Zaia | |
---|---|
Company | Cirque du Soleil |
Genre | Contemporary circus |
Show type | Resident show |
Date of premiere | August 28, 2008 |
Final show | February 19, 2012 |
Location | The Venetian Macao, Cotai Strip, Macau |
Creative team | |
Artistic guide | Guy Laliberté Gilles Ste-Croix |
Creation director | Neilson Vignola |
Writer and director | Gilles Maheu |
Set and props designer, theater concept | Guillaume Lord |
Costume designer | Dominique Lemieux |
Composer and musical director | Violaine Corradi |
Choreographer | Martino Müller |
Acrobatic choreographer | Jeff Hall |
Acrobatic performance designer | Rob Bollinger |
Artistic equipment and rigging designer | Guy Lemire |
Lighting designer | Alex Morgenthaler |
Projection designer | Jimmy Lakatos Raymond Saint-Jean |
Sound designer | Steven Dubuc |
Makeup designer | Nathalie Gagné |
Clown acts designer | Leonid Leykin |
Other information | |
Preceded by | Wintuk (2007) |
Succeeded by | Zed (2008) |
Official website |
Zaia was a Cirque du Soleil stage production based at The Venetian Macao on the Cotai Strip in Macau. The 90-minute show opened in August 2008, bringing together 75 high-calibre artists from around the world. Zaia was Cirque du Soleil's first resident show in Asia [1] and was directed by Neilson Vignola and Gilles Maheu. The custom-built theater housing the performance was capable of seating 1,800 spectators at a time. [2]
Zaia presented a young girl's dream of journeying into space, discovering worlds populated by a panoply of otherworldly creatures. The title, Zaia, came from a Greek name meaning "life". [1]
Due in part to the global financial crisis at the end of 2008 that contributed to low attendance, the show closed on 19 February 2012. Despite its closing, Venetian Macao resort owner Las Vegas Sands Corp. claimed, "Using Las Vegas as a benchmark, Zaia’s 3 1/2-year run should be deemed successful and provide strong support for the argument that the future of entertainment in Macau is on the right track." [3]
Zaia opened in 2008 and had a rough start, due in part to the worldwide financial crisis which hurt audience turnout. With the addition of Chinese-style elements such as a lion dance performance and a flying dragon, increased ticket sales were eventually reported. Despite the improved box office sales, the show was still recording losses in 2011, Sands China president Edward Tracy revealed on 18 November 2011. The Venetian Macau show remained "the only business sector that doesn’t make a profit," he added. Criticism from Sands China chairman Sheldon Adelson 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. [4] On 7 February 2012, Sands China and Cirque du Soleil announced that Zaia would close on 19 February 2012.
Some of Zaia's creatures and characters are listed below. [5]
Circus and dance elements comprised Zaia's acts, listed below. [6] [7]
Costume designer Dominique Lemieux took inspiration from the inventive dress styles younger generations create for themselves; thus the costumes for Zaia were an eclectic merging of genres. The different styles of outfits represented the differences among the groups of performers. As one of the urban characters, Zaia was seen wearing primarily red, one of the warmer colors. To complement her, Romeo wore warm earth tones with copper and gold highlights. In contrast to the style of the wardrobe of the acrobats and dancers, the clowns wore patches of fabric with patina; their costumes drew inspiration from 18th-century explorers. [8]
The show's score was composed by Violaine Corradi and was released as a CD album on May 26, 2009. [9] Below is a list of the tracks featured on the CD.
Other songs:
In 2011, Cirque du Soleil released Crossroads in Macau, a short documentary about the creation of Zaia.
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Coordinates: 22°8′55″N113°33′38″E / 22.14861°N 113.56056°E