Press Release

Cirque du Soleil and Felix & Paul Studios today announced the latest virtual reality experience created and produced through their EMMY® award-winning collaboration. Utilizing Felix & Paul Studios’ proprietary 3D 360^o camera platform, Through the Masks of LUZIA takes the audience to an imaginary Mexico, like in a waking dream, where light quenches the spirit and rain soothes the soul. The creation is a poetic and acrobatic ode to the rich, vibrant culture of a country whose wealth stems from an extraordinary mix of influences and creative collisions.

Through the Masks of LUZIA becomes the first-ever VR experience to be captured through both hyper-stereoscopy and hypo-stereoscopy processes. This brand new experience offers viewers an unmatched degree of immersion, even making them feel like a giant or like a miniature throughout scenes of mind-bending acrobatics and daring stunts. To fully benefit the VR attribute and achieve this 14-minute 3D 360° cinematic experience, the Cirque du Soleil creation teams redesigned the acrobatic performances, thus creating a completely new experience.

“Through our VR productions, we aim at offering our fans a state-of-the-art complementary experience to our live shows while reaching out to new audiences, proposing to them a first deep dive into our creations,” says Sébastien Ouimet, Senior Manager, Content Partnerships & Distribution, Cirque du Soleil. “The impressive versatility of VR gives us the opportunity to bring our audience into a completely immersive world, transposing our shows’ artistic direction in a new creative format.”

“Inspired by the simultaneously festive and surreal atmosphere of LUZIA, we created a VR-native journey through an unexpected world full of wonder and amazement, incorporating living embodiments of mythology in a landscape which is part dream, part fantasy, part reality,” said Félix Lajeunesse, co-founder and creative director at Felix & Paul Studios.

Through the Masks of LUZIA is now available for free on Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus, the leading mobile VR solution enabling an incredible VR viewing experience. Viewers can download Through the Masks of LUZIA now in the Oculus Store, or watch a 360 video of the experience here.

Through the Masks of LUZIA is the fifth virtual reality production by Cirque du Soleil and Felix & Paul Studios. The two Montreal-based companies began their VR collaboration with Zarkana and then produced the critically acclaimed Inside the Box of Kurios, which won a 2016 Emmy® Award in the Outstanding Interactive Media - Original Daytime Program or Series category. In October 2016, KÀ The Battle Within was introduced at the Oculus Connect 3 conference in San Jose, California and was featured at the Toronto International Film Festival as part of the Official Selection of the festival’s Cutting Edge POP VR line-up. In January, 2017, Cirque du Soleil and Felix & Paul Studios unveiled DREAMS OF ‘O’ to critical acclaim at CES in Las Vegas, and the groundbreaking VR experience has since won an Outstanding Technical Achievement Award at SXSW 2017 and earned a Webby Award nomination.

Stills and Assets can be downloaded for media use here.

Cirque du Soleil VR App: A Complete Catalogue Available in the Fall

In addition to releasing Through the Masks of LUZIA, Cirque du Soleil also announced the upcoming launch of its first-ever VR app powered by Felix & Paul Studios, to be released in the fall of 2017. Serving as a centralized hub of VR content for Cirque du Soleil, the app will house four of the company’s productions with Felix & Paul Studios (Inside the Box of Kurios, KA: The Battle Within, DREAMS OF ‘O’, and Through the Masks of LUZIA) as well as any other future collaborations. The Cirque du Soleil VR app will launch across all major VR platforms and allow consumers around the world to have access to this unparalleled catalogue of experiences.

About Cirque du Soleil

From a group of 20 street performers who reinvented circus arts in 1984, Cirque du Soleil has evolved into a world leading live entertainment provider. From its international headquarters in Montreal, Canada, Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 180 million spectators in over 450 cities in 60 countries on six continents. In 2017 alone, 21 shows are being simultaneously presented around the world. Cirque du Soleil also brings the same energy and spirit that characterize each of its shows to other spheres of activity, while maintaining stringent standards of artistic quality and originality. The company now has over 4,000 employees, including 1,300 performing artists from 50 different countries. For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

ABOUT FELIX & PAUL STUDIOS

Felix & Paul Studios is the industry leader in the field of high-end cinematic virtual reality with an unparalleled reputation for producing the highest quality experiences in this emerging new medium. The studio combines technological innovation with a unique, pioneering and in-depth approach to the new art of virtual reality storytelling—creating ground-breaking original cinematic experiences (MIYUBI, Nomads series, Strangers) and collaborations with existing franchises (Jurassic World, Cirque du Soleil, Fox Searchlight’s Wild) and world-renowned personalities and leaders (President Barack Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, LeBron James, President Bill Clinton).

The company is the world’s only full spectrum VR studio, showcasing end-to-end creative and technological know-how and proprietary tools within one company—including best-in-class spherical 3D camera systems, production and post-production software and processes, and specialized audio capture, design and processing through its Headspace Studios division.

Headquartered in Montreal, Canada with offices in Los Angeles, CA, Felix & Paul Studios has a highly experienced team of over 50 VR specialists and is backed by Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, Comcast Ventures, OMERS Ventures and the Phi Group.

Tweet it: @Cirque & @FelixandPaul release #VirtualReality experience- #MasksOfLUZIA. Teaser: http://cirk.me/LUZIA360VR

MEDIA CONTACTS
For Cirque du Soleil:
Stéphanie Morrisette
PR Manager
Cirque du Soleil
Stephanie.Morissette@cirquedusoleil.com

For Felix & Paul Studios:
Kai Gayoso
Kai@bruss.co