O – Cirque du Soleil

Dates: October 1998 – present

Running at the Bellagio Hotel, Las Vegas since it opened in 1998. Performances paused in March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

Writer and director Franco Dragone
Director of creation Gilles Ste-Croix
Set designer Michel Crête
Composer Benoit Jutras
Costume designer Dominique Lemieux
Lighting designer Luc Lafortune
Head of Lighting Jeanette Farmer
Choreographer
Debra Brown
Sound designers François Bergeron, Jonathan Deans
Head of Sound Mark Dennis
Artistic swimming designer Sylvie Fréchette
Aerial acrobatics designer André Simard
Rigging designer Jacque Paquin
Make-up designer Nathalie Gagné

Underwater Crew

The Aquatics Department consists of 6 divers, 2 of whom (when the show opened) can communicate with the ‘crows nest’ and ensure everything stays on track. They’re known as ‘artist handlers’ and have the responsibility to enable the swimmers and acrobats to access breathing apparatus while underwater and to guide them to their next location. 
Part of the show features ‘aquatic masking’ which involves streams of bubbles throughout the pool which prevents the audience from seeing anything under the surface of the water. This is disorientating and disrupts visibility and the audio underwater. 

Underwater Sound System

A system of 21 underwater speakers was created for the show, nicknamed ‘The Neptune System’, consisting of transducers which send vibrations through the water so the performers can hear the music track.

Related Equipment:

520 / 520i (1997)
530 / 550 (1995)
Wholehog II (1994)

Documents


LSI - Cirque du L eau (December 1998)
[819kb PDF]
From Lighting & Sound International