Cirque Du Soleil Turns Music into Motion for One Night Only

GRAND FORKS, ND— Cirque du Soleil presents DELIRIUM, its first-ever live arena event in its Grand Forks debut at the Alerus Center, 1200 42nd Street South in Grand Forks, for a show on Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets to this extraordinary visual concert experience will go on sale Monday, May 22 at 10 a.m. through all Ticketmaster outlets.

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 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.

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.

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, wrote the English lyrics for DELIRIUM.

In all, 20 of Cirque du Soleil’s most memorable musical moments – originally created by René Dupéré, Benoît 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; Gaïa, 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 open-air 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 performers and the audience.

The artists: DELIRIUM showcases 44 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 4 main characters. In all, 20 countries are represented in the troupe, including 1 American: dancer Alexandra Apjarova from New York.

To heighten the musical experience, DELIRIUM is infused with acrobatic dances choreographed by Mia Micheals, 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 Laliberté (Guide); Gilles Ste-Croix (Director of creation); Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon (Creators, directors, multimedia and scenic designers); Francis Collard (Musical director, producer and arranger); Mia Michaels (Choreographer); Michel Robidas (Costume designer); Alain Lortie (Lighting designer); Yves Savoie (Sound designer); Anne-Séguin Poirier (Props and decorative elements designer); Carmen Ruest (Director of creation); Ian Tremblay (Associate producer, musical content).

Cirque du Soleil’s DELIRIUM makes its Grand Forks debut at the Alerus Center, 1200 42nd Street South, for one night only Aug. 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $71.00-$101 plus applicable fees and go on sale Monday, May 22 at 10 a.m. Tickets can be purchased by visiting the Alerus Center box office, calling 701-772-5151in Grand Forks or 701-235-7171 in Fargo, visiting www.LiveNation.com or www.cirquedusoleil.com. Tickets are also available through all Ticketmaster outlets and www.ticketmaster.com.

	Cirque Du Soleil´s Delirium
	Wednesday, August 23, 2006
	8:00pm
	TBD
	On Sale Now!
	Tickets are $71.00 - $101.00 plus all applicable fees.
	Tickets available at the Alerus Center Box Office, all Ticketmaster locations, by calling 701-772-5151 or online at ticketmaster.com
	Public Event
	http://www.ticketmaster.com/event/06003CA3710917CC