PHOTO FLASH: KOOZA Tent Goes Up at Del Mar Fairgrounds

Cirque du Soleil's trademark blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (big top) went up today at the Del Mar Fairgrounds. 

The Grand Chapiteau stands 66 feet high, 167 feet in diameter and is supported by four masts, each 80 feet tall.  It seats 2,555 people in a climate-controlled environment.

Raising the Big Top requires a team of approximately 80 people, and the entire set-up takes seven days to complete.

Proudly presented by iShares, KOOZA will premiere on February 25 at Del Mar Fairgrounds and will play until March 28.

KOOZA is a return to the origins of Cirque du Soleil that combines two circus traditions - acrobatic performance and the art of clowning. The show highlights the physical demands of human performance in all its splendor and fragility, presented in a colorful mélange that emphasizes bold slapstick humor.

"KOOZA is about human connection and the world of duality, good and bad", says the show's writer and director David Shiner. "The tone is fun and funny, light and open. The show doesn't take itself too seriously, but it's very much about ideas, too". 

The show starts with The Trickster bursting onto the scene like a jack-in-a-box right in front of The Innocent, and that is just the first of many surprises to follow. The Innocent's journey brings him into contact with a panoply of comic characters such as the King, the Trickster, the Heimloss, the Pickpocket, the Obnoxious Tourist and his Bad Dog. 

San Diego Performance Schedule

• Tuesdays thru Thursdays at 8:00 p.m.
• Fridays and Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
• Sundays at 1:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
• No performances on Mondays

Specially-Priced - Cirque Club Members Offer

• Adults: $30 to $125
• Children (ages 2-12): $21 to $87.50
• Students and Seniors: $27 to $112.50

*offer ends November 7, 2009

Regular Ticket Prices

• Adults: $40 to $125
• Children (ages 2-12): $28 to $87.50
• Students and Seniors: $36 to $112.50

A VIP Tapis Rouge (French for "red carpet") package is available and includes one of the best seats in the house, and access to the VIP suite one hour before the show and during intermission. Adults: $250 / Children (ages 2-12): $175. Prices include taxes.

For more information, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

Sponsors 
Cirque du Soleil gratefully acknowledges iShares®, Presenting Sponsor of the US Tour as well as CGI, Wyndham Hotels & Resorts, Sun Life Financials,  AT & T Broadband and American Express as the Official Sponsors.

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