In Greek mythology, Icarus was the son of Daedalus, an artisan commissioned by the King of Crete to design a prison for the Minotaur. Daedalus built the Labyrinth. Later, Daedalus helped two other prisoners – Theseus and Ariadne – escape from the Labyrinth and in doing so, betrayed the King. Daedalus and Icarus were imprisoned in a tower on an island from which there was no escape... or so the King thought. Daedalus fashioned two sets of wings from feathers and wax for himself and his son. Before their flight to freedom, Daedalus gave his son a warning: if you fly too close to the sea, your wings will become too heavy for flight; if you fly too close to the sun, the wax will melt. Alas, young Icarus was swept up by his own excitement and pride and he forgot his father’s warning. He flew too close to the sun. The wax melted, his wings came apart, and he fell to his death in the ocean near the Island of Damos. Today, those waters are still known as the Icarian Sea. For people around the world, Icarus is a symbol of youthful insouciance and arrogance, but he also represents courage and our desire to excel.

But, unlike the Icarus of fabled tale the Icarus of Cirque du Soleil falls into a fantastical world of good and evil, a place where he must redeem himself. On this day at the edge of time, in this place of pure and undiluted possibility, begins an inspired incantation to a life rediscovered and to a newly found wonder in the mysteries of the world and the mind. Varekai is a "tribute to the nomadic soul, to the spirit and art of the circus tradition, and to those who quest with infinite passion." The term is an homage not only the acrobats that push their art to the extreme, but also a reminder to the wanderers of ancient Europe.