DELIRIUM - Turning Music Into Motion Cirque du Soleil's First Live Arena Event

MONTREAL, Nov. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Cirque du Soleil presents DELIRIUM, its first-ever live arena event. The North American Tour kicks off in Montreal January 26th, 2006 at the Bell Centre, followed by two more shows on the 27th and 28th.

Created and directed by Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon, DELIRIUM is a multifaceted event of unprecedented proportion featuring Cirque du Soleil music remixed. Driven by an urban tribal beat and awe-inspiring visuals, musicians, singers and dancers transform the arena into joyous frenzy.

DELIRIUM is the quest for balance in a world that is increasingly out of sync with reality. It pushes the limit of arena performance through technical magnitude, human introspection and creative prowess.

DELIRIUM is an urban tale, a state-of-the-art mix of music, dance, theatre, and multimedia. Pumped by this re-energized Cirque du Soleil rhythm, the DELIRIUM tour transports audiences into a universe of delirious sensory folly.

Turning music into motion

For the first time in Cirque du Soleil history, lyrics have been created for the instrumental tracks and real words integrated in place of invented language, bringing to the music a fresh poetic dimension. The texts are in English, French, Spanish, Wolof and Portuguese. Robbie Dillon, who contributed texts for Cirque du Soleil's ZUMANITY, composed the English lyrics for DELIRIUM.

In all, 21 of Cirque du Soleil's most memorable musical moments -- originally created by Rene Dupere, Benoit Jutras and Violaine Corradi -- have been re-mixed by Quebec producer, composer and arranger Francis Collard, who deftly injects new life into these powerful classics. The result is a hyper-energizing urban tribal beat that explodes with electronic sounds, percussions and world rhythms.

Also for the first time, Cirque du Soleil musicians and singers will be center-stage as their music will be the driving force of this gigantic event.

Amongst the musicians lending to this eclectic mix of sounds are percussionist brothers El Hadji Fall Diouf and Pape Abdou Karim Diouf of Senegal; Gaia, an energetic group with Brazilian and Peruvian roots dipped in funk, soul and electro jazz; keyboardist and band leader Ric'key Pageot; Italian-born percussionist Raffaele Artiglieri; and Brazilian Italo-Cuban singer Dessy Di Lauro.

The stage and projections

This unique, large-scale event may be the most massive technical production ever created to tour arenas. A 130 foot two-sided stage bisects the arena, submerging the audience in the huge set. Placing all this equipment into an arena is a complex puzzle normally reserved for stadiums.

540 feet of projections dominate the scene -- the equivalent in width of almost four IMAX screens -- setting the stage for a colossal multimedia presentation. Images projected range from prerecorded visuals to manipulated live feeds that create interactions between the show and the audience.

The artists

DELIRIUM showcases 45 talented and multidisciplinary artists, 8 of whom have collaborated with Cirque du Soleil in the past. Each artist has been selected for individual virtuosity. They include 11 musicians, 6 singers, 18 dancers, 8 acrobats and 2 main characters. In all, 12 countries are represented in the troupe, including 2 Americans: Karl Baumann (Las Vegas) who portrays one of the main characters and dancer Alexandra Apjarova (New York).

To heighten the musical experience, DELIRIUM is infused with acrobatic dances choreographed by Dave St-Pierre, as well as classic Cirque du Soleil feats including aerial, acrosport and hand balancing acts.

The creative team

Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon are the creators and directors of this event, which brings together the following 12 creative minds.

Guy Laliberte Guide Gilles Ste-Croix Artistic guide Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon Creators, directors, multimedia and scenic designers Francis Collard Musical director, producer and arranger Dave St-Pierre Choreographer Michel Robidas Costume designer Alain Lortie Lighting designer Yves Savoie Sound designer Anne-Seguin Poirier Props and decorative elements designer Carmen Ruest Director of creation Ian Tremblay Associate producer, musical content The North American Tour

The DELIRIUM tour will be presented in very limited engagements (typically two performances only) in large arenas across North America. The first leg of the North American tour is as follows:

Montreal (QC) - Bell Centre January 26, 27 and 28, 2006 Albany (NY) - Pepsi Arena February 3 and 4, 2006 Buffalo (NY) - HSBC Arena February 13 and 14, 2006 Columbus (OH) - Nationwide February 17 and 18, 2006 Toronto (ON) - Air Canada Centre February 20 and 21, 2006 The next leg of the tour will be announced shortly. Ticket information

Tickets for Montreal performances go on sale November 19 and will be available by calling (514) 790-1245 (Admission), at the Bell Centre box office (1260 de la Gauchetiere Street West) or online at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/.

Tickets for Toronto performances go on sale November 21 and will be available by calling (416) 870-8000 (Ticketmaster) or online at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/.

Finally, tickets for performances in US cities go on sale November 19 and will be available by calling 800-30-EVENT (Tickets.Com in Albany), (888) 223-6000 (Tickets.Com in Buffalo) and (614) 431-3600 (Ticketmaster in Columbus) or online for all three cities at http://www.cirquedusoleil.com/.

Clear Channel Entertainment -- Promoter and partner of the DELIRIUM Tour

Clear Channel Entertainment, a leading producer and marketer of live entertainment events is a subsidiary of Clear Channel Communications , a global leader in the out-of-home advertising industry. Clear Channel Entertainment currently owns, operates and/or exclusively books approximately 130 live entertainment venues, in North America and internationally.

Each year more than 69 million people attend approximately 32,000 events promoted and/or produced by the company, including live music events; Broadway, West End and touring theatrical shows; family entertainment shows; museum exhibitions, and specialized sports and motor sports events. In addition, the company's independently operated athlete representation business, SFX, provides management, marketing and financial consulting services to many of the world's top professional athletes. Clear Channel Entertainment operates throughout North America, Europe, and Australia. More information may be found by visiting http://www.cc.com/ and http://www.clearchannel.com/.

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil is primarily a creative content provider for a wide variety of unique projects. In addition to shows, the Montreal based company wishes to extend its creative talent to other spheres of activity. While maintaining stringent standards of artistic quality and originality, Cirque du Soleil brings to innovative projects the same energy and spirit that characterizes each of its shows.

Cirque du Soleil is a Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. Since its beginnings in 1984, over 50 million spectators in over a hundred cities on four continents have been thrilled by Cirque du Soleil. Currently, 11 shows are simultaneously being presented across the globe. Cirque du Soleil is the recipient of many prestigious awards, including the Emmy, Drama Desk, Bambi, ACE, Gemeaux, Felix and Rose d'Or de Montreux.