Cavalia is a multimedia spectacle which combines equestrian arts, dramatic visual effects, live music, dance and acrobatics. (Photo by Jiang Dong/China Daily)
Cavalia, which combines horses, riders, acrobats and musicians in a multimedia spectacle, is set to unveil in Beijing this week.
On a recent afternoon in downtown Beijing's Chaoyang Park, Canadian choreographer Alain Gauthier finishes a preview performance of Cavalia and takes a break.
He says he has been doing shows since the age of 15, and is "approaching" 45 now.
"Cavalia is special to me. I feel grateful to have it in my life," says the artist, looking at two Spanish horses near him.
At a distance from them, a stage is covered in sand and has a giant digital screen behind it.
With dozens of horses, riders, acrobats, dancers and musicians, Gauthier is here with his multimedia spectacle, Cavalia, which will debut in Beijing on Thursday.
At the outdoor venue, a white tent known as the "big top", covering more than 2,000 square meters is pitched at a height of 35 meters. It is part of the show.
Created by one of the co-founders of Canadian company Cirque du Soleil, Normand Latourelle, Cavalia, which combines equestrian arts, dramatic visual effects, live music, dance and acrobatics, debuted in Quebec in 2003, touring the world since. It has been watched by an estimated 6 million people, according to Latourelle.
In 2003, Latourelle floated a new company, Cavalia Inc, to host the show worldwide.
Cavalia follows a storyline about the evolution of the horse and its important place in human history.
Gauthier says the process of training horses also reflects the relationship between horses and people.
With 46 years of experience in creating and staging such live spectacles, Montreal-based Latourelle was inspired to produce Cavalia by the audiences' focus on animals during a performance. He wanted to do something different from a circus show that usually has the trainers controlling animals.
Gauthier has been the show's chief choreographer since its inception. He says when Latourelle told him about the idea, he thought it was pure "genius".
Audiences in Beijing can expect a show that is full of beautiful, romantic and poetic surprises, he says.
"Normand (Latourelle) is spontaneous and he is good at making impossible things happen," says Gauthier. "Some people doubted our idea but we were patient."
Audience response is rewarding, he adds.
When they first started, they just wanted to get people's reaction about a new show and they didn't expect it would grow into such a big event, according to Gauthier, who joined Cirque du Soleil in 1986 as a stage artist and has since worked on some 2,000 live performances with the troupe.
"What defines Cavalia is the trust between horses and human beings. We don't force the animals to do anything. We spent lots of time building trust," he says.
It took a long time to train a horse to stand still when actors were "flying" over its head, he cites as an example.
Horses were used in the military in the past and in the modern world they are largely used in competitions, he says.
With Cavalia, they wanted to show the world how respect and trust works between animals and human beings.
Copyright for the show in China has been bought by an investment company Sinocap. The show will have its first round of performances in Beijing through May.
Under an agreement between Sinocap and Cavalia Inc, the production is expected to stay in China for a while, jointly managed by the two companies, with Latourelle as the show's artistic director.
"The partnership will help Cavalia Inc expand and consolidate its position in China, a key market for touring shows," says Latourelle.
Chen Zesheng, CEO of Sinocap, first watched the show while on vacation in Singapore in 2014.
"Watching Cavalia is like entering a dream, and at the end of it you don't want to wake up," he says.
If you go
Thursday-May 22. 7:30 p.m., Wednesday-Friday. 2:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Saturday. 2 p.m. and 7 .pm., Sunday.
Chaoyang Park, 1 Chaoyang Park South Street, Chaoyang district, Beijing.
400-030-1651.
