Review: LUZIA at Cirque Du Soliel

Cirque du Soliel’s LUZIA merges powerful artistry and adrenaline-fueled action punctuated with lush music, evocative scenery and a dreamy atmosphere for 125 minutes of pure entertainment.

It’s exciting, with an immediacy and connection that only live performance can deliver.

The production is family-friendly – but that doesn’t mean it’s dumbed down to simply work for kids and appease adults. Patrons of all ages will be engaged and on the edges of their seats during this beautiful and captivating production.

“Death-defying acts” may seem like a hackneyed phrase in this era of CGI, AI, Photoshop and stunt doubles, but the Cirque du Soliel cast vigorously push to the very limit with visceral performances that merge risk and artistry that we in the audience, nervous and white-knuckled, aren’t 100% sure will work. (Spoiler alert: these professionals succeed, making the impossible look easy.)

LUZIA draws its name from the Spanish words for light (luz) and rain (lluvia) and creates a “waking dream of Mexico.” Drawing from a range of Mexican eras (classic film set, cactus desert, peyote-infused dance hall, ocean depths) LUZIA is a delirious and fascinating series of artistic vignettes of movement, music, story and spectacle.

Water is a vivid character in LUZIA. A wall of water from sky to stage is a central, beautiful and ever-present element. This is no stage trickery, it’s pure H20 that artists interact with. The water adds an aspect of risk and an element of beauty. It is knit into the beautiful scenic design.

Live music is also elemental to the show. Tuba! Marimba! Guitar! Accordion! Maracas! But most essential is the ethereal vocals of performer Majo Cornejo. Her gorgeous, commanding and effervescent voice is the steady backbone of the production.

Equally central to the show is clown Eric Koller who parachutes into the world of LUZIA in the first moments of the show. It is his quest through Mexico that is the arc of our story. It is the clown who discovers and winds a mysterious key that sets this epic story in motion. Koller pokes and prods and discovers this confusing and beautiful world. Without a word – but absolutely understood – he invites the audience to question, laugh and play.

The extraordinary troupe wows us with their strength and artistry on trapeze, cyr wheel, poles, hoop diving, swing 360, football dance, contortion, aerial straps. swing-to-swing and even puppetry. While the command and excellence of the performers is uniform, the skills and disciplines practiced by each of the artists are varied which adds momentum and wonder to the show.

Scenic design (by Eugenio Caballero) is high impact, spare and intentional – each scene involves a quick change, often to make way for cirque equipment. So each design has a significant wow factor – a field of marigold/cempasúchil flowers, a central pillar of papel picado cut paper, lanterns of flickering flames, cacti, and the powerful wall of water.

LUZIA’s costumes (by Giovanna Buzzi) merge period pieces with designs from nature. All must be highly functional to allow for the safe movement of the intricate artistry.

While LUZIA is transportive, there are a few aspects of the audience experience that will bring you back to earth. Note that the big top’s seats are narrower than a standard theater or airplane seat. While this might provide a cozy date-night cuddle, it was evident that neighboring strangers were nearly in each other’s laps. Audience members who want or need some space should pay attention to the seating chart when booking tickets and look to aisle seats. Also, the tented big top doesn’t have bathrooms under its roof. The clean and capable restroom trailers are outside the tent in the festival yard (hence the 25 minute intermission). These, too, are a small and efficient space – parents helping children or patrons with caregivers should opt for the accessible toilets.

LUZIA is electric, lush and absolutely extraordinary. Audiences are fully engaged. You have until October 19 to make your way to Tysons to experience the wonder and physical beauty of LUZIA. Don’t miss this tour.

Creative Team: Daniele Finzi Pasca (Writer and Director); Jacques Boucher (Sound Designer); Debra Brown (Acrobatic Choreographer); Giovanna Buzzi (Costume Designer); Eugenio Caballero (Set and Props Designer); Simon Carpentier (Composer and Musical Director); Sylvia Gertrúdix González (Acrobatic Choreographer); Maryse Gosselin (Makeup Designer); Julie Hamelin Finzi (Co-Writer); Max Humphries (Puppet Designer); Martin Labrecque (Lighting Designer); Brigitte Poupart (Associate Director); Johnny Ranger (Projection Designer); Patricia Ruel (Director of Creation)

Performers: Olivia Anne Aepli (The Running Woman, Pole Dance, Swing to Swing); Gerardo Ballester Franzoni (Head Puppeteer, Cactus, Mariachi); Stéphane Beauregard (Hoop Diving, Acro Pole); Lucas Boutin (Hoop Diving, Acro Pole); Vanessa Calado (Pole Dance Soloist, Hair Suspension); Zoré España (Cyr Wheel, Pole Dance); Anton Glazkov (Adagio); Aleksei Goloborodko (Contortion); Anastasia Gorbatyuk (Adagio, Pole Dance); Quentin Greco (Hoop Diving, Acro Pole); Krzystof Holowenko (Adagio, 360 Swing); Maxim Kazlou (Swing to Swing); Eric Koller (Clown); Ugo Laffolay (Hand Balancing on Canes); Andrii Lytvak (Cactus, Mariachi, Clown Understudy); Igo Matos (Football Dance); Helena Merten (The Running Woman, Acro Pole, Pole Dance, Swing to Swing); Alexander Mischenko (Swing to Swing); Cochise Monteiro (Swing to Swing); Vadim Osvald (Swing to Swing); Mikita Paulenka (Swing to Swing, 360 Swing); Terrance Robinson Jr. (Hoop Diving, Acro Pole); Mikita Sedunou (Swing to Swing); Andrey Sheremetyev (Swing to Swing); Nelson Smyles (Hoop Diving, Clown Understudy); Maksim Sokolov (Swing to Swing); Alina Sotnikava (Swing to Swing, Pole Dance); Morgane Tisserland (Pole Dance Trapeze); Sarah Togni (Cyr Wheel, Pole Dance); Katia Trafimava (Pole Dance Soloist Understudy); Yuri Tsvirko (Swing to Swing); Tatsiana Yurkavets (Swing to Swing, Pole Dance); Enya White (Trapeze, Acro Pole, Cactus, Mariachi)

Musicians: Roberto Betancourt (Back-up bandleader, Keyboard, Accordion, Guitar, Back Vocals); Daniel Figueredo (Maracas, Cuatro, Marimba, Back Vocals); Majo Cornejo (Singer); Sébastien Laurendeau (Bandleader, Bass, Percussion); Edward Plater (Trumpet, Flügelhorn, Back Vocals); Joaquim Ramos (Guitar, Jarana, Marimba, Back Vocals); Juan David Pavas Pavas (Back-up bandleader, Trombone, Tuba, Marimba, Back Vocals) https://www.cirquedusoleil.com/luzia

Runtime: 2 hours, 5 minutes (including one 25-minute intermission)

LUZIA, presented by Cirque du Soliel, is presented under the big top at Lerner Town Square at Tysons II, 8025 Galleria Dr, Tysons, VA 22102. The production runs through October 19, 2025. For tickets, FAQs and other information, visit the Cirque du Soliel website.