The Cirque du Soleil is gearing up for performances in Colombian capital Bogota, with a show that promises to share more in common with the magical imagination of Gabriel Garcia Marquez than with your average bears-on-bicycles circus.
The traveling troupe have added three weeks on to their initial schedule due to massive demand for tickets, and will now run until November 21.
The production is called “Quidam,” which means “nameless passerby” in Latin, and takes audiences on a journey through the imagination of a 12-year-old girl named Zoe, who has created a surreal and mysterious imaginary world in response to the alienation she feels from the adults in her life.
According to Cirque du Soleil, the story of Quidam “underlines differences, conveying positive feelings and resentment and confronting our dreams with our nightmares.”
Acrobats and characters join the story from all angles, with an overhead rigging system allowing performers to enter the stage from above and to remain suspended in space.
Fifty performers take part in the show, wearing over 250 costumes and 200 pairs of shoes, while the soundtrack composed by Benoit Jutras adds to the dreamlike display.
Bogota’s Salitre Magico Amusement Park has been transformed for the month-long show. Trucks brought in the tents and stalls, as well as the 150 people from 22 countries who put on the world-famous show.
Tickets have been on sale since June 10 and range from COP80,000-360,000.