Preview: CIRQUE DU SOLEIL ECHO at Laguna Hills Mall

If you’re like me, and you get a deep, childlike thrill at the sight of a circus tent—its big, looming presence seemingly mysteriously appearing overnight—you’re in luck. 

Because the circus is in town. 

Cirque du Soleil’s latest dreamlike production, ECHO, will set up its swirling blue-and-white big top in the parking lot of the Laguna Hills Mall May 23 through June 29.

As the 20th big top Cirque show since 1986, it features the Canadian brand’s requisite dazzling stunts and ethereal visuals, plus a high-tech set that is unlike anything Cirque’s touring shows have done in the past. 

“We choose to go see shows because we want to get away from our reality, from the routine of day-to-day life,” said ECHO’s artistic director Fabrice Lemire, who has previously worked on Cirque shows including Quidam, OVO, and TORUK – The First Flight. 

“And sometimes you go to shows because you want to be inspired.” 

The show features 51 performers from 19 different countries. These highly skilled athletes deliver a two-hour brew of acrobatics, gymnastics, aerial dance, contortion, and clowning that is both beautiful and breathtaking.  

Two female aerialists hang from their hair, twirling like pinwheels high atop the stage. A man pops and dislocates his joints as if detached from his own body. Acrobats vault from teeterboards; others tiptoe on strings and swing on bungee straps.

It is also the first Cirque show to feature six live vocalists and a band that stays on stage for the entire show. 

But even with its wow-inducing acrobatics and immersive live music, the real star of ECHO is a giant, high-tech cube that sits on stage throughout the production. 

This rotating, constantly transforming set piece is the size of a two-story building, weighs 12 tons (26,456 pounds), and acts as everything from a vertical dance surface and three-dimensional bungee launch pad to a floating backdrop that takes on the dreamy imagery of whatever realm the performers have entered. 

“It is a massive piece of equipment that we travel with,” Lemire said. “The cube moves. It travels downstage. It rotates. It transforms to create the landscape of the show.”

“The cube is the heart of the story,” he added. “It’s the pulse.” 

Blending audio, visual, and tactile media, the cube is dismantled, stripped, and rebuilt throughout the show. It is scaled by “animals,” swung from by artists, and used as a mesmerizing projection surface, surrounded by a stage that resembles water in a lake. 

To achieve this effect, the show uses 10 video projectors to cover the cube, the stage, and the artists—the most ever for a Cirque du Soleil traveling show. 

Like most Cirque shows, ECHO doesn’t have a linear story, but offers a 125-minute spectacle filled with stunts and imagery drenched in symbolism. 

What “story” there is follows a young woman named Future as she wanders into a fantasy world meant to explore our sacred bond with animals and nature. When Future and her Best Friend, Ewai the Dog, encounter a mysterious cube, they quickly learn how their actions have the power to shape the world and how humanity and nature share a deep connection. 

“She unlocks pieces of that cube to see what's inside,” he said. "When she puts her foot in that door, she’s trying to figure out her purpose. It is very much about self-discovery and finding, ‘What is your mission in life? What is your trajectory? Who do you choose to be?” 

Still, Lemire admitted, while some people may dig into the deeper meaning of the imagery, many will simply relish in the thrilling and often dangerous athletic feats of the performers. 

“With ECHO, you can just watch the entertainment and the acrobatics, and that’s enough. You go home happy because of the technique,” he added. “But some people will get a different message. It is the magic of live entertainment.”

ECHO will run six performances a week May 23 through June 29. Tickets are available at www.cirquedusoleil.com.