Zaia is a Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil

Cirque du Soleil , is a Canadian entertainment company, self-described as a "dramatic mix of circus arts and street entertainment." Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul in 1984 by two former street performers, Guy...

 stage production based at The Venetian Macao

The Venetian Macao

The Venetian Macao is a hotel and casino resort in Macau owned by the Las Vegas Sands corporation. The Venetian is a 40-story, $2.4 billion anchor for the 7 hotels on the Cotai Strip in Macau...

 on the Cotai Strip

Cotai Strip

The Cotai Strip is the casino and tourism project in the Cotai District, Macau, inspired by the Las Vegas Strip in Nevada, USA, on a considerably smaller scale....

 in Macau

Macau

Macau , also spelled Macao , is, along with Hong Kong, one of the two special administrative regions of the People's Republic of China...

. The 90-minute show opened in August 2008 and brings together 75 high-calibre artists from around the world. Zaia is Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in Asia and is directed by Neilson Vignola and Gilles Maheu. The theater housing the performance can seat 1,800 spectators during a single show.

Zaia presents a young girl's perception of the stars and planets, space and infinity, all populated by a panoply of fantastic, out-of-this-world creatures. The title, Zaia, comes from a Greek name meaning "life" and is also reminiscent of Gaia

Gaia philosophy

Gaia philosophy is a broadly inclusive term for related concepts that living organisms on a planet will affect the nature of their environment in order to make the environment more suitable for life. This set of theories holds that all organisms on an extraterrestrial life-giving planet regulate...

, the living, self-aware spirit of Earth.

History

Zaia opened in 2008 and had a rough start due to low audience numbers. But "ticket sales have gone up" with the addition of new Chinese-style elements such as a lion dance performance and a flying dragon. Despite higher box office sales Cirque du Soleil show 'Zaia' is still recording losses in 2011, Sands China president Edward Tracy revealed on 18 November 2011. The Venetian Macau show remains "the only business sector that doesn’t make a profit," he added. Criticism from Sands China chairman Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Adelson

Sheldon Gary Adelson is an American casino magnate. Adelson is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Las Vegas Sands Corp., the parent company of Venetian Macao Limited which operates The Venetian Resort Hotel Casino and the Sands Expo and Convention Center...

 led to rumours that the 10-year contract of Zaia would be terminated earlier. But Edward Tracy rejected this possibility. "We are prepared to take a loss to provide that kind of entertainment," he stressed.

Cast

Some of Zaias creatures and characters are listed below.

• Zaia: She is the main character; her journey is the show's premise.
• Romeo: He falls for Zaia and in the end performs a straps duet.
• Clowns
• Parents
• Handyman
• Adam and Eve
• Humans
• Artistos: They perform in the aerial number.
• Weathervanes: This group of characters performs in the Chinese poles on globes number and represent the directions on the compass.
• Primitives
• Sage: As the keeper of knowledge, the Sage watches over Zaia.
• Fossils

Acts

Many aerial and dance elements comprise Zaias acts, which are listed below.

• Choreography I - City scape
• Aerial bamboo
• Skating
• Lion dance
  Lion dance
  Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is often mistakenly referred to as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is operated by two people, while a dragon needs many people...
  
  
• Choreography II - Dance of the automatons
• Juggling
• Flying Trapeze
• Hand to hand
• Hand-balancing
• Aerial straps
  Aerial straps
  Straps, also known as aerial straps, are a type of aerial apparatus on which various feats of strength and flexibility may be performed, often in the context of a circus performance. It is a cotton or nylon web apparatus that looks like two suspended ribbons...
  
   duo
• Choreography III - Fire dance
• Trampoline and X-board

Costumes

Costume designer Dominique Lemieux took inspiration from the inventive dress styles younger generations are creating for themselves; thus the costumes for Zaia are an eclectic merging of genres. The different styles of outfits represent the differences among the groups of performers. As one of the urban characters, Zaia is seen wearing primarily red, one of the warmer colors. To complement her, Romeo wears warm earth tones with copper and gold highlights. In contrast to the style of the wardrobe of the acrobats and dancers, the clowns wear patches of fabric with patina; their costumes draw inspiration from 18th-century explorers.

Music

Below is a list of the tracks featured on the CD, which was released on May 26, 2009, and was composed by Violaine Corradi.

1. Noi (Finale)
2. Aestus Calor (Dance - Cityscape)
3. Ignis (Zaia's Balloon)
4. Hatahkinn (Aerial Bamboo)
5. Aquilex
   • Globes and Poles (2008-2010)
   • Transition into Lion Dancing (2010-present)
6. Comissatio
   • Globes and Poles (2008-2010)
   • Lion Dancing (2010-present)
7. Blue Ales (Interlude)
8. Adrideo (Clown introduction)
9. Ardor Oris (Opening)
10. Aequor Oris (Fire Dance)
11. Caelestis (Aerial Frame)
12. Undae (Interlude)
13. Temperatio
    • Juggling (2008-2010)
    • Roller Skating (2010-present)
    • Aerial Frame setup (reprised version)
14. Ellâm Onru (Hand to Hand)
15. Gaudiumni (Trampoline and X-Board)
16. Utinam (Aerial Straps)