Imagine sitting inside a big tent, with acrobats, dancers and musicians crafting an awe-inspiring spectacle at close quarters. That’s Bazzar for you — Canadian entertainment company Cirque Du Soleil’s latest offering, which is premiering in India this November, before heading to other countries. The world’s biggest entertainment theatrical will travel to India for 64 shows across Mumbai and Delhi from November to January, 2019. Performed inside the Big Top (the show’s trademark blue and yellow tent), show director Susan Gaudreau tell us that it’s a spectacle unlike what the Indian audiences have ever witnessed before. She tells us more about the show...

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Did you prepare the show keeping in mind that it will premiere in India? 

We knew we were going to premiere in India, so that was really exciting for us. But the show, like with all Cirque Du Soleil shows, is universal. We don’t make shows specific to one type of culture. When I was writing it, I was influenced by the fact that we were going to a place we had never been before. So, one of the choices I made within my storyline was to create a show that really taps into the essence of what Cirque is. I want to introduce a new audience to this incredible company.

Can you take us behind the scenes of the show?

I started writing it about a year ago. I really wanted to pay a tribute to the roots of Cirque and to capture the essence of what makes this company so unique as well as pay homage to its founders. So when I was writing it, I was thinking of the beginnings of Cirque which was a group of street artistes, who would get together and create these incredible performances. I also wanted to do a show that invites the audience into our creative process. That’s what Bazzar is about. It’s a story of a maestro and a troupe of ecletic artistes who are preparing for a show. They live in this performance lab which is filled with different, diverse structures and whatever they build or create, that’s where the performances come from. It really showcases the relationship between two of the main characters — the maestro and the floating woman, who is part of the troupe. She intentionally tries to screw up all the efforts done by the maestro. It’s a fun ride for the audience. Along with that, I was fascinated with the idea of playing with time. So the way the show starts is the same as it ends. There’s this play with time. It’s inspired by what the DNA of Cirque is — a bunch of creative minds that get together and create very powerful, emotional, moving performances for audiences and we do it at the highest level possible. In Bazzar for instance, we have bright colourful costumes, make-up, incredible set-design, original live music and the highest level of acrobatics. 

Since you are performing here, are you including any Indian elements to the show?For the first time, we are introducing two acts that we have never used in a show before. There will be a mallakhamb act. Since we were starting from India, we thought it would be nice to have something from this country that we greatly respect. Also, it’s a fascinating form of acrobatics. We will also have a hair hanging act.

(From L-R) Artistes performing contortions; Crystal Man; Hand to hand unicycle

What are the other Indian influences in the show? 

You have such an interesting film industry and history of circus arts. That was a big influence for this show. When I think of entertainment in India, there are incredible costumes, music, dance and a lot of drama. Knowing that you guys have such love and passion for entertainment, I thought Cirque was the perfect fit for us to come with all that we have to offer.

You perform your shows at so many places around the world. What do you hope to take back from India? 

Everywhere we travel, we get greatly influenced by the cultures. India is a melting pot of history, culture and arts. Here, I feel the spirituality and the diversity. For the first time, we have two Indian performers and I’m sure in the next five years, we’ll have a whole bunch more. We’re just discovering your country and we’re fascinated by it.