Avatar-inspired musical heads to Dubai
▶ Kevin Hackett offers an initial look at Cirque du Soleil’s latest touring show
It has been confirmed that Dubai’s World Trade Centre will host a new touring show by Cirque du Soleil from January 4 to 17. Titled Toruk – The First Flight, it’s inspired by James Cameron’s film Avatar, according to the show’s creators. The 2009 outing on celluloid was the secondhighest-grossing movie in history, second only to Gone with the Wind.
Toruk – The First Flight is a musical set in Pandora 3,000 years before the events depicted in the film Avatar (long before humans arrived on the scene) and the two-hour show animates the diverse life forms that live there with extensive use of puppetry. Cameron has been involved with the project since talks began in 2009, finally giving it the green light in May 2014.
Described as a “live immersive experience” in which Cirque du Soleil “applies its unique signature style to James Cameron’s imaginary world”, it’s said to also bear the stylistic hallmarks of writers, directors and “multimedia innovators”, Michel Lemieux and Victor Pilon.
As for the storyline, events unfold after a natural catastrophe threatens to destroy the sacred Tree of Souls. Two Omatikaya boys, Ralu and Entu, who are on the brink of adulthood, “fearlessly decide to take matters into their own hands. Upon learning that Toruk can help them save the Tree of Souls, they set out, together with their new-found friend Tsyal, on a quest high up in the Floating Mountains to find the mighty red and orange predator that rules the Pandoran sky. Prophecy is fulfilled when a pure soul rises among the clans to ride Toruk for the first time and save the Na’vi from a terrible fate.”
Toruk is the 37th production in the history of Cirque du Soleil. In the past 33 years, the company has put on shows for more than 155 million spectators in more than 300 cities across the globe.
Tickets for the Dubai performances will go on pre-sale for pre-registered customers and Cirque Club members on the morning of October 17. Tickets go on sale to the general public on October 20. Tickets cost from Dh295 to Dh2,495 at www.tixbox.com/en/