Cirque du Soleil has announced the first ever UK arena tour of its signature production Varekai, which will tour in February and March next year.
Confirmed cities on the tour circuit indulge Birmingham, Newcastle, Sheffield, Leeds, Nottingham and Glasgow.
What’s Varekai about?
The show is set in a make-believe world called Varekai, located at the summit of a volcano, deep within a forest.
The story begins when a man is parachuted into the world of Varekai, which he discovered is filled with out-of-this-world creatures.
Varekai is said to pay tribute to the nomadic soul, and to the art of the circus tradition, and includes tricks and performances such as Flight of Icarus, Sticks, Russian Swings, Aerial Straps and Slippery Surface.
Slippery Surface, for example, sees performers fling and catch each other in a skating illusion. The performers also dart and intertwine on a specially designed surface.
Sticks refers to a more extreme example of baton twirling, while Flight of Icarus refers to a man who performs dives and contortions in a net that holds him captive, using agility, deftness and sensitivity.
Selected tour dates
Sheffield Arena, Sheffield: 2nd – 5th February
Metro Radio Arena, Newcastle: 15th – 19th February
First Direct Arena, Leeds: 22nd – 26th February
Genting Arena, Birmingham: 1st – 5th March
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham: 8th – 2th March
SSE Hydro, Glasgow: 15th – 19th March
More about Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil is a Canadian entertainment company that was started up in 1984 with a group of just 20 performers.
The company now has 4,000 employees, including more than 1,300 performing artists from close to 50 different countries.
The show is said to have entertained more than 160 million spectators in over 400 cities on all seven continents.
For more information visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.