For KOOZA, Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt has drawn on a wide variety of sources of inspiration: everything from graphic novels, the painter Klimt, Mad Max movies, time- travel movies to India and Eastern Europe. She was also inspired by clock movements, tin soldiers, marching band uniforms and children’s book illustrations. All this merges to create a look that alludes to Alice in Wonderland, Baron Munchaüsen and the Wizard of Oz.

There are many rapid costume changes during the show and Marie-Chantale researched magicians’ quick-change techniques to create costume magic of her own.

• Marie-Chantale had percussion instruments made out of molded carbon for the Skeleton costume. They look and sound like bones when the performers hit them against each other to create a musical rhythm.
• The “Bad Dog” costume proved to be another huge challenge because the performer wearing it has to be able to move the dog’s ears, stick its tongue in and out, dribble and wag its tail.
• The “Rat Cape” is a costume that creates the illusion that rats are running down a performer’s body before disappearing into a trap. This would be relatively easy in a film, but it’s a lot more difficult to achieve live on stage. Following a long period of trial and error, the final Rat Cape costume is made up of 150 fake-fur rats with crystal eyes to catch the light. The running effect was inspired by the mechanism of vertical blinds and several of the rats are fitted with little wheels to make them seem even more alive.
• There are more than 175 costumes and 160 hats in the show—1,080 items in all, including all the shoes, props, wigs and so on.

One army costume features more than 400 individually- sewn metallic flaps to create the effect that it is armored.

Costumes at Cirque du Soleil – Facts:

• All costumes are custom-made and the majority are produced at the Costume workshop in the International Headquarters in Montreal, Canada. .
• Every year, the Costume workshop produced more than 25,000 pieces. Each year, the Costume workshop artisans use close to 130 kilometers of fabric from around the world. A total of 80% of all fabrics are treated and dyed in-house by the artisans of the textile design team.
• Shoes are hand- and custom-made for all artists by the artisans of the Shoe workshop. Brand new sports or dance shoes are sometimes altered to meet the specific of a costume. On average, nearly 3,000 pairs of shoes are produced by the workshop every year.
• Hats can be seen in every Cirque du Soleil show and are a key part of the costumes. Like the costumes, they are custom-designed and made in the workshop. To do this, the milliners mould and build the hats on plaster models of the artists’ heads. When artists arrive at Cirque du Soleil, they must have a mould made of their head.

“It’s been a great challenge, but it’s also full of traps. You don’t want to exaggerate or slip into creating a caricature when you’re trying to capture a character.”— Marie-Chantale Vaillancourt

KOOZA’s set evokes a public square that metamorphoses into a circus ring. The circular stage provides the audience with excellent sight lines through 260 degrees.

There has been no attempt to conceal or disguise the acrobatic equipment. The structure of the big top is always in full view. Everything is done out in the open with simplicity and transparency in order to concentrate the audience’s attention on the artists and the acrobatic performances.

• The stage is dominated by one major set element, a traveling tower called the Bataclan, which alters the configuration of the performance space as it moves.
• The Bataclan moves artists in and out of the spotlight, serves as a bandstand and is flanked by two curved staircases.
• The decoration of the Bataclan is inspired by Hindu culture, Pakistani buses and Indian jewelry.
• Overlooking the Bataclan, the giant fabric structure called the Void was printed with motifs inspired by the internal structure of leaves to give it a decidedly organic look.
• The “sails” that frame the Bataclan can be opened and closed like the petals of an enormous flower by just two people using ropes and pulleys.
• The surface of the stage is decorated to look like a starry sky, and in the center ring is a graphic representation of the sky in Montreal on the night of the first public performance.
• The stage is ringed by recessed lighting units that cast a warm glow up into the faces of the performers, much like the footlights of a 19th-century theater.
• The diameter of the top of the stage is 36’; it is 42’ at the bottom step. This is the diameter of a standard circus ring set by the minimum size of a ring horses could comfortably be at gallop within.
• It is the highest stage ever designed for our shows (39” vs 30-36” usually), as we needed space underneath for the Jack-in-the-Box hydraulics (which propels 6-7 feet up in the air).
• Technicians and artists travel under the stage on dollies like mechanics use to roll under cars.
• The musician pit is located on the upper level of the structure.

“I wanted to capture the essence of circus itself by creating a scenographic environment that offers true proximity to the audience and where danger is palpable.” — Stéphane Roy

The music of KOOZA beautifully demonstrates the spirit of the live show with its themes of human connection and fun in a world of duality. With a stream of uplifting songs with timeless influences where forms and styles intertwine seamlessly, the music of KOOZA is inspired by the sounds of western pop culture, from 1970s funk to full orchestral arrangements. It also draws heavily on traditional Indian music.

There are six KOOZA musicians who play live music during each performance: trumpet, trombone, bass, drums, percussion and keyboard. There are also two singers who sing live during each performance.

“I was inspired by Western pop music, from 1970s funk to orchestral music. I also drew upon traditional Indian music and film scores from the 1940s and 1950s, a period I’m particularly fond of.” — Jean-François Côté

• KOOZA had its world premiere in April 2007 in Montréal, Canada and has since played in over 56 cities in 18 countries, on four different continents.

• KOOZA celebrated its 1,000th performance in Santa Monica, California in 2009, its 1,500th performance in Tokyo, Japan in 2011 and its 2,000th performance in Dallas, Texas in 2012, it’s 2500th performance in Vienna, Austria in 2014 and its 3000th performance in Montevideo, Uruguay in 2016.

• Over 7.5 million people have seen KOOZA.

Cast and Crew

• The cast and crew of KOOZA represent 19 nationalities: Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, France, Italy, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Russia, Spain, United Kingdom and United States.

• Although French and English are the main languages on tour, many other languages are spoken including Spanish and Russian.

• Approximately 190 people travel with the tour including more than 120 members of the cast and crew. The rest are official accompanying members (spouses and children). Of all the employees, 50 are performers.

• The tour relies on local suppliers for many essentials such as food, bio-diesel fuel, machinery, food and beverage supplies for patrons, banking services, delivery services, recycling, and waste management—thereby injecting a significant amount of money into the local economy.

• During an engagement in a city, over 120 people are hired locally to help with ticketing, seating, janitorial services and administration.

• The kitchen employs one kitchen manager and three cooks.

• Two performance medicine specialists travel with the tour.