Vocalists & Songs
"We needed to find a way to achieve the sound, the romance, the fun, the
special humor that Mexican people have. You feel the spirit
of Mexico throughout the show, but it's not like you just hear a mariachi; that’s
not what Cirque does. It's all about peaks and valleys, and surprises. We experience
that through visuals, but through music as well."
— Simon Carpentier, Composer
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The music of LUZIA takes the audience on an incandescent journey to the
heart of the show’s imaginary Mexico. The score whisks spectators away on
a voyage of exploration that takes them from a traditional village to a
desert by way of a tropical jungle, to the seaside and all the way to an
alleyway in a bustling metropolis, to a dance salon, pasing smoothly from
an urban setting to the natural world, past to present, tradition to
modernity.
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Music came to Mexico by sea and today it's a collage of miscellaneous styles, genres
and cultures. Rhythms of the Spanish-speaking Caribbean and Latin America blend with
tribal sounds that dig the roots all the way to the Mayas and the Aztecs. For LUZIA,
Composer Simon Carpentier wrote a hot, lively score steeped in this rich mixture -
an amalgam of ancient and modern sounds infused with the brassy notes of tubas and
trumpets and the suave melodies of the Spanish guitar, all driven forward by the
relentless percussion and drums. The music jumps playfully from style to style,
from one rhythm to the next, from emotion to emotion, striding across landscapes
as joyfully as across musical boundaries.
"The first big challenge was to make sure that we can translate this amazing culture,"
admitted Simon Carpentier. "At the beginning of this process we decided to hire only
Mexican musicians for the show, to make sure that we have these performers to give
that feeling of authenticity. It's a huge culture — you're talking about the Aztecs,
the Mayans, the cumbia, all the Latin American music, the influence from Cuba, from
everywhere. I wanted to go further, not just scratch the surface and stay there."
Beyond clichés and stereotypes, there's the buoyant rhythm of cumbia, a music genre
close to salsa dominated by guitars, accordions and percussions, as well as the lively
rhythms of bandas, the traditional music of traveling brass bands. Simon also drew
inspiration from the rich, tonic rhythms of norteño, a popular genre in Northern
Mexico that’s related to polka and corridos – ballads (The accordion and the
bajosexto, a six-bass guitar, are norteño's most characteristic instruments), as
well as from huapango, a flamenco-based music style from the La Huasteca region
along the Gulf of Mexico coast. In the realm of Latin American music, the voice is also
a powerful instrument – a vector of emotion, flavors and rhythms bolstered by a lively,
expressive language. These vocal parts blend tradition with modernity, with hints of
opera, to spread the strong Latin American vibe.
[ Vocalists •
Songs ]
- Anna Liani — Creation Only
- Majo Cornejo — Apr.21.2016 - Present (Montreal to Present)
- Sofia Montaño — Nov.19.2019 - Feb.27.2022 (Vancouver to London)
- Enid Ayala — Aug.18.2022 - Present (Alicante to Present) [Backup]
- Mahesh Vinayakram — Apr.21.2016 - Jul.09.2017 (Montreal to Denver)
- Juan David Pavas — Apr.21.2016 - Present (Montréal to ... )
- Rodrigo De La Mora — Apr.21.2016 - Mar.01.2020 (Montréal to London)
- Felipe Saray — Apr.21.2016 - Present (Montréal to ... )
- Yilmer Vivas — Apr.21.2016 - Present (Montréal to ... )
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| Opening | "Hola", "Corro" |
| Hoop Diving | Asi Es la Vida |
| Adagio Quad | Tiembla la Tierra |
| Cyr Wheel & Trapeze | Flores en el Desierto |
| Handbalancing | Pez Volador |
| Fútbol Freestyle | Pambolero (2016-2024);
"Balon y fiesta" (2024+) |
| Intermission | Ciera Los Ojos |
| Pole Dance | Los Mosquitos |
| 360° Swing | (Unknown) |
| Aerial Straps | Tlaloc |
| Juggling | "El Remolino" |
| Contortion | Alebrijes |
| Russian Swings | "Swing to Swing" |
| Fiesta Finale | "Niños de Ópera", Fiesta Finale |
| Slack Wire (2019-2022) | "Clothesline Windstorm" |
| Artistic Bicycle (2022+) | "Mariachi Mambo" |
| Hair Hanging (2023+) | "Frida" |
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