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July 29, 2007 -- The Cirque du Soleil Special Events team created a unique happening to help FIAT launch its newest BRAVO model at the Stadio dMarmi ("Marble Stadium") in Rome.
The Venue From January 29 to February 3, six evenings of lavish celebrations were offered to a select group of Fiat’s guests. Il Laboratorio Invisible: Beauty in Motion dazzled the audience of journalists, importers, dealers, suppliers, political figures, employees and partners of the prestigious Italian automaker. In all, over 8,000 people from 72 countries, including 2,000 children from Rome, attended the event.
The dream-like festivities took place under a glass tent covered by an enormous, white scrim that served as a screen for the projection of huge images offering the guests a glimpse into the creators’ imagination. All of the furnishings were made of glass or plexiglass. A totem pole assembled from car parts stood at the entrance to the venue. In addition to emitting light and serving as an instrument for the percussionists, the totem pole even featured an inner staircase and a platform for the singers. The idea was to create a gathering point that would attract the Bravo’s spirit of Beauty. The evening began with an animated and interactive cocktail party that plunged the guests into a world of vibrant creativity: sculptors crafted clay into life-size car parts; the chandeliers swung to life, propelled by the movements of the lovely acrobats; draftsmen performed drafting choreographies to the beat of CDS music; a human assembly line brought together acrobats and dancers; stiltwalkers opened the doors to a world of dreams; live sculptures offered guests cocktails from a conveyor belt of dream sculptures; a live string quintette performed Il sogno di volare from Saltimbanco, sung by Laurence Jeannot; characters wove their way through the crowd wearing costumes designed using material from the Bravo. During the dinner that followed, guests enjoyed three circus performances.
The Show The veil is lifted. Art and artisans take centre stage. Drawing from the original concept, the first lines of the artist’s charcoal reveal the Bravo’s form. Details of the design emerge. Projected onto a cathedral of glass, the performance and images reflect the creativity behind the Bravo’s design. Moment Factory was invited by Cirque du Soleil to create a visual environment for their performance. Projecting 360° onto the walls and ceiling of a massive glass structure, an immersive environment of magical forests, starry nights and creative design introduced the Bravo to the world. The Cirque’s performance, filmed live, was projected alongside content created by Moment Factory reflecting the Bravo’s design process. Using a dazzling array of 35 projectors, 572 thousand lumens and 32 million pixels made the interior of the canvas-covered glass “tent” come alive with images. For the grand finale, the canvas was lifted. More than just a car was unveiled. The Bravo’s universe was revealed to the world. The high point of the evening was an original, 60-minute show created specifically for the occasion. The show began with a call to Beauty by characters outfitted with actual decoys brought from Quebec (snow geese, Canada geese, moose!). This call to Beauty was echoed in the circus acts and the performances. The procession of the opening sequence was headed by four miniature Bravos driven by children… at 20 feet from the ground, under a night full of stars! The show included eight numbers, most of them adapted for the event, as well as characters, choreographies and a grand finale: the unveiling of the car, which featured horses, a 40-car carrousel, fire performers and fireworks. The Special Events team had just over two months to create this unique experience. They began work on the project in November and obtained final approval on December 15. With 152 artists from all over the world, the team had to work very hard to obtain the work permits from the Italian bureaucracy during the holiday season! What’s more, because the site only became available a few days before the event, they had very little time to rehearse. Despite it all, everyone was blown away by the event – one they won’t soon forget. Yet another resounding success for the Special Events team!
The Designers
Jean-François Bouchard Director of Creation
Michel Laprise Artistic Director
David Poulin Laprise's Assistant
Danielle Labrie Production Manager
Hugues Letellier Labrie's Assistant
Lucien Bernèche Costume Designer
Niko Chicoine Bernèche's Assistant
Sylvain Brochu Bernèche's Assistant
Nathalie Gagné Makeup Designer
Aldo Signoretti Hair Designer
Jean-Jacques Pillet Choreographer
Moment Factory Projects
Nol van Genuchten Lighting Designer
Valy Tremblay Lighting Assistant
Luisa Valentini Totem Pole
Harvey Robitaille Sound Designer
Marc-André Leclerc CDS Technical Director
Daniele Cunfaro Italian Technical Director
Alain Vinet Music (CDS Remixed By)
Stephane Cocke DJ
Michel Rioux (Fiat Lux) Fireworks & Pyro
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To mark the occasion of Fiat's launch of its new Bravo model at the Stadio dMarmi ("marble stadium") in Rome,
Cirque’s Special Events team created a unique happening. Their mission was to reinvent the concept itself of the new car launch. The first challenge the creative team set for itself was to unveil the "product" only at the end of the evening, after first conveying a sense of the car’s values and evoking its eMembers of the team visited the Bravo plant and the Fiat Design Centre, talked with the car’s designers and even askethem questions as if the car were a person. "What film changed its life? What is its favourite music? Where does it see hope for humanity? What is its greatest dream?"
