Photos: Inside Opening Night of Cirque du Soleil's LUZIA

Earlier this week, Cirque du Soleil arrived in New York City as the first stop of its North American tour of LUZIA, a waking dream of Mexico. This visit marks the return of the Big Top at Randall's Island since 2016.

In a series of grand visual surprises and breathtaking acrobatic performances, LUZIA takes audiences on a surrealistic journey through a vibrant world filled with wonders, playfulness and striking artistry. Smoothly passing from an old movie set to the ocean to a smoky dance hall or an arid desert, LUZIA cleverly brings to the stage multiple places, faces and sounds of Mexico taken from both tradition and modernity. Rich in awe-inspiring moments, LUZIA enchants by incorporating rain into acrobatic and artistic scenes - a first for a Cirque du Soleil touring production.

With mesmerizing and refreshing acrobatic performances, LUZIA brings traditional and contemporary circus disciplines to a whole new level. Cyr Wheel artists perform the unprecedented feat of rolling and spinning under the rain, while an aerialist suspended from a Trapeze flies and twirls through pouring showers. Hoop Diving is taken onto gigantic treadmills, expanding exponentially the speed and amount of daring leaps executed. Jaw-dropping highlights include a male contortionist skillfully twisting his body in the world's most unimaginable positions, a powerful Aerial Straps specialist defying the laws of gravity at the center of a cenote (natural sinkhole), a juggler tossing seven pins at breakneck speed, and two football (soccer) freestylers deftly mixing street dance with mind-blowing ball manipulation.