that resembles a circus tent
The home of La Nouba at Disney Springs

The backdrop of the stage is a trellis measuring 60 by 200 feet (18 m × 61 m) and made of PVC panels and scrim. The stage floor itself has five elevator lifts, each with a 3,000 pounds (1,400 kg) load capacity. These lifts can move at a rate of 1 foot per second (0.30 m/s) and rise to a maximum height of 16 feet (4.9 m). The center stage lift, in addition to elevating, can also descend 16 feet (4.9 m) below the stage on a second axis. Another movable set element includes the two téléphériques installed along the back wall which can transport acrobatic equipment, props, and scenery at a pace of 4 feet per second (1.2 m/s).[6]

Another stage element includes the four retractable power track floors in the stage. Each floor weighs over 10,000 pounds (4,500 kg) and can move up to 2 feet per second (0.61 m/s). The trampoline bed is tighter and uses a second generation of springs, allowing the performers to jump higher and faster down the track which measures 60 feet (18 m) in length. As a Cirque du Soleil first, the trampolines are longer, wider, and woven together of two overlapping tracks as seen in Alegría. The entire stage deck is layered with impact-resilient Mondo Sport Floor over wood in order to avoid injury.[6]

The theater's immense height (ground level to fly height is 100 feet (30 m); ground level to top of the masts is 152 feet (46 m)[7]) allows the scenic and acrobatic equipment to be stored in the ceiling. As another first for Cirque du Soleil, the trapeze net is installed mechanically with no visible stagehands as it is lowered into place from the ceiling.[6]

Cast

As in every Cirque du Soleil show, in addition to the performances, there are several distinctive characters that participate in the show, sometimes as performers and sometimes as spectators. In La Nouba, these include:[8]

Acts

The show contains the following acts:[9][10]

Retired acts

Costumes

Costume designer Dominique Lemieux created thirty different costume concepts and drew up at least ten different designs for each concept. Lemieux mixed historical and traditional circus ideas with contemporary fashions in her designs, and ten special technicians were employed in order to custom dye fabrics, real and synthetic hair, feathers, horsehair, and leather materials used on the various costumes. In the eight weeks she was given to design the costumes (October 24 to December 23, 1998), she created two drastically different styles to separate the urban people from the circus people. The circus people don bright, neon colors while the urbanites are represented by black, gray, and muted tones. Lemieux used natural, textured fabrics such as hemp to epitomize the urbanites.

Many of the performers undergo a metamorphosis indicated by often dramatic costume changes; for instance, the urbanites' outfits begin in dark, muted blues, reds, and greens and end in white, fairy-like outfits. In the German wheel costumes, Lemieux accented dark colors with fluorescent fabrics to provide a high contrast with the black lights used during this act. The performers were designed to appear as marionettes and to emphasize human anatomy. The costumes designed for the flying trapeze act are tribal and androgynous. They are elaborated with complex collars, head ornaments and tutu skirts for the males. Les Cons were inspired by the Pierrot, with simple, white outfits to depict their innocence.

For all Cirque du Soleil productions, plaster head molds were created to make certain that all wigs, masks, and headpieces fit perfectly. Four different wig designs were created for the show and each wig took one person approximately seventy hours to complete.[11]

Music

The music of La Nouba, composed by Benoît Jutras, is performed live by six musicians and two singers. A CD album of the music of La Nouba was originally released in 1999 and re-released in 2005. It features most of the music played during the show.

Below are the tracks in order as they appear on the CD. Listed after each track title is the act associated with the track.[12]

  1. Once Upon a Time
    • Opening, German wheel (1998-2010)
    • Opening, jump rope (2010-2015)
    • Opening, breakdancing (2015-present)
  2. A Tale (Aerial ballet in silk pt. 1)
  3. Porte (Aerial cradle)
  4. La Nouba (Parade)
  5. Distorted (Cycles)
  6. Liama
    • High wire (1998-2015)
    • Aerial bamboo (2015-present)
  7. Queens (Flying trapeze)
  8. À la Lune
    • Balancing on Chairs (1998-2010)
    • Intro to Jongleur (2010-2013)
    • Rola Bola (2013-present)
  9. Rêve Rouge (Aerial ballet in silk pt. 2)
  10. Urban (Power track, trampolines)
  11. Propel (Interlude)
  12. Jardin Chinois (Diabolos)

Additional songs in the show not included on the album:

Further information: Cirque du Soleil discography

References

Coordinates: 28°22′16″N 81°31′23″W / 28.371°N 81.523°W / 28.371; -81.523

  1. 1 2 3 4 "La Nouba Highlights" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  2. "La Nouba". Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  3. "La Nouba General Release" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 25 April 2014.
  4. "La Nouba Celebrates 15th Anniversary with a "Magical Moment" with Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse". Archived from the original on 8 February 2014.
  5. Matt Palm (2011-08-15). "Cirque du Soleil's 'La Nouba' celebrates 6,000th show". Orlando Theater Blog. Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 2011-11-04.
  6. 1 2 3 4 "La Nouba Technical Story" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil (Press Material). Retrieved 2011-03-03.
  7. 1 2 "La Nouba Fun Facts" (PDF). Cirque du Soleil (Press Material). Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  8. "La Nouba - Characters". Cirque du Soleil (Press Materials). Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  9. "La Nouba - Acts". Cirque du Soleil. Retrieved 2014-04-25.
  10. "Cirque du Soleil Adds Two Acts to its Walt Disney World Show". Theme Park Insider.
  11. "The costumes of La Nouba". Disney World and Orlando the Unofficial Guide. Retrieved 2011-03-02.
  12. "La Nouba, Music". Cirque Tribune. Retrieved 2011-04-27.
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